The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-07-22
BECKT0LD'S GREAT SCHEME
A School-Book Monopoly That Has Been
Working Under Pleasing Disguise.
The Indiana Company Organized Only Five
Minutes Before the Contract Was Awarded
to 1t as Representative of the Standard.
THE MISSOURI MONOPOLY.
A School Book Enterprise Fostered at the
Expense of the State Of Indiana.


A School Book Enterprise Fostered at the
Expense of the State of Indiana
Now that the glamour attending the
school-book contest is beginning to give
way before earnest consideration of what
the State has undertaken, no class of men
interested in the matter are evincing more
concern than the township trustees. They
are come directly in contact with the pur-
chasers of the books. In n word, they are
to be In this connection simply book-sell-
ers. doing business, in fact for private cor
poration, because the duty Is imposed
upon them by law. 1t is business not
only entailing work in receiving, storing
and distributing the books, but in
keeping accounts with the county superin-
uendent and the contracting company. This
is work of sufficient Importance to move
the trustees to inquire about what they are
to receive for their services. In the law
there is nothing about remuneration, and
the trustees are left to the not altogether
pleasing contemplation that they are to do
gratuitously q great amount Of extra work
for n private corporation that is protected
by its contract with the State. But there
is another thing in connection with this
matter of distribution" said gentleman
who has studied the law thoroughly. How
is it to be accomplished in the
cities of the StateY / can understand
how . il in . the e., country ~ districts districts
supply the purchasers, but when it comes
to the cities different system must be
adopted. If not, purchasers will be COM
PEELED TO go long distances, even miles, to
N he Ia Wi xfra
penditure of school money, as is proposed
In Richmond. There it is the purpose of the
school authorities to set apart u room in
one of the school buildings and put it in
charge of a substitute teacher, and this
teacher will be paid for looking after the
Indiana SchOol-bOok Company's books, no
doubt. as if she was teaching: Here will be
use of school money directly in the inter
est of the contractors. Doubtless the same
idea will be suggested in other large towns
and cities"
There ought to be- then, as you view it,
several points of distribution IL lndianapo-
hs,p the reporter remarked.
Il do not see how the books can be other
wise placed in the hands of the people.
Under the old system every drug store and
nelghborhood candy store had school books
to sell. This was convenience to the pur-
chasers. Many of these small stores are
kept by poor women or old soldiers, and
thus, what little profit they received from
selling books is to be taken from them in
the interest of what is called PUBLISHING
company That company tbs is s., monopoly
The Indiana company, then, can be
ranked as a publishing concernw
Not bit of it. A jobbing company
should be its proper title, but the iobbery
This character of business is shown by
what is supposed to be the parent company,
the Standard. of st. Louis. Behind the
Standard is firm of contracting printers,
He is also interested in the Standard, and
his firm has printed all the schoOl-bOOks
for that company. Thus the Standard gets
its books from the contracting
printers. -, and the !pdiana - com;
for its supplies. Bee ktold was here in May,
studying the situation, and the day the
contract was let was at the Bates. The in
terest he manifested in the matter was that
of 2 principal, for the school-book business
of Indiana for the next five years is to be
through Beck told, the Standard and the
Indiana company, in the order named"
viii the Indiana company have no
printing-hOuse of its OwnV
1T will buy it's books from the Standard
and howit will get supply to meet the de-
mand at the opening of the schools III Sep
TENDER Is to be seen. To meet the require
ment of the contract in preparing books
suitable for Indiana schools will require
five months. Yet the company says it will
be ready to distribute the books in time for
the schools this fall. 1t may draw on the
supply of readers that were sent to Cleve-
land and then back again to st. Louis some
time ago."
'How did that come abOutg"
In Cleveland were two or three book
agents, who found trade dull and time
hanging heavily on their hands. Some dis
satisfaction tas expressed regarding the
readers in use in the schools in that city.
These agents went to the Board of Educa-
tion and submitted the readers published
by the Standard company, of st. Louis. the
in this State, through the Indiana School
book Company. The board hastily
adopted the Standard readers, but un-
der suspension of rules, as they
required proposition of that kind to lay
carloads of Standard readers were shipped
to Cleveland, but a week or two before the
schools opened the board reconsidered its
action and restored the old reader. In
store were the two carloads of Standard,
and in the hope of getting them OH the
Cleveland market the agents took the mat
ter into the courts and were defeated. The
Standard books were reshipped to st. Louis.
and 1t Is probable they Will now serve to
meet the Indiana demand"
The cost to the Indiana company of dis
tributing the books will, it is estimated. be
about $50 900 OF $4,000 But the principal
profit to the company, VIII come IN the ex-
change of the Stanard or Indiana series for
books now in use Altogether. it is thought
the job will yield about s75. 600, the greater
part of which is to come from the exchange
system. That the company relies on this to
help out is shown by the following letter,
which Edward Hawkins, secretary of the
Indiana company, recently sent to an in
quirer:
Replying to yours of the 10Th: Thus far we
have not made any arrangements for the selling
OF our books except through the township trus
tees as the law prescribes The trustee of your
township may be willing to arrange with you TO
sell the books Tor him, but cannot see any way
that you can make a profit except by bringing
the trade to your place of business for other
school supplies and other goods. Several book
dealers in different parts of the State are already
negotiating with the trustees for the privilege OF
disposing of the books. have not got at hand
printed exchange pr.ce-list. presume you read
proposition in the newspapers. We only
take '.whole books in serviceable condition" and
can pay no more for new one than one that has
been used. if il Is as above. We ready To fill
acquisitions for the schools beginning in Septem-
ber
The suggestive line in that letter is: 1--WE
only take whole books in serviceable con-
dition.' and can pay no more for a new one
than one that has been used. if it is as
above" Old books that cannot be doctored
with new bindings and clean leaves will