Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-24
THE sCHOoL-B0oK TRUST.
Large Number Of Travelling Salesmen to
be Turned Adrift.
Fro1n tbe New York Times.

of trusts IS indicated by combination
recently entered Into by the school book
publishing houses of the country, having
for its object the control Of the produc-
ton OF educational works, the doing
away with competitIouin their introduce
ton, the division of the field of
distribution, and the reduction of
expense in securing the adoption
of standard publications. by local
school boards. The agreement, &C.
cOrding to the understanding of the
publishers, was to go into effect on july
10, and from that day, accordingly, the
schoOl-book trade will be subjected to
cast-iron rules and regulations from
which there can be no depression on the
part of the contracting parties.
Henceforth the sale and distribution of
school books viii be conducted entirely
by the producing ceners-the publishing
houses themselves. The army of local
agents and travelling statesmen will be
dispensed with, and the salaries of those
heretofore useful and Indispensable serv-
ants and employees will go to swell the
profits of the capitalists who constitute
the trust.
The combination between the principal
sudden impulse For long time past a
school book syndicate has been in exist
ence, composed of majority of the chief
publishing houses in the country. At the
head of the syndicate was the powerful
firm of Van Antwerp. Bragg s Co. of
with whom were associated
sSiark, Maynard s. Co. of that city, Cow
perthwaite s. Co. Porter s. Coates, and
Il. e. Butler s. Co. of Philadelphia, and
ID. Appleton s. Co., Ivison, Brakeman &
Co. of New York city. Opposed to the
syndicate from the outset was the firm of
Harper & Brothers and the J B. Lippin-
colt company and the Christopher Denver
company of Philadelphia. Between
Van Antwerp, Bragg s. Co. and Harper
& Brothers certain agreements existed
which precluded the parties thereto from
seriously conflicting with one another.
In anticipation of the termination of this
private agreement it is stated that in May
last the Messrs. Harper proposed to the
chief syndicate firm that the established
system of travelling statesmen and
agents for the sale of school
books should be abolished, and
from this suggestion there en-
sued meeting OF all the school-bOok
publishing firms, Irrespective of syndf-
cate connections, of which the present
combination or trust was the Ohtcome.
The immediate effect of the agreement
will be the decreasing of the expenses of !,
the firms acceding thereto. Harper 4
Brothers are reported as having refused
to9SV bscIibe to the combination contract,
urging that their word was as good as
their bond, and promising sOlemnly to
live up to the provisions of the agree
ment, with which assurance the other
members of the trust expressed them
selves as being fully satisfied. By the
operations Of the agreement, every house
which is q party thereto will be re-
lieved Of the necessity OF paying salaries
ranging from $500 to $1,000 to from If
teen to fifty agents and statesmen which
each had in its employ, together with
their travelling expenses, which were I'M
commonly heavy. While all the syndi-
cate houses sold books at the same price
they were compelled to meet the reduc-
ton in rates made by their competitors,
and this concession, coupled with the
enormous expense of maintaining an
army Of agents and travelling statesmen,
resulted in q material contraction of
prices.
''If the new arrangement will stand y
a leading representative of a school book
publishing house is quoted as saying, cit
will be big thing. Corruption was re-
sponsible for the selection of books in
many schools. Statesmen and agents had
it all their own way. They travelled
through the country visiting members of
different school boards, and if they had
the consent of the home Office could
bride the school Uoard-if it could be
bribed-and gain profitable customer,
even if their books were not the best.
The new system will save thousands of
dollars to the publishers. -
A member of the firm of D. Appleton
& Co. said that the charge that corrup-
ton was responsible for the introduction
of school books was q gratuitOus and
wholly unfounded assumption. The
agreement between the schOol-book pubs
fishing houses, this gentleman continued,
was an old story, "chestnut, as ne
termed it. For long time it had been
apparent that something must be done to
reduce the expenses of INTRODUCTION and
control the distribution and production
of school books. But it wasa mistake to
assert that a school book trust had been
formed. The publishers had simply
combined for mutual protection'Eaud in
order to restrict ruiDOus competition
1Pey n2d, III AlcU, merely entered INTO
plain J commoh-sense business agree
ment which had been delayed altogether
too long, and that was all there was to
it. The firms noted as having entered
INTO the combination were correctly
and the facts leading up to and
being the cause of the new order of
affairs, were correctly stated. So
far as school books were con-
the representative of the
Messrs. Appleton added, the pub
fishing houses hereafter would dispense
with the services of travelling statesmen
and agents. But this understanding
would not preclude any firm il the COM
Jinatlon from sending out travellers to
dispose of miscellaneous works published
by them. The enforcement of the agree
ment would have the effect of ending the
warfare between the syndicate and the
several publishing houses opposed to it,
and, while this result would rebound
directly to the publishers, it would also
prove of beneneto the general
public, which would Be offered a wider
sheice OF school boqlsssat cheaper rates
1haa heget fore
go