Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1890-01-02
State School Rocks

State School Books.
There is no doubt but that the people In
many instances pay more for school books
| than they ought TO or need to. The desire on
the part Of Legislators to reduce this price 10 q
minimum is a worthy one. The general critl
| clsm upon all such attempts thus far Is that
the zeal has not been according 10 knowledge,
and has left the last state OF the case worse
for the people than the first.
One cause Of the failure Of legislators 10 DE.
cover remedy is their eyaCgeratOu of the
evil they complain OF. They greatly over
estimate the amount Of money expended fer
school books evsty year, and thcr LiSo greatly
underestimate VIC cost Of publishing them. 1t
Ia mot unusual to hear people speak of the cost Of
school books as amounting to millions OF dn'lrr.
annually In Illinois. And sometimes legislators
refer to the school look business as Welding an
dRSnut rhoft OF millions OF dollars IN this state
Such misconceptions result In defeating the
aims OF legislation by leading the Legislators 10
fix maximum price for the sale of books that
Is hardly more than the cost of the publication
OF them. This prevents the best books from
being offered, and when bids are made they
are quite apt to be for books that have gune
ont OF use, or have not stood the test of trial.
The plates are uf 40 value and all that can be
made out OF them lie clear gain. 1hls enforced
market by state authority results in giving
some value to the otherwise worthless stock Of
the publishers, and in forcing on the people
books that cannot stand q competition with
others in the cteh market.
That people underestimate the cost Of pub
fishing school books appears from the expert.
ence of California, That state went into the
publication business on the state printers csti-
mate of the rost. II was declared that 4
spellery three readers, an arithmetic, gram
mar, and history could be published for 81. 49,
After apprcpriantg 1867 800 for plant, ma
teriai, Salaries, and expenses, it was found
necessary to raise the price to the people Of
these seven books to 50, 80 to cover expenses 81
publication. The state could have purchased
the seven books already in use, containing a
similar amount OF matter, from the respective
publishers, at regular net wholesale prices for
bills of such amounts, for S3U7. This expert,
enCe shows that the state cannot successfully
compete with private enterprise In the ptbll-
cation Of school books. And this conviction
has induced some legislators this wear to advo-
cate the plan Of fixing the prices and making
contracts with publishers to furnish the books.
As to the amount Of money expended annu.
ally in the purchase of school hooks, SOME care
iul estimates have been made In 1888 the
wholesale dealers IN California paid to the pub
fishers FOR textbooks covering the common
Bchool course, or what are generally known as
the legal branches 1000 recent estimate
made by some OF the school authorities Of Kan
sas places the annual cost TO the people Of that
state Of the common school text books used at
less than 500, 600 One OF the largest school
book Publishing houses in the country declares
that II will enter into contract to furnish TO
the state authorities of Indiana and Illinois all
the textbooks needed for the study Of the
branches required by law, ard that are now in
use Ip those states, for $l5C0oO and $500, 600
per year, respectively. 1t will be seen from
these figures how very wild are the estimates
made by the public of the aggregate cost Of
school books in this country 1t is only through
sales to large areas of population that publish
ing houses can accumulate much wealth at the
present prices OF books.
The city OF Chicago spends more money for
valentines, every February, than for school
books during the year.
Our purpose in writing this article is to di-
feet attention to some errors in the fundamen.
tai assumptions OF those who are most urgent
IN insisting upon legislative relief, and who
suppose that they are annually robbed by the
publishers Of school textbooks. We confess
- serious doubts as to the wisdom on the part
Of the state Of trying to control private bust
ness. 1t has performed its function when 1t
I,,a- al.
competition. Boots and hats and clothes are
as needful to school life as are books. But the
state would hardly attempt to Ak maximum
price at which they should be sold. We may
come to that in time if monopolics and trusts are
encouraged and practiccd. But there are no
monOpolies and trusts in the school book pub
licatlOn business, except those created and pro-
tcCted by the statcs like California and Mime,
sofa.
At least one thing is very clear to us, which
is that if any attempt to fix a maximum price at
which school books shall he sold shall accom-
plish its purpose and not do harm to the schools
that price must be fixed in the full light Of the
entire cost involved in the publication Of school
books, which must include all outlays and loss
es incidental to the business. 1t is probable that
something could be saved Ia money-how much
or rather how little, the above figures show
but 1t is not so clear that what Is thus saved
will not be more than lost in the inei!iciencv
and unpopularity of the schools that would
follow. The conditions in the various portions
of the state are so different that the best text
books for one community are not, always, the
best for another. Uniformity is good within
certain limits. But uniformity OF books in
the United States would not be advocated by
the most ardent refor mcr What are the best
limits to enforced uniformity is not yet made
manifest.
The journal is seeking what is for the best
interests Of the schools, and Of education first
of all; for this cause is the central one in this
nation Among the most valuable agencies
for the promotion Of education are the pub
fishing houses. They publish books to make
money, but they see more clearly than some
other business enterprises see that what will
promote the best interests Of education in this
country, will best promote their business
interests. The competition between these
houses is very sharp in the woitems Of Equality
and price. The only agreement between them
is that they will not seek TO supplant one
another's publications already IN the schools.
But there is no agreement as to the price at
which books shall be sold. These are some Of
the facts that ought not to be overlooked in
any attempts to legislate upon the school book
question. for any legislation that is not the re-
suit of a thorough investigation of all the facts
cannot stand, and will be quite apt 20 work
injury to that which it is intended to FOSTER
Public School journal.
Katie Putnam, ever youthful and with peck
cts bullying out with gold sovcreigns, has re-
turned from Australia