The Brookhaven leader., 1891-07-09
AN UGLY REVELATION.
Some Facts About n Candidate
the People Ought>tO Know.
Public Office Treated as u Pri-
vatc Snap.

adoption of n uniform series OF text
books by the counties of this State,
for use in public schools approved
Feb. %, 1890. Under its provisions
the county school boards Of the sever
al counties were required at their
meetings on the fist Monday in Au
gust, 1890, to "appoint five teachers of
recognized ability, one from each SUI
pervisors' district, and the supcrin-
tendent two from the county at large,
who shall constitute committee for
the selection of uniform series of
text books" The county superin-
tendent is made exofiicio secretary of
the committee and authorized to fill
any vacancies. Four members con-
stitute a quorum. The object sought
to be attained by the law, as its title
and provisions indicate, was to secure
the adoption of a uniform series of
text books in the several counties of
the State for a period of five years,
thus saving to parents the expense
and annoyance of frequent changes
by different teachers, and to insure
the use in the public schools of text
books of approved standard and
merit.
One of the immediate effects of the
passage of this law was the springing
up of sharp rivalry between the sew
eral text book publishers of the coun
ty to secure the adoption by the va
rious counties of the State of their
respective books. This competition
became the more spirited, because the
advantage accruing to the one that
secured the largest favors was very
great, and among those engaged in it
were the American Book Company of
Cincinnati, CHM q Co. of New
York, J. b. LippincOtU & Co. of Phil
adelphia, F. F. Hansell Il Bro of
New Orleans and others, and in few
counties some ugly scandals have
grown out of the methods adopted to
accomplish the desired end.
Section II of an act entitled, Gan
Act in relation to free public schools"
March Is, 1856, and which
Act is grouped with other school laws
in au official pamphlet by State Super
Preston and furnished to all |
county Superintendent for their in
and guidance, reads as fol-
lows:
Sec. IA. No county superintendent
shall act as agent for any publishef
author or book seller, nor directly or
indirectly receive any gift, emolument
or reward for his influence i'll procur-
ing or recommending the nse Of any
book. school apparatus or furniture of
any kind whatever, in any public free
school in this State and any Super
who shall violate this sec
ton shall be guilty of misdemeanor,
and be removed from office, and shall
forfeit all money due him us salary.
Presumably, with this plain statnte
before his eyes, it comes to light that
Supt. Edward Smith of this county
last year when the competition be-
tween the rival book publishers was
approaching its height, wrote the fol-
lowing letter to Mr.. Benson, the New
Orleans agent Of Lippincott & Co.,
proposing, for a consideration, to use
his influence to secure the adoption of
the Lippincott books:
BRoOKHAvEN, Miss, June II, 1890
MI. b. X. Benson:
DEAR SIR Yours of recent date
to hand and contents noted. | am
very greatful to You for the favor:
will take pleasure in showing up your
arithmetic to the teachers of this
county.
| am not able to tell you the name
of the person hired in this county by
the book trust. | will try to find out
who it is and then | will let you
know.
Any assistance that / can be to you
in any way / will take pleasure in be-
ing so. If should have to lose much
time in advocacy of your books, feel
sure that you will repay me. If you
could remunerate me sufficiently, |
think it probable that | could have
the last one of your books introduced
in the schools in this county.
Please let me hear from you imme-
diately.
EDWARD SMITH,
Supt. Ed. Lincoln Co. Miss.
The original of this letter was not
written on the official paper of the Su
perintendent. All of it except the
last sentence and the superscriptiOn
was written on one side of a sheet of
ordinary legal cap, and the last SEN
tence, "Please let me hear from you
immediately" and the superscription
were written on a small scrap of note
paper, suggesting that it might have
been the design of the writer to have
his name disconnected from his ille-
gal proposition and the scrap of paper
containing it thrown aside or lost.
Passing over this and the misspelt
word in the second sentence of the
first paragraph and the bad grammar
in the first sentence of the third para
81 l. 4