The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-10-07
FREE SCHOOL BOOKS.

Buffalo is agitated over the question OF
| free school books. The Courier and
| Times, Democratic newspapers and nat
urally nearer to the masses, advocates
the proposition warmly, but the Repub-
lican Express opposes it with equal ar.
dor. Two or three years ago the Troy
Press discussed this question at length,
and showed the wisdom of the policy
1t benefits poor parents, particularly of
large families, and while property is
taxed somewhat it is reimbursed in the
end by better citizenship and the conse-
quent improved social and political con-
ditions. The Buffalo Courier has this to
say:
sit is amusing to see the old argu-
ments which have everywhere have used
against free text books in the public
schools in past years now cropping up in
Buffalo. One says that besides the first
cost of the books there would be a con-
slant expense caused by the mutilation
and destruction of books, because it is
well known that public property is never
as well taken care of as private
property This is true as a gen.
eral principle, but large exper-
fence has shown that in the case of
school books the contrary is true.
AhOblOl OldO lllO llnO U6
drawn somewhere between what shall be
given to the poor and with what the poor
shall provide themselves, and free in
struction is enough to give. This is a
narrow conception of the theory of pop
ular education. The American people
everywhere accept the conclusion that it
is sound public policy for the property
of the community to educate the chill
dren of the community. This conclusion
is not based on the idea of charity to the
poor, but on the idea of the safety and
the well being of the whole people. So
far from offering education to the poor
as charity, we pass laws compelling
them to accept education whether they
wish it or not. Have we right to com
pei the poor to educate their children
and then make them pay for the educa-
ton? Does not compulsory education
law necessarily imply free education?
But education is not free when numer-
GUS text books are required and must be
paid for. On the contrary, under such
circumstances education is severe bur-
den to poor man who is blessed with a
large family. Despite the compulsory
law, there is no doubt that the cost of
school books keeps thousands of children
out of school. To have them grow up in
ignorance is detriment not only to them
but to the whole community, while the
cost of the free books which would
bring these children into the schools is
ridiculously small comdared to the good
which would follow"
This is comprehensive if brief re-
view of the subject. The plan has been
tested for years in Saratoga and other
places with excellent results, results
which disprove the objections urged
against it. With free schools and free
books, the boys who remain illiterate
have no right to complain if they are ex-
cluded from the polls when they reach
manhood by an educational qualification.
At all events, when properly managed,
the aggregate expenditure for school
books is greatly lessened under the free
system. Publishers do not favor it, but
it is blessing to poor people who have
children to educate, Press,