The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-02-19

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differentremedies.
The question, gentlemen of the com
mittee, to which wish to address my
self is, shall the choice Of school books
be left to the State Board of Education
or to the county boards of education
for their respective countiesG Shall q
censorship of school books be exercised
by seven men at Raleigh, or shall the
people through their local educational
authorities determine Tt for themselves
Is there intelligence and virtue suffi
cient among the county school authori
ties and teachers and those interested
in education in the county, living
among the people they seek to serve,
to determine the service Of their school
books, or are they compelled to defer
to the wisd Om of seven men at RAleighl
Has anybody been able to show that
the wisdom of these seven men is
greater than the wisdom of five hun
dred3 The more people interested in
government, usually, She better iG is.
wisdom and patriotism of seven and
five hundred9 had better have said
it is between one and five hundred, be
cause practically for many purposes
the State superintendent is the State
Board OF Education. And this is not
unusual, for the other members of the
board naturally look to the State
Superintendent to keep them posted
and informed upon matters which lie
specially In his particular field OF work
He is named In the law as the Superin-
tendent of Public instruction. He is
charged by law with the duty. by cor
respondence, reading and travel, to
make and keep himself informed upon
the educational needs of the people of
the State This is his special duty.
The other mem ,ers have other special
and onerous duties for the faithful dis
charge OF which they are solely respOn
sible. You know, gentlemen, it is Gus
tomary to have prominent gentlemen
on committees who are not expected
TO work, honorary ball managers, who
cannot and do not dance, and honorary
pail bearers who do not tote" the
cofhn. Such men are not put on for
service but for weight and dignity
They do not do, but they make what
is done more impressive and authori
tative. A monopoly has been in North
Carolina since 1879. which understand
lowered out and frulted into q trust in
1890 and yet. for aught know, il may
be true that there have been members
of the State Board of Education who
do not know or have never seriously
suspected the real history of text. book
adoption in North Carolina
learn, however, that one member
of the State Board took more interest
In book adoption than the other mem
bers seem to have done, and went all
the way to Asheville TO influence book
adoption in the city schools In favor of
books adopted by the State Board and
published by the University Publishing
Company, represented by w. B Ken.
drick
Every power taken from the people
and centralized In the State Board has
been taken under the speclous plea of
una fOrn1tty; just as though there was
any OpposlGlOn TO uniformity, and just
as though county uniformity worked
greater inconvenience to the people
than State uniformity. Nobody knows
better than the friends of the book
monopoly In North Carolina that such
arguments are calculated to deceive
They know that not one family i'm one
hundred moves from one county TO an
other during any book adoption, and
that only such as move could be affected
by the use of different books In differ
ent counties. The tender regard of the
book monopoly in North Carolina for
every one child In five hundred is far
more than offset by It's plundeTing the
four hundred and ninety-nine who do
not move from county to county. The
book trust would have the book bust
ness as uniform as the Desert of Sahara
and make all competition as dead; but
it remains TO be seen whether they can
out wit and deceive the Representatives
of the people. The friends of the book
monopoly deceive the un nWary with the
speciOus argument that State adoption
makes better prices because of the
reasonable certainty of selling q greater
number of books in the particular
State; but am informed by book men
that there is q usual wholesale price
for the whole United States, and that
this price is not varied on account of
adoption or non adoption in particu
lar State. The change for one State of
q wholesale price adopted for forty
four States will tend to disorganize the
business
But. gentlemen, wish to show some
reasons against the system of State
adoption now prevailing In North Caro-
lima in the light of experience and his
tory: First, State adoption has been
usually attended with scandals in high
places and against nigh officials and an
atmosphere, thick with charges OF
bribery and corruption. tending TO
bring all government into dlsrepute
among the masses and TO shake the
faith Of the people in their institutions.
A SKETCH OF SCANDALS. N
/ have not time here and now to give