Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-03-09
THAT scHooL-BooK TRUST.

The Baltimore News Of last Satur-
day had an exhaustive expose of the
methods ofthe American Book Cont
pany and gave history Of the efforts
made by several States to free them
selves from the grip of the octopus.
1t may be interesting to note in
passing that Baltimore pays IS to 20
per cent more for school books than
either Philadelphia, New York, Brook
Ign, or Washington, hence the effort
on the part of the News to relieve the
people. It says:
millions of dollars are spent anhu-
ally throughout this country for school
books. Until six years ago. when the
big publishing houses of the country
were acting independently of one an
other. there was some competition.
The firms grew tired of fighting and
they decided to combine and operate
as a trust The primary object Of a
trust is to crush out competition and
after the field has been cleared to exact
exorbitant prices. Like the Sugar
and Tobacco Trusts, the Book Trust
began its legal life in New Jersey. 1t
was incorporated January 9, 1890. and
the certificate of organization gave
the home of the trust as jersey City.
The capital stock of this gigantic COM
bination was only $4,000 and it APP
peared upon its face to be harmless
and modest enterprise. Its leading
split was the big Cincinnati publish
ing house of Van Antwerp, Bragg &
Co. and its first legal organization in
Guided the schoolbook department of
d. Appleton & Co., a. S. Barnes &
Co., and Ivison, Brakeman & Co., of
New York. Later, the trust purchas-
ed the business of the common school
books of Harper Bros, of New York,
and d. d. Merrill & Co.. of St. Louis.
For the last three or four years the
American Book Company or the Trust
has controlled the house of L. H. But
Ter & Co., of Philadelphia, made up of
the houses of Coperthwaite and +. H.
Butler. 1t also controls the house of
Sheldon & Co., including the houses
of Taintor Bros. & Co. and Sheldon &
Co."
The whole country is included and
in many States, battles such as that
which recently occurred at Charleston
have taken place. Not all have been
so successful. Here the monopoly
was completely broken, for competi-
ton enters into the bidding and the
books of the Trust retained on the list
must be sold at a greatly reduced
price, or not scld at all One of the
causes of this upheaval was the re-
membrane upon the part of the Leg
islature of an outrageous attempt at
bribery few years ago. George R.
Howard, an agent of the American
Book Company, on February IS, 1891.
was accused of offering bride to a
member of the West Virginia Legisla-
ture. An investigation followed, and
Howard was found guilty, called to
the bar of the House of Delegates, and
severely reprimanded, an incident lost
sight Of by many persons, but impor-
tant in view of the fact that the books
of the Trust were retained on the list
without reduction in price. They
have also been charged with being
large contributors to the Democratic
campaign fund, which, whether true OF
not we are unable to state, but the fail
presumption is that, like all trusts,
they know their friends.
AS the law now stands, at the emo
of the fve-year contract entered into
in 1891, prices will be cut about 331j
per cent, which will effect saving o
at least $50, 900 a year. No wonde
the agents of the Trust made vigor
Gus fight against the bill presented by
the committee on education.