The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-07-16
FREE TEXT BOOKS.

ut the last regular session oi the leairln-
ture, called meeting oi the electors al
this district on the 25th inst. 90 decide
upon the following two questions, VIZ
First-Shall the pupils in the Crystal
Falls schools be furnished with text
books free of charge?
Second-Shall this district he governed
by the provisions Of the state Uniform
ity law?
will rndeavnr 10 make ms plain M
possible To you the scope of both oi
these propo-itiuns, and in ease leave
any point unexplained will cheerlully
supply further Information il you will
please call my attention To IL.
THE FREE TEXT BOOK LAW.
ie PROVISIONS Of this law the clerk
musr post notices ten days previous 10
the school meeting TINT those qualified
10 vote upon the question of raising
money in the district shall vote upon
the question OF authorizing the school
board 10 furnish text books free.
Who are qualified to vote upon the
raising Of money? The law says:
"Every citizen Of the age OF twenty
one, who has property assessed Ior
school taxes in any school district and
who has resided therein three months
next preceding any such meeting
shall be- a qualified voter IN said meet
ing upon all questions"
Upon this question oi Tree text books
IL requires "A muiorIiy OF all the electors
present.
| wish to sny that am heartily in
favor of free text books aud hope that
the electors Of this district see the way
clear To it's adoption.
One OF the principal objections heard
10 tins proposition IL thecost. Now, u ~
not necessary ioe the board To immedl-
ntely furnish all 81 the books used ~ the
school. They may work into II gradu-
ally; for instance this year they may
purchase arithmetics, next year readers,
and 40 on until all of the books are free
aud by that means escape the heavy
initinl expenditures incident to the
adoption of free text books.
Another objection is the fear that the
pupils will not care for books furnished
free M well M books Of their own
lyfmg This can he readily overcome
by the board requiring deposit iron
ench pupil when the books are issucd
insuring their return uninlured except
that occasioned 10y natural wear ant
tear.
BY far the principal objection from nay
point Of view s the necessity, at th'
present time, OF more school room IN,
Z the consequent heavy draft upon schoo
funds for that purpose during the pres
ent year at least. However, as sal'
at the outset, there ~ no necessity 10
purchasing more than n small qnantit.
of books this year which will not tax
much Of the school funds.
To offset all of these objections ther
will bc the very many advantages nrlr
ing from the adoption 81 Tree text books
The first one is the great reduction 4
the cost OF books per capita. Man
districts IN this state have adopted IRE
text books already and some OF th
statistics OF costs in those districts ma
be al interest To you: In East Sagina
nnder the free text book plan the cost
sixty cents for each pupil aud that u
cludes pens, pencils, paper and tablet
an Saginaw, west side, the cost ~ Tort
cents, Detroit forty.two cents, Gran
Ledge fifty cents, Muskegon sixty cent
Contrast these with the cost rlgl
here in our own district where, und
the present system, the cost ~ at lea
So 80. Statistics kept IN Flint sho
that the cost there, each pupiliurnishl'
Apwn books, il 1915.
Oside from the cost there are gre'
advantages arising from free text boo
I'm the work in the school. Text boo
are always in the hands of all pupil
There is u proper uniformity IN all
the grades; the compulsory law can
enforced TO better advantage and the
a. no complaint because some are II
pished text books under the plen
inability 10 buy them themselves VIII
Others are denied that privilege.
/ wish TO repeat my declaration ma
at the outset and say TINT am heart
in iiavor of free text books AMI ho
that IA minority will vote yes" mp
this proposition.
There IL another proposition 81
mittsd 10 you at this election that
ominannder the
- UNIFORMITY or TEXT hook Law.
This requires minority orthose pr
ent and voting upon,the subject tn cn'
the proposition not to come under
Law. ] earnestly entreat you To W
''no" upon thisqucstion. Thelaw vii
thoroughly explained NJ district me
ing which have call Tor Wednesd
evening, July 90. at the court house
Twill not 60 into detail here.