The record-union., 1898-06-08
STATE SCHOOLBOOK SYSTEM
AN APPEALsFOR ITS PRoTEC-
TON.
New Address Issued by the State
Schoolbook League to
the Public.


Of the present schoolbook system. 1t
shows up the latest form of attack
by the book ring in it's efforts to de-
stroy the plan under which the State
has been working:
Dear Sir: A short time ago we sent
out a pamphlet showing the large saw
ing to the people resulting from the
adoption Of the present State school
book system, and also drawing atten-
tion to the fact that the combine
of private publishers was using every
means in its power, fair or unfair, to
discredit the system and to break 1t
down.
Since that pamphlet was sent out, a
convention Of the County and City Su-
perintendents of Schools of California
has been held in this city, and though
the schoolbook trust had it's agents
and workers in the lobbies and it's
spokesmen on the floor Of the conven-
tion, not single statement or figure
presented in our former pamphlet was
either questioned or contradicted. In
truth, the trust has finally been forced
TO admit the economy to the people OF
the State series Of schoolbooks, but
now seeks to uproot the system by at
taclxing the literary quality Of the
books. It has been shown beyond dis
pute that the State system has already
resulted in a saving to the people OF
hundreds Of thousands of dollars, and
1t would seem preposterous to condemn
It now merely because some OF the
books may need correction or revision.
Yet this is exactly what the book ring
and its agents are trying to accom-
plish, and this is the attitude in which
they have succeeded in placing one
half Of the County and City Superin-
tendents of the State.
It occurs, however, that even the
agents Of the combine themselves can
find fault with only two or three Of
the books Of the State series, and 1t
would seem to be but mere exercise
Of business instinct to correct SUCH
faults, rather than suffer the destruc-
tion Of system that is saving such
vast sums to the parents and taxpay-
ers Of the State.
No great invention has ever been pro-
duced perfect at the first trial. When
watching the Hoe printing press, that
prints 10000 copies of a newspaper in
one hour and folds the same ready for
distribution, we know that the in
ventor made many fruitless efforts be-
smashed many a machine because it
did not come up to his desires. The
cotton gin, that revolutionized the use
of cotton and made the proud boast,
Cotton is King" a living truth for
many a year, was not perfected by
Whitney until after many years Of
struggle and many trials Of imperfect
machines. AS we use our rubber cloth
ing at the present time, and realize how
absolutely essential to the comfort Of
the human race has become this new
element in life, our minds are insensi-
bly, carried back to the days when
Goodyear saw invention after invention
fail, process after process come to
naught, and faced ruin, disgrace and
poverty, before he finally achieved sue
cess.
The farmer cutting his grain upon
the Western prairies with the i'm
proved Mccormick reaper that has re-
duced the cost Of harvesting to a min
imum, does not always remember the
numberless models that were spoiled
and the numberless machines that
failed, before the perfected reaper was
placed upon the market by the in
ventor. The traveller, rushing over
mountain and valley, drawn by the
thousands of tons of freight and thou
sands of passengers fifty miles an hour,
cannot but realize the difference be-
tween the Rocket that Stevenson
first put upon the rails and the glorious
locomotive that now seems instinct, al
most, with life. The changes since the
first locomotive engine drew a train
have been many and varied. When
we stand in our offices in Sacramento
and converse with friends in San Fran
cisco through the telephone, that most
wondrous marvel Of the nineteenth
century, while we bow our heads with
admiring reverence to Bell and Ed-
son, we know that this crowning
achievement Of science was not the re-
suit Of the first effort, but Of many
hundreds Of attempts, and that even
now 1t Is being changed and perfected
to meet the requirements Of business
and the changing mood Of the currents
Of the earth.
So 1t is with everything human The
first beginning is never the complete
success. 1t is only by the action Of
the gods that Minerva can spring full
armed from the front of Jove. 1t is
not given to mortals to have their pro-
ductions symmetrical and perfect in
CNCiy pdAt az luC lliS Sl dltCliIpt.
Is 1t any wonder then, that the State
textbooks are not entirely perfect
when they have been continually sur
rounded by enemies during the infancy
of their production and through every
stage Of their development? Indeed,
It Is a marvel that they have reached
the stage Of perfection in which we now
find them in the face Of such opposi-
ton, for it is not true that the books
are defective from a general literary
point of view.
It is remarkable fact that the
most violent opponents Of the books
have never yet pointed out any ma
terial defects in them. While 1t is ad-
mitted that there may be slight errors
in some Of the books, we positively
aver that the series as whole will
compare more than favorably with any
other series published in the United
States The United States History
of the State series, to which the most
objection has been made, was under
revision when the present Governor
vetoed an appropriation, part OF
which was to have been used in the
publication of a revised edition Of that
book, and in so doing he caused a
suspension OF the work, thus giving a
shadow Of foundation to the criticism
of the text of the book now being
made But even the unrevised history
is a good book as far as 1t goes. and
as a prominent County superintendent