The St. Johns herald., 1898-10-08

a cost that would continue them in
 popular favor. The aggregate wealth of the American schOol-book trust
 amounts to millions of dollars, and
 when such an aggregation of wealth
 undertakes to accomplish an object it
 can call to its aid, by mere attraction
 as it were, some of the most influential
 of agencies.
 Thus, at every session of the legisla-
 ture, from the adoption of the consti-
 tutional amendment above alluded to
 until that of 1897, the corridors of the
 State Capitol have been crowded with the agents and attorneys of the trust. whose endeavors have
 been chiefly directed toward the
 abolition and destruction of the
 State Printing Office, the object being
 to deprive the State of the ability to publish the books at a cost to the peo- pie that would justify a continuance of . the system. For 1t can be easily seen , that the cost Of publishing the books must be much greater when the entire } expense Of power. naintenance. admin 1 istradOn, insurance, etc, is borne by l the schOOl-bOok fund, than when such l general expenses are divided between
 that fund and the fund usually provid-
 ed for general State printing. These
 efforts of the trust were entirely abor- | tive until the legislative session of | 1897, when the governor did, with the stroke of his pen, that which the book
 trust had for years failed to accomplish he vetoed the appropriation, thereby causing a suspension of all State print ing, thus throwing the entire expense
 of publication, maintenance, power, ! administration, insurance, etc, upon the school-book revolving fund.-
 The books of the California S,ate series will compare more than favor ably with any similar books published
 in the United States. Important re- visions and new compilations have been made, and although this branch of the work has not always been en- trusted to friendly hands, still, In spite of the fact that the development of the series has been beset by enemies on almost every hand, the texts of the books are now much better than those of any other series which have under gone repeated reviSions.
 The firm stand taken by A. J. John ston, Superintendent of State Printing,
 in behalf of the State books, and the determination he displayed in main- taining them in popular favor, in so far, at least, as his department could do so, has called down upon him the diSpleasure of the private school-book trust, and it is now their desire to pre- vent his reelection as superintendent
 of State Printing if possible, for, at every stage of the contest between the trust and the State books, he has met and baffled the attempts of the former to uproOt and supplant the State sys- tenn.
 The present stage of the contest is most interesting, and one in which the
 people are much concerned; for if the tUfi--r 77E friendly tl the trust can r-f the printing department OI Lhis stal-
 Wart defender of the State schOOl-bOoks their fight for their destruction is all but won. That the stake is worth con tending for is shown by the statement founded upon official statistics, that during the inCumbenCy Uf a. J. Jonn-
 ston as superintendent of State Print ing alone, there have been printed and sold by the State nearly 2,000,000 school
 books, and at prices representing a
 saving to parents of about $500, ,000, or
 saving per capita of something like $4.50 for every child attending the pub
 lie schools of California; and that, too
 within a period of less than seven yearsi
 The danger that threatens the very existence of this institution of the peO-
 pie had become so manifest that
 number of the friends of the State schoOl-book system formed an assOcia- tion, some months ago, called the Cali fornia State SchoOl-BOok League" for the purpose of presenting an organized resistance to the efforts of the school book monopoly against the life of the State system. That association or league now has very large member ship, is non-partisan in character, and carries upon it's rolls the names of many of the most prominent citizens of California. The league has recently is- sued an address to the people of the State, in which the rise and progress of
 our school-boOk system is very fully recited, and the benefits to the people arising therefrom most interestingly and minutely stated. The league also
 lays bare to the public eye an inner
 view of the succession of conspiracies
 that have been entered into by the
 agents of the "book ring in their re-
 peated efforts to break down, cripple and destroy the popular State system. The figures given in the league pamph- lets are taken from official sources, the accuracy of which have not been, and cannot be, questioned; and the saving to the people shown to have been ef- fected since the State began the pub ] lication of her own school books amounts to a sum really startling in its proportions TabulatiOn after tabula- l LiOH io given, showing the prices of the books prior to the adoption of the State ! system, those now obtaining in Oregon, ! Arizona and Nevada and those being . paIu by parents III California at this time, and the comparisons show a sav- ing of AZ 1-3 per cent in favor of the California State series.
 Under the old system a parent mov- ing rom one county or district to an
 other was forced to discard the school books already purchased and buy new | ones, while under the present system
 the school books purchased in the re- motest district of Modoc county can be uSpd in any district in San Diego conn.,