The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-05-02


Thought All the books used IN the public
schools came from the North, including
The histories that Children were studying.
and the Misrepresentation were such as
10 create in the minds OF the pupils q
suspicion that their fathers who fought
for Southern rights were rebels and
traitors.
The Confederate veteran camps took the
matter UP and made a, careful investi-
CATION OF the situation in Virginia and
other Southern states. It was ascertadned
thai in many communities the children
were learning to view the war between
the States and the causes which led UP
to 1T through the spectacles of Northern
writers. The Northern soldiers We're
spoken of as our men, and the South
ern soldiers as rebels and 1.-THE enemy"
The children were made to believe that
tlatAr fathers went TO war in order to keep
the negroes enslaved and treat them as
brutes, while the Northerners were pic
tured as patriotic supporters of the tiaS
and noble liberators of the slaves. There
was a generous exploitation of the noble
and heroic achievements Of the Northern
soldiers. while the Southern rag-tag and
bob-tail were ridicuIed and denounced.
1t became apparent to the Confederate
veterans that there must be a reform. but
The question was how to accomplish 1T.
There was but one publishing house in the
South CT sufficient strength ito grapple
of,
tatEve Southern men waited on the presi-
dent of the B. Z. Johnson Publishing
Company and asked if something could
not be done Mr.. Johnson replied that
something should be done, and gathering
around him a few friends of kindred
spirit, including leading educators of the
South, he undertook the preparation OF a
series OF textbooks in which the honor
of the South should be as jealousy
guarded as the honor of the whole Union
These Books were literally adopted by. the
Southern schools and the work has grown
until now the company publishes seventy
FIVE textbooks. and we are informed that
il has in preparation sixty more.
Necessarily, il was a tedious work, for,
unfortunately, Southern people had for so
long relied upon Northern manufacturers
TO supply their needs that they were not
disposed to patronize a home institution.
But merit viii tell and enterprise will
tell, and the merit of the Johnson books
and the enterprise of the concern have
won the victory The 3. T. johnson Pub
fishing Company is now an established in
st1tution in the South, and the books
which the company is publishing find no
difficulty in circulating on their merit
The company now has hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth OF contracts in
many of the States. running over a period
of five or six years, and negotiations with
county or State boards now in progress
which bids fair ITO yield contracts amount
ing to more than 100000.
In addition to its series of school books
the house also publishes some of the most
popular subscription books of the day,
ana every body who has examined these
books is impressed with the fine workman
snip thereof All the books of this char
|
are clean and laea!thful and in point of
fine workmanship they have no superiors.
The confidence of the business world in
this company has been recently manifest
ed in a way which must be exceedingly
tatifying to Mr. johnson and his asso-
GATES Several months ago when it was
foreseen that the rapid development OF
its school book business would require
an enlargement of the calGtal, the COM
pany called together a number of the
leading business men Of Richmond, and
submitted the affairs of the house TO the
crowd These gentlemen, after examining
The business of the house, expressed their
faith in the enterprise and agreed to act
as an Advisory Committee for THE reor-
ganization of the company, being in
fiuerced in the matter solely by the desire
so deIld q hand in the development OF an
Institution which promises SO much not
only for Richmond, but for the entire
South When the committee invited sub
scmptions to the founders stock the re-
Spouse was so hearty That the stock was
oyer-subscribed, and when the books We're
closed subscriptions were still coming in
These subscriptions came from twenty
one States. and from many of the tinan-
ciers of the country
There could be no better testimonial to
| the conapany's character and financial
worth.
THE GATES CASE AGAIN.