The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-03
is IT THE TRUST? !?
The &c Other Side'' of the At
tack on Tayl0r's History.
Book Combine May Be Back
of 1t All.
STATE PAID THE BILL
Ten Thousand Copies Of Pam
phlet Printed.
Taxpayers Will Pay the Whole
Expense.
Suggestions From Member OF
Text Book Board.


D. o. McCray, a member of the state
school text book board, appointed by
Governor Leedy, said today:
Recent events would indicate that the
book trust is laying the ground work to
regain its lost footing in Kansas. The
trust is pretty smart in getting the Grand
Army of the Republic to take up its fight
on Taylor's Model School History, now in
use in the public schools, and Commander
Coulter is real cute in saddling the ex-
pense of printing ten thousand copies OF
Judge Gyp. Woods review of said his
tory onto the state of Kansas, for L am
informed that the state printing board,
composed of three state officers, audited
and paid the bill for this printing out Of
state funds. OF course, these incidents
book trust and the present state admin
istration r are in collqsion, but as ;1htt tncle
Chester Thomas would say, 1t IS mighty
good circumstantial evidence.
1.-The history of school book monopoly
and extortion practiced upon the people
is well known to all. The trust was do
| ing business then-and the people paid
the bills. spasmodic efforts to pass school
book legislation were made at each seS-
sion of the legislature, but the sessions
| were always too short to reach these
| bills. The session of 1897 seemed to be
sufficiently long to, not only reach the
| branches of the legislature devoted lit
| tie time to stock yards and other ques-
| tions, as history has fully recorded. That
| legislature was not Republican in either
Il had supposed that the book trust
| had decided to permanently abandon TINS
| to effect. When Governor Stanley came
| into office a year ago his message TO the
| forceful endorsement of the state uni
| fornity textbook law he urged that
| he law be strengthened and extended SO
| as TO include high school books. A Re
| publican house and a Populist senate
| went on record in favor of this recon-
/ mendation. This action, it was thought,
| took the school book agitation out OF
| Kansas politics, for a Republican and a
| Populist administration mad both declar-
| ed that state uniformity was good tnlng
Judge Wood who signs himself Gen
| eralissimo,' of several departments OF the
maona ana ana Sste ~ nsatridfisTl
| and loyalty for the universe, begins the
| new year loaded to the guards with bur-
| not tearing up school histories entirely
| in the interest of patriotism or for his
| the books of the trust which were sup
| planted by the present series are the best,
and in order to get them back we must
| fess that the book trust would not hesi-
tate to hide behind the sacred virtue of
patriotism in, its assaults upon the
| doing SO it could dislodge that book and
| do not want to believe that Judge Wood
| has entered into that kind of a compact,
| along with the state printing board. I
| will admit that the judge is a little more
| patriotic than anybody else on earth, but
| that he would spend several weeks re-
| history, filling this review with mis-
| representations and partisan bias, pure
| " in the interest of patriotism, is a
| question open for debate.
| LAS history is the subject under dis
| cussion it might not be out of place for
| me to give a few facts which Judge Wood
| to state that when the state uniformity
| law was passed in 1897 that an agent of
the trust approached one Of the, editors
| Of the Mail and Breeze. then the off
| cial state paper and offered him $50 if
he would hold back the publication of
| that law two weeks so that the trust
| could get its fangs into several towns of
the state and bind them up in contracts
before the law was in effect When the
time arrived for Governor Leedy to make
up his jewels and appoint the. school.
| text book commission, I had the honor of
| representing the Republican party on that
| board A short time before the meeting
| of the commission in May, an agent OF
| the trust, so Superintendent Stryker told
| me appeared at his office and demanded
| tions for the entire list of school books;
Mr.. Stryker informed him that he would
have 70 take his chances that there were
nine members of the commission. That's
your vote and will secure enough votes
for the entire adoptions."
1.-THE trust decided not to bid for any
thing, and through its influence half
dozen of the big school book companies
We're " ret then in Topeka ready to bid. The
refusal of the combine to bid was be-
low prices fixed by the legislature. But
within thirty days the agents of the trust
swooped down on Missouri and submit
ted bids and received contracts at ex-
actly the same prices fixed in the Kan
1T was the purpose of the school book
combine to thwart the will of the people
enacted into law by the legislature by
| preventing, if possible, the adoption OF
full series of books by the textbook COM
mission. The trust argued that if it could
keep out bidders the commission would
be unable to get series of books, and
thus the law would become dead letter.
Failing in this. Injunction proceedings
were commenced in Judge Hazen's court
with the purpose of delay. but this plan
of attack also failed. The result was
that the commission was. able to fill out
the list with a series of books that have
given the people of kanstS general salts
faction-books as gooda, d, in every respect
greatly reduced prices. In the frst FIVE
years under the state uniformity law the
people of this state will save $500 900 on
school books alone.
1.-The whole tenor Of Judge Woods COM
plant seems to be that Prof Taylor glor-
/ and discredited the heroism of the Union
forces. The historian should relate facts.
and not opinions But as to Judge Wood 3
contention. This is what Prof Taylor
said of President Lincoln's death:
- The grief of the nation was very
marked No president had ever been put
to so severe a test. and none since Wash
ington had so endeared himself to the
| people. His honesty, simplicity. fidelity
| and sympathetic nature, which never de-
serted him. had secured his reelection
the difficult question yet to be solved, the
nation felt it had lost a wise and safe
guide This This deeing eTTtended Tlte over to
| DIe especially mourned for him as for a
father. He went through life bearing
| the load of the peoples sorrows with a
| smiling face He was the guiding mind
of the nation while he lived and, when
| he died, the little children cried IN the
streets When the funeral procession
| passed by railway from Washington to
! his former home at Springfield. every sta