The San Francisco call., 1903-01-24
FREE TEXTBOOKS.

session by bill offered by Senator Emmons of Kern
County, which provides that books shall be fur
nshed at the expense of the taxpayers and that they
shall remain public property and shall be passed from
class to class and pupil to pupil for common use
until
The intention of the public school system is to tur-
nsh schoolhouse and teacher at the public cost ana
that in all other the means of such education
shall be provided by the parents OF the pupils In
its simple beginning, which should not have been
so widely departed from, the purpose OF the public
school was to teach the children OF the people to read
write and speak correctly the English language ac-
quire sound knowledge of arithmetic, the founda-
ton of all mathematics, and of geography
Gradually this excellent curriculum has been added
to until it embraces branches that are only
necessary to a common school education but hinder
its proper acauirement The school system now costs
nearly half the paid by the people but this is
cheerfuly borne and is not considered an exactMr
To this cost it is proposed to add that OF fur
nishing free school books, unnecessary and dam
aging addition to the expense, which will simply play
into the hands OF enemies of the public schools.
II the proposition to add to the burden OF the sys
TEN were in the direction of increasing the pay
u teachers il would have good ground to stand on
for such increase is desirable and in many
necessary but what hope can teachers have of such
increase when the taxpayers are loaded with the
burden of free books? One effect would be absolutely
The taxpayers, feeling the need OF economizng
somewhere. TO meet the added expense would surely
resort to cut in teachers saaries the readiest
means OF tightening the load
But for the worst effect OF the proposed change
look the pupils themselves Children get
their first lesson in ownership from the possession
OF their school books and their first lesson in
n
Such ownership goes further Secretary Hay. in his
splendid Grafton in memoram at the Congressional
obsequies in honor OF President Mckinley, descrb-
ing the generation which the President belonged
said: They received their lessons in pure literature
and in patriotism from the splendid school readers
OF fifty years ago..
The school books were then generally, as they are
to-day 10 less extent, the nucleus OF the family
library, and frequently for time in every family
were that library entire. They were treasured for
their inherent excellence and for the associations
which chung to them. Parents priced the books that
their children had used, and they were among the
family treasures kept and guarded by that affection
which is the sweetest and enduring element in
family life
Now Tor this it is proposed to substitute books
that bring sense of ownership, that are not part
OF the family possessions that have no place in the
ulelOIE ana 10 ASSOCIATIONS 10 nuldll
affection All sentiment is to be barred out of that
period life when should be incucated, and the
school books are to be public property to pass from
clean unclean and back the disseminators of dis
ease and something be treated with aversion,
rather than be the object OF care and the represen-
tative OF sentiment.
Besides all this the proposed law will imprint in
the spirit OF the children OF the State the sense Of
dependence and paupersm. 1t will teach them the
bad lesson that in material things the State must
provide The first lesson of their early life will be
that the State must take care of them when our
whole political system has basis the duty
citizen 10 take care Of the State 1t is proposed,
therefore that the taxpayers shall bear an additional
burden for the purpose OF uniting the people for
self-government and independence.
There are in California OF school age 100000 chill
dren II the annual expenditure for books for each
S., the addition taxation will be $I25oooo
TO increase indefinitely as the school children increase
in number. Do the taxpayers wish such addition?
Should friends of the public schools not rather seek
to economic expenditures and increase the compen-
sation of teachers instead of seeking novel ways
make the schools more costly and less efficient in the
training they are intended to give?
There is no end to the ingenuity of the demagogue
politician the professional friend of the people, who
if let alone will end in devising ways and means to
destroy the individuality and independence of the
community. This free textbook proposition is OF
that character and should meet the stern opposition
of all friends of the schools and of all believers in
the manliness of the American character The State
provides lavshy for its defective classes and this
provision is approved by humanity and public policy
But Senator Emmons bill is calculated to wipe out
the line between the helpless and defective classes
and the public school children and put them all
/ together bcnehcaries of public charity Every
righteous American feeling revots against it as un-
WISE unnecessary and inimical to the common
schools.