The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-08
educational
putnam, pub. Co.

Another strenuous day In the book
8inn,i1ry ended WIN an adjournment OIL
the ,ouuai,tee ut 8 o'clock In the after
noon and n decision 10 meet asaln ut
nc O'Clock tnis morning.
Tie proceedings yesterday were
varied and fun of LIE aud interest,".
gTnoy opercd with#a statement By LIZ
sbr;,riau Is kennedy. withdrawing al he
hud said + OH Al the previous day of q
4 tero gator III u nature oncerning q hai5
witnesses and fi,fa ianEuage va ut
his request expunged from the record.
Delegate Cox. Of the COMMITTEES, fol-
lowed with q warm protest agaln 81. n e
language OF the affidavit OF irving Put
nam concerning his alleged offer 10
Mr. Kennedy of a certain sum to write
a history OF Virginia. and this paper
wns made part OF the record. But
pcrha ps the feature OF the day was
the testimony. documentary and oral. /.
concerning the prices paid Putnam by
MIR Kennedy for books for the tray
cling .ibraries.
This was interesting from start to
finish, and attracted marked attention.
The committee, after tho inquiry was
started, sent the Educational publishing
Company. OF New York. q list of the
titles purchased from Putnam, and asked
them to bid upon the books. The bid
was sent IN in due form, having been
made with the view OF getting contract,
the concern not knowing the books had
already been purchased.
4 Bid Produced.
This bid was produced yesterday, and
Mr.. Joseph Smith, ce-presIdent and
manager of the company, was put on the
stand to verify the figures and to make
the comparisons. The discrepancies
shown We're almost alarming In their
width and regularity. Mr.. Smith tonk
what is known as the list price i'll one
Iii another. and those OF his bid IN n
third. and In an Overwhelming majority
OF cases he had fallen far below the
prices charged by Putnam.
The point was raised by Mr.. Kennedy
that the books compared may have beer
OF different editions. but Mr. Smith
said, as far as lie had been able to
80 with the comparisons, lie felt sure
they We're correct for all practical pur.
poses. S
On January 21st Mr.. Kennedy wrote
Mr.. Smiths house, and asked that &
comparative statement be made UP O.
the entire list. but Mr.. Smith replied
that he had already made bid, ant
referred the Librarian to that.
Mr.. Kennedy named nine titles speci
fcally, however and gave Putnam'
quoted lower ilgures, ranging in differ
cnce from Zoe to a0c per volume
AS TO the Editions.
Messrs. Smith and Kennedy wnanglet
for some time over the tables and tn
best method Of arriving at what wer
the editions on which prices wer
quoted by the two houses, but tn
former stuck out that in most case
they were the same. Messrs. Crum
and Norycll. Of tho johnson Publishing
Company, testified that NIr. Kenned
had talked with them about writing
history Of Virginia. and asked If the
would undertake It's publication
They both said tho librarian had lndl
Gated that he would wish an advance q
funds to get the work started II !.
should undertake it. The latter said Il
spoke to Mr.. Kennedy of the probabl
difficulty OF getting his proposed histoc
on the Virginia list in case OF Il singl
list adoption next time. and that II,
latter brushed this aside by saying tlss
lie had enough influence with the Stat
Board of Education to get any book 4
the list he might desire,
One Little Brush.
Messls. Byrd and Cox oss-exnmine
Mr.. Kennedy ligidly about the relutll
cost of books here and in New Yor]
hut they never could make him say III,
they could be gotten moro cheaply heI
than in New York, except in certn1
ruses. Witch did not frequently occur.
There was n brief collouuy betwce
Chairman Eyr'l ana MIR, Meredith. bl
II seemed to be the general idea til,
III arose olr Of Il misunderstanding
tho situation at the point where
occurred, 1t passed off, and is prol
ably BOW forgotten.
Senator Strobe was absent from IL
session yesterday, having been callt
tn Amherst on an important leg,
I'd matter i7
The chief witness to-day will "a
Superintendent Joseph D.. NEglesto