The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-25
THE TEXTBOOK LAW.

| The attack that has been made on
| the state textbook law because of the
| change in some of the common school
| books made this year by the textbook
| commission, brings forth an able de-
Tense of the law by w. D. Ross, for
merly county superintendent of Jeffer-
son county and now superintendent OF
| the Peabody schools.
The trouble with the people who are
making a fuss about the textbook law
| is that they have forgotten the condi-
lions that existed before the present
law was passed. A few erratic indt-
viduals are demanding that the text
book law be repealed, which is just
what the book companies desire. Then
their agents could bring about fire.
quent changes in individual districts.
charging whatever prices they please,
and the aggregate cost to the state
and consequent profit to the publishers
would be far greater than at present.
The book companies can be expected
to foment the dissatisfaction with the
present law wherever possible. In
Mr.. Ross says:
las conditions were before the pres
ent law went into effect any single
school district could change its books
as often as the board of that district
saw fit, or as often as a slick agent
could persuade them to do so; &onss-
quently books were constantly 30 ag
changed. whereas now they can be
changed under no circumstances
oftener than every five years. More
over, when a change is made, 1t is
state wide, so that if, after buying the
needed books. a family moves from
one district to another, the books serve
just as well as before. while under
former conditions, when a family
changed districts, an entirely new set
of books often had to be bought, be-
cause there was absolutely no uni
formity in the books used by different
districts.
Then, again, under the present law
complete change is not necessary
every five years, and such a change
has never BEEN made since the law
went into effect. In fact, when the
present adoption of grammars expires.
the present text will have been in use
fnteen years, by successive readop,
lions. and the arithmetics that have
Just been displaced were used ten
years. And in such subjects as his
tory, geography, and the sciences. five
years is as long period as books
ought to be used without changes, be-
cause new developments, discoveries,
and inventions require that books in
such subjects be kept up to date.
Then the change itself is not such
a financial burden as some people
seem to imagine, because the law re-
QuireS that when change is made, the
publishers of the newly adopted books
shall take up all old books that are la
disable condition at one-half the con-
tract price of the new ones. And 1
have this year seen many children take
old books that were far more than
half worn out to the dealer. and get
brand new books in their place at lust
half price In addition to all this, the
price of all books under the present
state uniformity law is from one-third
to one-haf less for the same books
witness. for instance, the Appleton
readers-than they were under the old
system, where each district chose its
own books, and the price was not fixed
by law. This last statement. like all
the others made. can be easily verified
by very slight investigation.
And now 1 want to add one thing
more. which is necessarily only mat
ter of personal opinoin, and to be
taken only for what it seems to be
worth. and that is that on the whole
the books now in the hands of the
pupils in the common schools of Kan
sas are the best they have ever had
Let ii be said, too, that this opinion -
entirely without personal bias. because
I did not even so much as recommend
a single one Of the books adopted.
believed the Commission had the
knowledge and integrity to select tho
best books. and I think they did so.
And It seems to me the charge that
they were worked by slick agents falls
to the ground of it's own weight. be-
cause there were Just as many sucn
agents trying to get the commission to