El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-05

d.
While the school book publishers
claim that their work has greatly aid
ed the advance of educati ton, the edu-
Gators are quick to claim the enormous
harvest which the publishers have
reaped as their profit. No doubt both
are right, for the fact remains that the
publication of text books has come to
represent an enormous industry which
| is becoming each day more distinct
from any other line of publication.
To the credit of the publishers 1t
must be admitted that the American
school books, like American school
| furniture, are as a whole far superior
in all respects to those issued by any
i other nation. The illustrations and
decorations outclass even those of the
French, who a few years ago were the
leaders in this industry.
Cost of Text Books.
According to the more careful in
vestigations, the average cost Of the
text books in the common schools
reaches s1.15 per capita, which, for the
$4,000, 900 school children in the coun-
try involves an annual expenditure of
$40. 200, 200. This includes, only the ell
ementary schools in which the cheaper
kinds of text books are used The
amount spent for text books in the
higher schools. colleges and universe
ties is proportionally greater.
Graft I'm Choosing Books.
There probably has been as much
bribery and graft in the selection Of
public school books as in any other
department calling for the expenditure
Of so large an amount of money. Rival
publishers exert every possible influ-
ence to secure the contract of supply
ing the books in given school dis
trict. The provision Of free text books
in the different states greatly en-
HANGED the amount of corruption in this
direction, because more books were
used. If 1t was a profitable trans
action to secure the adoption of a set
of books by a school board when they
must be purchased by the individual
families. it became much more impor-
tant, when, by state provision. every
child was given the use Of all the
books he needed.
Free Text Books.
Free text books caused much discus
sion before their final adoption in
many of the states. There were many
arguments against such a provision,
although It's economic advantage has
now become fully established. Under
the free system, the state secures all
books at the lowest wholesale price.
whereas when they were purchased by
the parents individually, there was IN
most cases a considerable mfddleman's
profit. The merchants who formerly
sold text books were, of course, among
those who objected most strenuously
to their provision by the state. The
actual cost of equipping all the chill
dren with all the books they needed
for the school curriculum is much less
than was formerly expended by the
parents, who provided part of the chill
dren with part of the books they need
ed. A material advantage is that the
work of the school is not held back
because some of the students have to
wait until their books are bought.
When the cost of the school book is
paid by public money, the expense of
educating the nation is more evenly
distributed among all the taxpayers,
whether they have children or not,
which seems a fairer arrangement.
Many of the states have, at differ
ent times, given consideration to print
ing their own text books by their own
printing plant For several years CAL
ifornia did this. For a number OF rea-
sons, however, the plan has been aban-
doned In that state. as it has been
found possible to secure a better text
book, for the same amount Of money,
than the tsate could produce, taking
into consideration the cost of supply
ing a board of editors and writers to
prepare the subject matter of the
books.
Costs Publishers Heavily.
While many sensational stories are
told of the corrupt methods used by
publishers to secure the adoption of
their books by school board, there is
another side to the question which is
seldom considered. That IS the enor-
mouse expense entailed to the publish
ers by the introduction of a new set
of books 1t has been the custom for
publishers to distribute sample books
freely among school boards and teach
ers. These books were produced at
some expense and their free distrfbu-
ton involved large outlay Notwith-
standing this, it has been found that
the persons to whom these books were
given frequently sold them after they
had been officially adopted by the
school authorities. BY this means, the
free distribution of books involved
not only their own cost, but the addi-
tional loss caused by their sale. The
abuse in the sale of Introduction books
is causing a number of publishers to
curtail the number distributed for this
purpose
There is no other class of books so
expensive in their first cost as text
books A certain well known geogra-
ply, now extensively used throughout
the world, called for an expenditure
of $4,000 before a single copy could be
produced. The maps and illustrations
were all new and the most accurate
that could be secured. While millions
of copies of this book have been issued
within the last 10 years, the first cost
was speculative. though the returns
have more than justified 1t. The ex-
pense of producing a new scientific
book is even greater than the books in
the elementary schools and with most
of these the number Of sales is not
likely to reach the million line. If
book of this kind is not we'll received
it involves heavy loss to the pub
Usher, especially if, as is generally the
case it contains new and original Illus
trations.
Publishers Ask Guarantees.
Because of the risk involved, many
publishers will not undertake the pro-
duction of text book unless guar
antee sale of several thousand copies
nh