Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-07-19

W 1Or cnange III prOFldlng 1Or perl
odic adoption. The object, more
over, in inviting bids is to secure not
the cheapest books, but the best
books at the lowest prices. The board
showed it's recognition Of this princi-
pie as a primary end, and in the fact
that, at it's first meeting, and fire.
| quently In the course of adoption, 1t
was repeated with emphasis that the
| first duty was to get the best books
irrespective of reasonable. differences
| In price. One Of the most dangerous
doctrines implied in Mr.. Swearin-
gems protest Is that which tends to
establish the principle that books
should not be changed and that
cheapness is the chief object.
No mans child should be compell-
ed to use inferior text books even
though such books were furnished
free Of cost. Time once lost by the
child through poor books, is never
recovered. and the damage done is
irreparable. People living in the
country, are, as a rule, not in posi-
ton to keep up with the advance in
text book improvements. These ad-
vances are ON a par with or ahead
Of, improvements along other lines :;
and books that were relatively good
four or five years ago may be rela-
lively poor to-day. Surely the coun-
try children are entitled to as good
books as the town children are. This
advantage the board was fully deter
mined they should have, without re-
gard to criticism.
Saving to the State.
Those who have commented on the
cost of the adoption have overlooked
the positive fact that this board has
secured what is confesscdly the best
contract ever obtained from the pub
fishers in this country. For we
maintain that the credit for this con-
tract is due to no one man. but that
the contract was the product Of the
combined Judgment Of the whole
board and was unanimously adopted
by it. BY this contract, for the first
time in the history Of book adopt
ions, ANY old book" in the hand Of
the child has been given definite
money value and will be taken in
exchange for any book of lower or
higher grade in the same series BY
hn !,
time allowance for exchange has been
increased 25 per cent.
Both the method and the saving in
this exchange provision may be illus
tratcd with the readers. BY the con-
tract the old Johnson Primer, which,
when new, cost the children IL cents,
has now an exchange value Of Is
cents. That is to say, an old John
son Primer and 10 cents will buy a
new Wheeler Primer, the retail con-
tract price of which is 20 cents. Or
the same primer and 10 cents will
buy new Wheeler First Reader, the
contract retail price OF which is 25
cents. In the same way, an old
Primer may be used at this valua-
ton of ID cents to help pay for any
reader-First, Second, Third, Fourth
or Fifth; whereas, in the past a
primer could be exchanged only for
a primer. Fourth, an old First
Reader, which cost 20 cents when
new, has by contract been given a
money value Of l5 cents and may be
used to help pay for a primer or for
any reader.
In the case Of the biographies, the
old Primary Geography, which was
discarded by the board, and which
cost when new 33 cents, has by con-
tract been given an exchange value
OF 23 cents, being only 10 cents less
than 1t cost when new. That Is to
say, an old Primary Geography and
% cents will pay for the new book
adopted. Or the old Primary Geog-
raphy and Go cents will pay for the
new Advanced Geography. SO, too,
the old Advanced Geography and 22
cents will buy the new Primary Ge-
ography. Could any one deny that
money has been saved to the State?
Cost to the State.
1t has been claimed that the board
by its action wantOnly destroyed
property values estimated at $780,
900. This sum is just a few thou
sand less than the cost Of all the
school books bought in South Caro-
lima during the years l906-l9 9lJ
How prcpOsterOus this claim IS will
appear from the fOllowing:
al