The Penn's Grove record., 1913-06-13
The PENIS Grove Record
D JUNE 10, 1918.
Text Books: New and Old

contained all arJlcle ny ElH1oI
Brown. Chancellor of New York Uni
yersity, and former U. S. Commissioner
of Education. He attended the public
schools in the '70s and has been all III
structor OF official in education during
the last twenty-five years. His article
in part is as follows:
have ill mind other names III The
second half of the nineteenth century.
The Spencerian system OF penmalshlp
was having its remarkable vogue. MI.
Steele became famous because OF his
ssFourteen Weeks" in a long list OF
scientific subjects. MI. SwintOn had "a
still wider range. of authorship. And
I might recite a long list of other IA
miliar names, if it were not for the fear
of taking to much space, Oh Of coming
into the field of present-day competition
in the sale of books.
1t is generally known that this COM
petition has became very keen, and that
questions relating to the textbook bust
ness have come to be among the most
important of u problems of educa-
tional administration. The discussion
of these questions does not belong to
the present article. But it does belong
to this article to call attention to the
large influence that a really great OF
popular Textbook may exercise; and to
emphasize the fact that to get the best
books into the schools and to keep them
there till they are outgrOwn is among
the things that good school administra-
ton has to accomplish.
Some years ago, as a member of the
state textbook committee of Califor-
MIA, | had a good opportunity to COM
pare the text books then ON the market
with those of my own school-days. In
the subjects of reading, arithmetic, ge-
ography, and United States history, it
fell to my lot to examine a large num-
Der of books: these books presumably
included the BEST ones then in general
use.
In the subjects of history and geOgra-
ply, as nearly az | can now recollect, l
read from beginning to cid all the
books submitted; IL the other two sub
jects, the examination that l made of
the books was hardly less exhaustive.
The modern textbooks i'll United
States history were far better than any
thai were i'll use during my own school.
boy days. As a %youngster, l had been
greatly interested lii the Barnes and the
Qaackenbos books. But 1t Was plain
that the later books were more accurate,
better balanced, more alive with the
spirit of historic study, and l should
think that they would be mJIe interest
ing to modern boys and girls than those
that L studied.
Those i'll geography, also, were better
than The books of my b~oyhood, altho'
their superiority TO the old Guyot series
Was not always clear, except as they
recorded the advance of scientific
knowledge within the intervening Yeas.
The readers used i'll the California
schools, particularly the beginners
books, were better than any others
series that was submitted. But some
Of the readers that were i'll use i'll the
seventies and eighties seem TO me to be
superior to the newer publications. On
the whole, l was disappointed in the
reading-books. Possibly the practice of
giving complete literary works to pupils
i'll the schools in place Of books of selec-
lions has worked to the disadvantage
of the more advanced school readers.
My disappointment III the arithmetics
was still greater. The changes of
method had evidently left their mark
upon the textbooks i'll this subject, just
as similar marks have been left OH text
books in other subjects. 1t must be
twenty-five OF thirty years since l look
ed through the arithmetics of my own
school-days, and i'll the circumstances
comparisons ale of course dangerous.
But among the arithmetlcs that 1 ex-
amlned, L did not find any that seemed
to me more compact and understandable
than the ones that l wore to ragged
edges when | was a schoolboy.
If there is anything in these compar.
isons, they would seem to indicate that
great textbooks, and altogether satisfy
ing textbooks. are still hard to find,
Notwithstanding the industry Of Amer
lea teachers i'll compiling them. Asuc.
cessful textbook writer is still quite as
valuable a public selvant as he has been
at any time III the past. Our improve.
ments in oral teaching have by 10 means
made such writers superfiuous or unnec-
essary.
COMMENT
The above should be of interest to
those persons now interested in the ed.
ucation Of their children. We were IN
the public schools during some of the
time MI. Brown was and studied some
Of the books he mentions. We have
had children in schools for the past
twelve years, also, as a member of the