The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1915-06-24

legislators that day. In behalf of
these children I urge the publication
OF the facts and figures submitted by
Georgian to fellow Georgians.
llliteracy is on the increase in
Georgia. Surely the wisdom Of our
lawmakers will not neglect the needs
of education. 1t is the duty Of each
member of the Legislature to study
this problem and devote his energy
in any direction whereby illiteracy
may be decreased.
Thousands of white children are
not attending school because their
parents are too poor to pay the eX-
tortionate prices now demanded by
the School Book Trust for inferior
school books. This is one of the
seed-beds of illiteracy.
Can the prices of school books be
lowered? VIII the plan of State
publication reduce the cost of school
books? These two questions will
appeal to thoughtful Georgians, and
they should appeal also to thought
full legislators.
State publication and distribution
of school books will be a topic of
discussion before the approaching
General Assembly. If this plan has
ever before been tried in Georgia
the lawmakers should see if it
proved a success or failure. State
publication of books has been tried
in this State and it succeeded. Prior
to 1878 private individuals (the Su-
preme Court reporters) owned the
copyright of the Georgia Supreme
Court reports These men compiled
the decisions of the court, published
them in volumes and sold the vol
umes to Georgia lawyers at an av-
erage cost of $500 per volume. The
limbs of the law got busy and had
the Legislature pass law providing
for the publication Of these books
by the State, and when so published
to sell them to the lawyers at actual
cost of publication. The books were
published under the terms of this
law and sold to Georgia lawyers at
an average cost of about $3.50 per
volume. To better illustrate the
point: Hon J. II. Lumkin published
and sold Volumes sc to 76 for $500
per volume. After the plan of State
publication was adopted, the Legis-7
lature passed an act authorizing the
republication of Volumes &c to rs.
They were republished and sold for
$3.50 per volume. Lumpkin sold
the eleven books for $77.00. The
State of Georgia sold them for
$16.50, the actual cost of publica-
ton.
"Our legislators tempered the
wind to the shorn lambs of the law"
but they refuse to provide for the
publication of school books on this
same plan. They can legislate for
lawyers, but not for school children.
The sovereign Legislature of a SOW
ereign State can protect the lawyers,
but no relief is granted the school
children.
Let's see what the school books
cost in Georgia: Primer, 25 cents;
first reader, 20 cents; second reader,
rs cents; third reader, 80 cents;
fourth reader, 3 cents; fifth reader,
35 cents; arithmetic, 40 cents; ge-
ography, $1.15.
These are the prices now paid by
Georgia school children. This money
goes to Northern book companies.
These Yankee book companies (the
School Book Trust) fix these prices
and Georgia parents are forced to
pay this tribute to the Trust.
In Ontario, where school books
are published by the Government
and sold at actual cost of publica-
tion, the books cost as follows:
Primer, cents; first reader, 6