The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-09-12
THE sAMr ON DIsGRACT.

lhG NhmIs bl' Dio'sNh'i"
Three weeks before the opening ~ school
The world felt constrained to ndmonlsh the
school board to make adequate provisions for
the supplying of textbooks TO pupils no that
tho annual disgrace attending tho securing OF
these books might be avoided. Members OF tho
board and the agent OF the textbook publishers
assured The World that previous difficulties
had been overcome and that there would be
ample facilities for supplying all students or
doriy and comfortably, and that all books would
be on hand for immediate distribution.
The scenes attending the annual scramble
for textbooks this year require no description.
Thousands OF pupils and parents who took part
In It Saturday morning, noon and night, Will re-
member II always. The entrance to the local
distributors place OF business looked like poly
giot assemblage seeking entrance to the league
of nations building at Geneva. All colors. all
tongues all ages and all conditions were crowd
cd into conglomerate mass. whlo the door
keeper gave admission ns the crowd inside
thinned so that admission OF new victims was
possible
And the list, were incomplete as ever.
The pledge that all books would bo on hand 30
that the first 80 days OF school would not bo
seriously impaired through inability to secure
~
complete supply was ever on hand It was
hausted before Saturday night, How many stu
dents will be without books ana for now long.
are questions that may not be answered ac-
curately here.
Now this kind OF situation Is not efficiency
and 1t IN not Justice to tho patrons OF Tulsa's
public schools. So far from endearing the pub
llc school to any citizen 1t arouscs a very keen
tha ub nm
bs something done about 1t and done without
too much delay. Members OF the board excuse
themselves on tho ground that they had be-
lleved they had secured various distributors for
the books and were not informed otherwise until
the annual disgrace began,
The board may have acted with due care and
diligence Let that be assumed But hence
forth there must bo nothing taken for granted.
The board must know And II the real trouble
arises through a state law which makes the dis
trlbution OF books n source OF unusual profit
TO some one or more. then let the next session
OF the legislature repeal such law.
There may be some practical ana insurmount-
able reason why the textbooks should not be
distributed by the heads of the various depart
ments of grades This would at least obviate
the wild stampede at DOWNTOWN stores or at
the administration building. It s a demon
strnbls matter that books could be apportioned
40 pupils in a schoolroom, by the directing
head of that room. much easier with greater
dispatch and less turmoil and delay than can
one concern untrouhed with the interests of
the school from Il downtown store. We sax
there may be some substantial reason why such
a system of distribution shotAd not he made, but
the general public cannot conceive what II is.
JTnder the practlce that has been In vogue I'm
Tulsa for the last few years the opening OF the
school season is nothing but a modified form
OF mob law. The presentsis none too soon for
the duly credited authorities to begin thinking
how 10 prevent recurrence next year, for there
is no doubt anywhere hut that they want to
prevent IT.