2. About Home-Printed Text-Books

[Houston (Tex.) Post, May 4, 1907.]

The Post is a believer in home industry and it is a tireless toiler in the work of stimulating home industry sentiment throughout the State. It believes, however, that the Legislature should go slowly in adopting a provision requiring all text-books used in the public schools to be printed within the State. It would inevitably embarrass the school system, for few of the publishers would care to establish branch printing houses in Texas. And suppose, for instance, that every State using McGuffey's readers or any other copyrighted work and they are all copyrighted should also require the printing of the books within its borders, what would be the result? Inevitably an increase in the price of text-books.

Unfortunately, Texas teachers have done very little in the way of writing text-books suitable for the public schools. Most of the books used are owned by the publishing houses located elsewhere. It would be absurd to require these publishing houses to establish branch printing offices in every State where their books may be used, and they can not be expected to turn over their plates to Texas printing houses.

The text-books should be selected solely upon their merits as text-books and the children should have the benefit of the best text-books in existence, regardless of where the publisher or author resides.

In time, and it will come about gradually if at all, we shall probably have first class text-books written by Texas authors and printed by Texas houses, but at present we must get the best books from publishers living outside of the State just as other States have to purchase them. The economical production of text-books would be impossible if it were necessary for a publisher of a copyrighted book to conduct forty-five printing establishments in forty-five States, and no publisher of a copyrighted book is going to permit some other publishing house to do his printing.

If the State should employ authors to write text-books for the Texas public schools, it would be well enough to have such books printed in Texas, but copyrighted books owned by outside publishers can not by legislative enactment be printed within the State. The Legislature might say that unless such book be printed in Texas its use will not be permitted in the public schools, but that would deprive the children of the benefit of the best books.

The point the Post wishes to make is that the Legislature should not tamper with a question so full of menace to the welfare of the public school system. The idea is impractical.

3. Foolish Textbook Legislation

[From the Dial of November 1, 1909, pp. 319-320.]

That public education is the function of the State rather than of the municipality is a principle that we have always maintained. The State is bound to see to it that throughout its area the means of education are provided upon as ample a scale as the general prosperity of the commonwealth makes advisable. The parsimony of a particular locality must not be permitted to keep its schools below the generally accepted standard, and the locality which would find it a real hardship to provide the needed support is entitled to assistance at the expense of the more favored communities. On the other hand, the essentials being secured by law, the business of administration is distinctly a local affair, and it is in the last degree unwise for the State to prescribe matters of detail, or to interfere in questions that call for expert educational knowledge. The average legislature is about as well fitted to handle such delicate questions as it would be to regulate the circulation of books in public libraries or the scientific management of hospitals.

physiology with The mischievous They demand

If we try to imagine the law of the State declaring that no library shall pay more than a dollar a volume for any of its books, or that the patients in every hospital shall be given fixed doses of certain specified drugs once a week, we shall have an exact parallel to the sort of educational legislation which is imposed with blithe and self-satisfied ignorance upon the hapless schools of many a town and city throughout this country. Through the efforts of wellmeaning people, whose judgment is as faulty as their intentions are good, a considerable number of our states have long been burdened with laws imposing upon their schools a iron requirement concerning the teaching of reference to the use of alcohol and tobacco. ingenuity of these laws is almost beyond belief. that certain dogmas be enforced upon children with the most damnable iteration year after year, dogmas that even a child's experience knows to be unsound; and they make it almost impossible for textbooks of physiology written in scientific language to be used in the public schools. Men of science are practically unanimous in condemning these requirements, but the fanatics and doctrinaires have their way with the legislatures, and the voice of reason avails for nothing. Thus science is discredited, the canker of insincerity affects the teacher's work, the reasonable admonition against the evils of intemperance misses its opportunity altogether.

The Illinois legislature at its last session distinguished itself by imposing two singularly foolish laws upon the public schools of the State. One of these laws fixes a maximum price for every textbook used in the elementary schools; that is, forbids the authorization of any textbook that the publishers do not offer to supply at or below the price thus specified. The other law imposes upon all teachers in the State the obligation to devote a certain amount of time each week to the inculcation of ideas concerning the humane treatment of the lower animals.

Considering now the first of these amazing prescriptions, it is to be noted that the prices fixed are far below those at which the best books are obtainable. There is no reason to believe that the best books will be offered at the specified prices, for the simple reason that competition has already forced their prices to about as low a level as possible. Despite the "book trust" bogey that obsesses many minds, competition among schoolbook publishers has already made unreasonable prices a practical impossibility, and the margin of practicable reduction is a narrow one in most cases. The only possible effect of the new law must then be to force the substitution of distinctly inferior books for many of those hitherto in use. Now to save the child a few cents in the price of one of his school books is as good an example of a pennywise and pound-foolish policy as could well be imagined. It runs counter to the elementary truism that a textbook is a tool, an instrument of precision, and that it has to be employed in one of the most delicate of the arts. A teacher who does not have the use of the best book available is like a railway engineer furnished with a cheap watch, a meteorological expert with a cheap barometer, or a violinist with a cheap fiddle. In these cases, the use of the inferior implement would be universally recognized as an inconceivable folly; but in the case of the teacher, there seems to exist in many minds a notion that the implements he uses do not greatly matter. The making of textbooks is now comparable in refinement, in the nice fitting of means to ends, with the making of microscopes and chronometers, and the best of them would be cheap at almost any price. The injury done to education by debarring the best books from use is immeasurably greater than the benefit derived from the trifling economy that is thus effected.

III. REPORT OF THE GEORGIA SCHOOL-BOOK INVESTIGATING

COMMITTEE

[Made to the General Assembly of Georgia, 1914.]

To the Members of the General Assembly of Georgia: GENTLEMEN: The following resolution, known as House Resolution No. 17, was approved August 18, 1913:

"WHEREAS, The contract for school books for the public schools of Georgia expires this year, and,

"WHEREAS, It appears that the present prices paid for school books are exorbitant when compared to the prices of other school books,

"Be it resolved therefore by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, That a joint committee of eight, composed of the State Superintendent of Schools and two other members of the State Board of Education, in addition to said Superintendent, to be selected by said Board, who, together with two members of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate, and three members of the House, appointed by the Speaker of the House, shall be a committee to inquire into and report as soon as practicable on the reasonableness of the present price of school books, and inquire into the prices of books used elsewhere, and also as to the practicability of the State furnishing school books for use in the public schools at cost of publication, and to make all investigation that may be necessary touching upon the furnishing of all books used in the Common and High Schools receiving State aid at cost of publication, and delivery of the same.

"Be it further resolved, That said Committee is hereby clothed with authority to subpoena witnesses, to take evidence, to employ a stenographer, and compel the production of documents and do such other acts as are necessary for this investigation.

"Be it further resolved, That said Committee shall make a report of its investigation, together with the testimony thereof, to the present session of the General Assembly, provided the investigation shall be concluded in time to render such report at the present session of the General Assembly. If the report, together with the testimony thereof, be not rendered to the present session of the General Assembly, then such report, together with the testimony thereof, shall be made at the next regular session of the General Assembly. . .

As set forth in the resolution, we have made diligent effort

to inquire into the present prices of school books used elsewhere, the practicability of the State furnishing school books used in the public schools at cost of publication, and have endeavored to secure all information possible concerning the furnishing of books used in the Common and High Schools of the State at cost of publication and delivery. The minutes of these various meetings, together with all books, pamphlets and correspondence are on file at the State Department of Education, and this material is accessible at any and all times to any member of the General Assembly who may desire to inspect the original documents.

COMPARATIVE PRICES

One of the first duties placed upon the Committee was to report upon the prices of books used elsewhere in order to be able to make comparison with the prices paid in Georgia. With this end in view, letters were written to all of the States of the Union, and countries abroad in addition. The statement having been circulated that "most of the leading countries of Europe publish their own books and deposit them where the users can secure them at the least expense," the United States Bureau of Education was consulted. In a letter dated April 14, 1914, Professor Smith, the specialist in Foreign Educational Systems, writes, "In European Countries, in general, text books are prepared by professors, teachers, and others engaged in the work of education and are placed on the market by publishing houses practically in the same way as in this country.' Comparison as to prices could not be made in some of the States by reason of the fact that in them full liberty as to adoption and purchase is given to local authorities and parents. Conditions have, however, enough similarity to our own in 21 other States to enable us to tell as to whether or not we pay extravagant prices for our school books. These use practically our texts for the required basal books in the common schools and where the number varies this fact is indicated. (Here follows a detailed statement as to books and costs for 22 states.)

The foregoing evidence clearly proves that, in comparison with the other States like situated, our people do not pay extravagant prices for these books. It appears, for instance, that every neighboring southern State pays more than Georgia for these texts; so far then as concerns the prices recently secured by the Georgia State Textbook Commission it is evident that they