Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1889 — THE SCHOOL BOOK LAW. [ARTICLE]

THE SCHOOL BOOK LAW.

Indianapolis Sentinel: It appears that tr-e liea of the schoolbook trust irw r‘<ij<’>nal col ~ umns of the Journal did not ter—minnte at the adjournment of rhe legislature. The lien is still in force, as evidenced by the following editorial paragraph m the Journal of vesterd. v:

The : sell 'ol b ok j law is practically inoperative, in that it does not require local school boards to adopt the n; w books nor provide any means of putting them into the hand-: o£ the people. School boards, teacher and people may continue to use old boohs, if they choose to do so, and no doubt many will.

Tie school book law is not “practically inoperative,” much as the trust and its hired organ wo’d like t» have it so. It does explicitly require the adoption of the new books by local school authorities, it does provide for putting

tba books .n the hands of the people. The law provides for the making of a contract by the state board of education for furnishing t-xt-books to the people, and m kes it the duty of the governor to issue his proclamation announcing that such cantract has been made.— Sec. 7 is as f Hows:

When such proclamation shall have been duly issued, it shall be the duty of the trustees of each and every school corporation in the state, within thirty days thereafter, and at such other times as hooks may be needed for use in the public schools of their respective corporations, to certify to the county superintendent of their respective counties the number of school text books provided for in such contract required by children for use in the schools of their several school corporations Such county superintendents shall, forthwith, make such requisitions for books as the schools in the said several couuties.may require upon the st .te’Buperintendent of public instruction, and the said state superintendent of public instruction shall immediately thereafter make requisitions for said books upon the contractor, who shall, within ninety days, ship the books so ordered directly to the county superintendents of the several counties of this state. Upon the receipt of such books i' shall be the duty of such county school gup rintendents to immediately notify all the school trustees of all the school corporations of their counties of the receipt of such books.

It shall then be the duty of such school trustees to immediately procure and take charge and cus tody of ah the books assigned to their several school corporations, receipting therefor to the said county school superintendent; and upon the receipt of such books by said school trustees, they shall furnish them on demand to the school patrons, or school children of their respective corporations at the price fixed therefor by the contract entered into between said board of commissioners and said contractor; and it shall be the duty of such school officers to sell such books for cash only; and if thev shall sell or dispose cf any books other than f®r the cash price thereof, they shall be held personally liable, and liable upon their official bonder the price of such book or books.

Provided, That any patron or pupil of any school or schools, other than the public schools, and also any child between the ages of six tod twenty-one years of age, or the parent, guardian or teacher of such child, shall have the right to purchase and receive the books, and at the prices he ein named, by payment of the cash price thereof to the school superintendent of any county in this state; and it is hereby made his duty to make requisition upon the contractor of

any and all books so ordered and paid for by any such person cr pers ns. And provided further that nothing in this act shall operate to p -event the state board of education, boards of school trustees or boards of school commissioners devising means and making arrangements for the sale, exchange or other disposition es such books as may be ow ed by the pupils of the schools under their charge at the time of tiie adoption of books under the provision of this act. Sec. 10 provides that countysuperintendents shall give a bond for th i faithful performance of all the duties imposed upon them by

this aet, and that failure io execute such bond within thirty days from the appearance of t&e governor’s proclamation shall operate to vacate their offices.

The school book ring has keen making desperate efforts to find some defect in this law which will render it inoperative. They will do their best, by the peculiar ‘‘arguments,” in the use of which they are so highly skillet, to convince the local school bo *rds that they can violate the la v with impunity. But the local officials who attempt this will get themselves into trouble. The law will be enforced, the Cincinnati robbers and their newspaper organ to the contrary notwithstanding.