is of little worth to the pupil. In this, as in other particulars, a school-book to be cheap and at the same time serviceable, must be made with special reference to school use. This point is apparent to every one who has had an extensive experience in selecting the text-books for a system of schools.

Again, in the preparation of text-books great care should be taken to relieve fro:n undue exertion, the eyes of those using them. It is said by those who have investigated the subject that defective eyesight is on the increase among our youth. It is unquestionably true, that poor paper, bad impressions, broken and worn out type, and fine print in our books, have had much to do with injuring the sight of school children. The paper used in our school-books should be thick and firm in its texture, so as not to be transparent; it should be white, forming a sharp contrast with the black letters, and without any gloss to dazzle the eyes. The ink is a matter of importance. The type should be of a proper size and form so as to give a perfect impression, and the general arrangement of the page should be such as to render each letter and word legible, without any conscious effort of the eye. The eyesight of the child is his most precious heritage; more precious even to the children of the poor than to those of the wealthy, as its use is one of the means by which they are to obtain a livelihood. A textbook which is not made in accordance with the latest scientific discoveries, calculated to preserve and strengthen this sense, should not be allowed in the school-room. Such mechanical perfection is not the result of accident. To produce it requires expenditure of money, scientific research, and the employment of skilled labor.

The selection and arrangement of material for a text-book is often a matter of considerable difficulty. Not every one with a correct literary taste, or possessed of an accurate knowledge of authors, can be trusted to compile a system of school-readers.

Something more than an acquaintance with the facts of history or geography is necessary to enable one to write a book suitable for instruction in these branches. A successful compiler of a schoolbook must be thoroughly familiar with the workings of the child's mind; he must be an adept in modern ways and methods of teaching, and he must have an extensive acquaintance with teachers in order that he may adapt his books to their wants and capacities, as well as to those of the pupils. In a word he must know all the conditions of school life, or his work will prove a failure in some important particulars.

The same spirit of enterprise which has wrought a great change

in all kinds of machinery, in farm implements, and has invaded every department of social as well as business life, has brought the American school-book to a high degree of perfection. The schoolbook of to-day bears the same relation to the school-book of twentyfive years ago, that the reaper or mower of to-day bears to the rude implements which were used in the fields at that time. The farmer teaches his son the use of these improved implements on the farm in order that he may thereby lessen the cost of production. No mechanic would forbid his apprentice to avail himself of the latest improved machinery in the shop; he rather requires him to become skillful in its use. Upon the same principle we ought to provide the latest and best books for the use of our schools, and require the teachers to understand how to use them with the greatest possible benefit to the pupils. The money which is saved by the use of an old worn out text-book, is often more than counterbalanced by the time and opportunities lost, and which might be saved to the child by the substitution of one better adapted to his present wants.

How shall we provide text-books for the schools has been very widely discussed, and several plans have been proposed. It is taken for granted that no one wishes, or would be willing, to do anything which would injure the efficiency of the schools. We wish in the first place to have suitable books, and afterward to obtain them at reasonable rates. Some have thought that the State could enter into the manufacture of school-books with profit, but the experiment as tried in California has not been so successful, in any sense, as to warrant its repetition elsewhere. Allusion has been made to some of the things required in making a good text-book. Additional light is thrown upon the question by the fact that of the large number of manuscripts submitted to publishers, comparatively few are deemed worthy of publication; and that of the series of school-books published from time to time, a majority are not of such merit as ever to come into anything like general use. The reason for the failure is that these manuscripts and books are made by men not accustomed to this special form of authorship. It is an acknowledged fact that it requires the highest degree of skill to make the books used in the common schools; that it is more difficult to make a good third or fourth reader, than it is to make an accurate and well arranged chemistry. How, then, can the State, contemplating only the cost of a book, enter into competition with a firm ambitious to make the best book, and therefore employing, in every department, men trained in the business of book-making, whose services command the highest compensation?

When we consider also that the best features of every series of books are covered by a copyright; that the selections are largely those copyrighted by American authors, and that the State is just as liable to prosecution for infringement as an individual, we can see at once how hazardous it would be for the State to enter upon the purely commercial business of making text-books.

The suggestion has been largely entertained that the State can enter into the market as a purchaser of text-books, and because of the large quantities required, contract for them at a very low rate. A plan of this nature is incorporated in the Minnesota law. That State has a contract with a dealer, running for fifteen years, to furnish the schools with books at certain fixed prices. The independent districts, including of course the cities and large towns, are exempt from the provisions of the law. It is asserted upon good authority, that text-books of the same quality can be.bought in Iowa as cheap as they can be in Minnesota.

Another proposed plan similar to the above, is that the State should enter directly into a contract with some book firm to furnish the books for the schools at certain fixed prices. Let us see what this plan involves. Such a law to be effective must be compulsory upon every school in the State. One of the strongest arguments in its favor is that the poor man, who occasionally moves from one place to another, will no longer be forced to provide a new set of books for his children when they change schools. It is a fact that this necessity of providing new books is a hardship from which the citizen of small means ought to be relieved in some way, but unless the law is universal in its application he will obtain no benefit from it. The law then must apply to the largest city, as well as to the smallest subdistrict. This would necessitate a complete and thorough revision of every course of study in use in our graded schools; for while it is true that these courses are based upon general principles, the details are worked out in accordance with the series of text-books in use in the schools under consideration. The text-books have been selected with special reference to desired results in each grade of work, and the courses of study have been arranged with a view to the same points, by experienced men, who are thoroughly versed in their calling. Is it not a reasonable proposition that to compel a violent change in these vital points, would work an incalculable injury to the schools?

It is also worth while to consider that an ungraded school of fifteen or twenty pupils, needs a very different series of books from the large city school. It demands, it is true, books just as

perfect in every respect, but the pupils are in school a shorter time, they are not as regular in attendance, and consequently do not accomplish as much. If the city schools were compelled to use the same books as the country schools, they would of necessity be forced to supplement their work by using additional books, the purchase of which would entail extra expense upon the pupils. The total expense for books in these schools would probably be increased rather than diminished.

There is not space in this report to consider all the objections to this plan of state uniformity. It would undoubtedly tend to increase the inflexibility, the machine-like teaching which already characterizes too many of our schools. The compact once made would be enforced for a series of years, and the State would have no remedy, no matter how much the schools were suffering under its restrictions. Experience has proved that the difficulty of administering such a law is very great. In the first place, no body of men are wise enough to select a series of books suited to the wants of every section of the State. No educator of experience in Iowa would be willing to attempt to select a series of books for some large system of schools, until he had studied long and carefully the wants of those schools, what progress they have already made, and what they are capable of doing in the future. In every case where a selection has been made for the use of the entire State, the result has been to take the lowest priced book, with little reference to other features. In the second place, the pecuniary loss on the books thus displaced, and the inferiority of the ones introduced occasion distrust and dissatisfaction among the patrons of the schools. It is possible that a firm might be found willing to take all the books at present in use in the schools, and replace them without expense to the pupils; but the very fact that they propose to do this, is sufficient to awaken the suspicion that they know the worth of a monopoly when they see it, and are willing to pay a price for it.

Moreover this plan has nowhere been a success. Wherever it has been tried the result has proved detrimental to the schools. The best known educational men in the country, men who have studied this question from every stand-point, are unanimously opposed to it. These men are known in every part of the educational world; their character is above reproach; their judgment is respected, and no man who knows them would think of imputing to them unworthy motives. In purchasing and distributing the books, in collecting and returning the purchase money, and in the amounts carried over, by the 4,650 secretaries or agents who must account

for the books, there would arise a need for complicated machinery, which it would be hazardous for the State to create.

I cannot close this part of this discussion better than in the words of the honored governor of Iowa, in his message to the twenty-second general assembly, in which he shows that wise statesmanship, so characteristic of his administration. "Keep

the State from engaging in commercial enterprises like the publishing of school-books, etc. Leave to the people of the school districts great freedom to determine such questions and to govern their own affairs."

There are, however, some prominent evils connected with the use of text-books, which must be met and corrected. One is the question of cost. The people have long complained of the high prices charged for text-books, and have become restless and impatient under a sense of injustice done them in this branch of trade. Another source of complaint arises from the fact that books bearing the same imprint sell at different prices in different parts of the State. Still another source of confusion and annoyance is the variety of text-books found in many schools, which renders it difficult to classify the pupils to any advantage. And again, persons who have occasion to move from one part of the State to another, find themselves forced to supply their children with a new series of boo 3, which in a family of several children is a great burden. The people should have the power in some way to remedy these evils.

The principles which apply to other mercantile transactions apply to the book trade as well. The nearer we can get to the manufacturers, and the fewer middle-men there are to handle the goods, the less is the expense to the consumer. The cost of books would be reduced 33 per cent, probably more than that, if the boards of directors had the power to purchase the text-books in the open market at the lowest wholesale rates. The money with which to do this should be drawn from the contingent fund and replaced from the cash sales of the books. This power could safely be lodged in the directors' hands at all times, and should be made imperative whenever the electors of the district order it done. It should also be made their duty to adopt a series of text-books and to permit no others to be used in the schools of that township. When the order to adopt any given series has been passed by a majority vote of those constituting the quorum, such action should be considered final, and no other series should be adopted for three years. The list of such books, with the prices attached should be kept posted in every school-room, together with the place where such books