Show V FREE TEXT BOOKS j 1 The action of the board of education of this city in deciding l that pupils attending at-tending the high school shall provide their own text liooks l has aroused interest in-terest outside of this city Thus the Logan Journal comments at length on the question closing its article as fill fil-l nws Our view of the case is that in neither of the schools should free text books he l provided unless In case of pupils whose parents are too poor to V furnish them afd then only up to the point where education V ceassswto be compulsory compul-sory If free books are provided for the high schools why not for the state JWmal school the University of Utah ard the agricultural college A common com-mon school education is complete when the pupil graduates from ithe grammar grade of the district schools and the work of higher education begins The work of the high schools is duplicated in the colleges and if text books are furnished free in one case why not in the other Another thing when parents par-ents are too poor to furnish necessary school books they are almost invariably invar-iably too noor to provide for the support sup-port of a child old enough to attend a high school and it is the children of the prosperous who reap the benefit A good thing can be carried too far and we believe providing free text I boks for high school students is going I too far unoss the system Is extended far enough to include the various university uni-versity courses If there Is to be a limit to liberality in this direction the line shoud be drawn at the entrance to the high school The Journal In its discussion of the question overlooks one very important fapt the point upon which the whole question hinges This is that the board I of education adopted the policy of free text books and the policy met with the approval of the citizens The Journal addresses Its remarks to the Question cf the policy of free text books while that is not it at all Our Lorran contemporary says that I the work of the high schools is duplicated I dupli-cated in the colleges and if text books ire furnished free In one case why not T the other The olleges presumably t refers to the ones it mentions are V file institutions while the high school n ths city is a city affair a part of V educational sYstem and the money or Ueefing it up and buying text i > ok < 3 comes from the taxpayers of the Mtv ard not cf the state The maHer of free text books for the nirh school pupils is not so important Vf itlf as it is an indication of ten c vies in school affairs It is a dls t 1 irt step backwards and when once a person or a school system begins to lake stops backwards they may go back r > the point from which ther first artcd before stopping It may not be possible to perfect our city school trs un as all would like to Fee it perfected fr < r ome time and it will probably be cessary to forego the erection of some really needed school buildings until I uch times as the people are in better financial circumstances but there i hould be no step backwards The high school may be said to be the crown cur I c-ur city school system nemove or niwair it and all the substructure Will lie exrased to the storm and elements I and nothing can prevent great damage resulting to It in consequence |