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sidered by Hon. Henry Barnard, the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Prof. J. L. Pickard, of the Platteville Academy, who have been appointed by the Legislature to make such revision of the School Laws of the State as they may think necessary, and report the same to the Governor in season to be by him submitted to the next Legislature for its consideration. It need only be said in this connection, that every precaution will be taken to guard the interests of the State, and prevent, by every restriction of law, the possibility of swindling or cheating in the contract for the books-for upon the faithful investment of this sacred fund will much of the popularity and usefulness of this law depend."

There probably never was a measure involving new and additional taxation that ever passed the Legislature with such great unanimity. The Superintendent's Report, which strongly urged the Town Library system, was not laid before the Legislature until three weeks before its adjournment; Mr. Barnard, who had been confidently expected here, and whose personal efforts and experience were greatly counted on in aid of the measure, was detained in Connecticut by severe illness; and the Library Law was not introduced until within eight working days of the close of the session—and notwithstanding all these untoward circumstances, yet this new measure—a tax measure, too, in these stringent times-passed both houses most triumphantly, by a vote of 19 to 13 in the Senate, and 51 to 10 in the Assembly; or, in the aggregate, by a yote of 70 to 13. I have no doubt that the men who supported this noble and beneficent measure, will long be remembered with honor and gratitude by an intelligent and appreciating people.

This School Library Fund will amount to at least $35,000 annually, and will gradually increase in proportion to the increase of the School Fund Income, and the increase of the taxable property of the State. There will be something like $18,000 a year from the School Fund Income; and oneteuth of a mill tax on the dollar valuation, on $175,000,000 of taxable property in the State, as equalized last year, would realize $17,500-if the taxable property should be equalized, as it may be, at two hundred millions, then the income from the special Library Tax will amount to $20,000 annually. I should conclude that the Library Fund will reach not less than $40,000 a year, within the next three years. But estimating it at $35,000 it would give, on an average, to each of the 650 towns and cities of the State $53 per year in books at wholesale rates; and deducting the probable pro rata for the cities and villages, there would be about $40, upon an average, to each of the rural towns. Estimating the present population of the State at 850,000, and dividing it by the number of towns and cities, we should have an average of 1,333 persons for each town and city; and $40 or $50 per year in books, for this number would appear

but a very moderate investment. This amount, though small, will, nevertheless, afford a respectable beginning for a Town School Library, when a similar amount will be added annually thereafter.

A single volume may serve as many as twenty-six persons a year, each having its use two weeks; and many School Libraries have reported twelve times the number of books loaned annually that there were in the library-each volume, upon an average, having been taken out once a month during the entire year. In the reports of the Town Libraries of Indiana, occur such expressions as the following, which will not be lost on the public mind:

"Nearly all of the books have been drawn out as many as twenty-five times, many of them oftener, and many of the books are not permitted to remain in the library an hour before they are withdrawn."

Says another:

"Our library is doing more good than any thing that has ever been done by the Legislature of this State. Great interest is manifested in it here."

I may state as the result of ten years' experience of the District Library system in Wisconsin, that only about one-third of the districts have any libraries at all, and those generally so small as scarcely to deserve the name-averaging less than 28 volumes each-and hence have utterly failed to fulfill the great mission of School Libraries. That what few books have thus been collected, have been procured at high prices of book pedlars, and have but too generally related to Banditti and Robbers, the Pirate's Own Book, and other trashy and injurious works, which could only incite in the minds of children a desire themselves to become desperadoes.

Had we continued the District Library plan in our State, and continued to leave the districts to procure a library or not, as they might elect, so long would the library system of Wisconsin, it seems to me, have proved a signal failure; but, with the Town Library plan, as it is in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, the State providing the libraries for each town, according to some just system of distribution, carefully selecting books suitable to meet the tastes and wants of all classes of community, replenishing them annually, so as to keep each collection fresh and attractive, we shall have, in each library several times the number and variety of books that any district plan could ever possess. For instance, suppose each of a dozen districts in a town was to have ten new volumes for a new library, or for replenishing an old one-the same ten volumes that would be best and cheapest for one, would be best and cheapest for all; so that in all the twelve districts there would be, in truth, but ten different works; while upon the Township plan, there would be a hundred and twenty different

works for the same money. Any one can readily see how much more attractive the large number would be to both youth and adults; how many more tastes would be gratified; and how much more knowledge would necessarily be diffused among the people. The same amount of money expended on the district plan will, by a judicious State system, purchase onethird more volumes, besides securing a vastly better selection, and having the advantage of a uniform and far more permanent style of binding. According to the old district plan, we should always have had small and almost worthless libraries; by the Township system we shall scon have large, attractive, and invaluable collections; and instead of only about one-third of the State, as is now the case, having a few ill-chosen volumes, every town in Wisconsin will, by the new system, soon have its solid library of the choicest works to gladden the young minds of our two hundred and sity-four thousand children, and furnish mental food for our other six hundred thousand people.

I presume that provision will be made, that should the citizens of any town deem proper, they may sub-divide their Town Library into two or three sections, and have them placed in as many convenient localities for six months or a year, and then interchange these sections with the other localities, and so in due time, the several sections, or sub-divisions of the Library, would be placed within the reach of every part of the town, thus subserving nearly every facility of the District Library, with the most decided super-added advantages.

As an instance illustrative of the strong feeling of attachment with which the Township Libraries are regarded where they have been established and tested, and how cheerfully the expense is borne by the people, I cite the following from an excellent address by Prof Read, of our State University:

"I will give the substance of a conversation which I had during my re#cent visit to Indiana, while in the Auditor's office, examining the most beautiful series of books-the Indiana School Library. A farmer from the remotest township of the county came in. After a little, I said to him:

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Gentry, you are heavily taxed here in Indiana; I have been running 5 away to Wisconsin, where they have no old dead horses in the form of canals to pay for, and no interest to pay on bonds which our sharp-sighted Indiana Commissioners were cheated out of."

666 'Well,' said he, 'we are heavily taxed, and this year, with our short crops and hard prices, it is as much as we can do, in our neighborhood, to pay our taxes.'

"But,' I said to him, 'it will be the policy of this Legislature to diminish taxation.'

"He said, 'In all mercy he hoped so.'

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"They will begin upon your extravagant school system. Now, look at these books-what is the use of them? Do they do a particle of

good?'

"Let them,” said he, 'cut off what else they please let them even cut off the whole tax besides, but the books we must have.'

"He then told me, that the books had done his neighborhood more good, and had produced a greater change in the habits of families, than any other means of improvement which had ever been brought to bear upon the people."

And so it will be in Wisconsin. The people will never grumble at the School Library Tax, if the money is only wisely expended. The tax will be light-one cent on every hundred dollars, or twenty-five cents on every $2,500, of taxable property.

Such was the interest of Horace Mann in the subject, when requested to give an expression as to the value of Town School Libraries for Wisconsin, that though ill, he said he must write a word of good cheer, as he held the plan to be worth many more times than his life. George B. Emerson, with the zeal of a true philanthropist, urged upon our Legislature the speedy adoption of such a system. "I congratulate you and the State," writes Henry Barnard, "that your Legislature has enabled you to inaugurate a true library policy-altogther in advance, in its practical bearings and completeness, in time of any yet attempted." It is, indeed, an advance upon the efforts of our sister States, all things considered; for taking the three States which have adopted the township system, Wisconsin will raise more money by nearly one quarter than Michigan, besides having the advantage of the State purchasing the books, instead of the Township Boards, as is done in Michigan; it is in advance of Ohio, whose Library Fund is provided by imposing the tenth of a mill tax, while ours is raised by the tenth of a mill tax, and one tenth of the School Fund Income; and it is in advance of Indiana, not in the amount of tax raised, but in the permanency of the system, for in Indiana the Library Law is enacted to be in force only two years, and then has to pass the ordeal of securing a two years' renewal, and thus is subjected to the danger of overthrow by the caprice of the people, or through the mismanagement of those having it in charge. Our Wisconsin Library Law is in advance of all others in providing a copy of all State Laws, Journals, and Documents, substantially bound, for each School Library.

It is a noble and bereficent law, and will, I doubt not, yet be regarded, when fully known, and its benefits begin to be realized, as the most important educational measure ever inaugurated in Wisconsin. I confess to

cherishing no ordinary feelings of hope and pleasure in view of the unspeakable good that must inevitably result from a judicious expenditure, every twenty-five years, of fully one million of dollars in books to scatter among our people-not less than a million and a quarter of volumes of the choicest literature of the age; and I envy not the man who can not partake of this feeling of hope and joy, in view of the prospective progress and happiness of his race.

MADISON, WIS., April 4th, 1859.

LYMAN C. DRAPER.
Supt. of Pub. Instruction.

OPINIONS, ETC., FROM THE OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT.

(Continued from the March Number.)

ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS.

Q. If the alteration of a district is decided upon by the State Superintendent, is his decision thereon so final and conclusive as to prevent the Town Superintendent from ever after making any alteration?

A. The decision of the State Superintendent is final and conclusive only under the circumstances of the appeal; and under different circumstances the Town Superintendent may alter the limits of a district, although its limits may have been heretofore fixed in the decision of an appeal. In the decision of an appeal, all the circumstances of population, wealth, location of roads, etc., are taken into account, and whenever these are materially changed, the Town Superintendent might not be strictly governed by the former decision.

Q. In case of an alteration of two districts, in which the corporate property is very unequal, can there be no division of property, so as to reim. burse those who may have paid largely in one district, and who are set into another district where they will immediately be called upon to pay another heavy tax?

A. The law only provides for a division of property where a new dis trict is formed, either in whole or in part, from an old one possessing property, This law seems frequently to work injustice, and Town Superintendents ought to take all such facts into due consideration before proceeding to alter the limits of districts.

Q. Can the Superintendent of one town add territory to a joint district without the concurrence of the other superintendents?