By the terms of an agreement by the members of the American Publishers’ Association, Funk and Wagnalls Company tell us, since May 1 all new books published, excepting novels and certain other specified classes of books, are sold on the no-cut-rate plan, the book-seller being bound not to sell at less than the publishers’ price. Books to which this agreement applies are called “net books,” and the prices are “net prices.” This arrangement is designed to protect the bookseller from a destructive cutting of rates. These retail prices are considerably less than they would be under the old plan, but they are fixed.
