Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1846-02-19
To tAe Editos, Of the YAis

"e"'eneni-Beheving as do. that the true soute,
'ne 'o's aud disturbances at tho University ha. not b.
He'ed To In the report Of the Investigating Comni,,
"a naenog myself that may be able 10 poin, IL out,
u suggest the proper remedy; WILL with your eon.,s
present my views upon the subject. the public thru
'"s IN Oh i'm OF your paper. confidently believe that,
most oil the disturbances aud vciou. prsctce. which IA,
any time prevailed among the students may DO uae,
tho very low standard Of qualification. for admission 1,
me University, which has been adopted And tber, .
oa' mule question, that the adoption Of such stand.
fv sser'oable to anxious desire to increase
salaries Of the Professors.
University was designed to be an institution n,
md ~, e.sneoes OF learning alone should be aequir
...,. "ieh none were ~ DO received, except vol
ee"uemen' who by close application had ,son,,s . ~,
eSe knowledge Of ell the branches of learning thu
,ee ~ ,uem's' and other ish.choos In pr
49, "o"e'er, tns unveni,y has become 10 ,ome ., ~,
e eompen'or Of our Grammar Schools and IN, recent,
ns' class OF young men, who, owing 10 their id. .
o,h.1 ,, na,s oeen unable to gain admission into
one' fespeetaoe seminary Of learning IL p,ox.d
=, least one highly intelligent witness Examined nv
COMMITTEE, that there have been Young me, ,..i
o"''eIsy as students, who could spell many Of
s"'s' common words And the Visitors aud Professor.
,o'meu the COMMITTEE that they had reason 10 b.oy,
- " ne disturbances In the institution had or,sina,
'n young men OF vicious habits, coming from Sou,b
STATES VI this last fact. have recently emo, ed an ,
pofani'y Vt obtaining satisfactory e.planat,on r.,
eeV competent aud reliable source highly int,ilig
ssnueman recently from South Carolina having .pok.
eTslt MI Cain
os' asked hun how il happened thai, h,xir, =, q .
senooi Hbome, 90 many OF young sent.meo from, ,
SCUM came On to the University Of Virginia N, reo,,l
'hs they did not come here until aIter thsv h.d r.. .
MED admission into the bsst Southern scha,. ;n =, a.
ihsoiny TO stand the examinations TO which ,h.x or.
!ee,eo ~ those institutions. lie informed me ,bat =,
OF Qualification Tor admission had been ado
co me south Carolina University. which had had The
ee' o excluding all young gentlemen Of idle and ds,l
""m ,hat nsututlon-that a lower standard Of y
MISSION had been Fixed smother Southern ins,i,u,i
md that h.. IL
'nat was not uncommon Tor yourg gentlemen frat 10 ,
ply TOT aomssi0n NJ Columbia aud ut the other inst
''on ne had named; aud after being rejected at both
come ON and erter the University OF Virginia where ~ \,
wen understood there difficulty in any apoliean
gaming admission II he able to pay the fees Tn
views enureiy accorded with the opinion had prevou
neneu, ana regard the spnt Of INSTRUMENTATION VIII
has prevailed at the University the natural
o the low standard Of qualification for admission WI,
mas been adopted | am impressed with the belief al
'ha was proved before the Committee that even the
animation now required by the laws of In, un,vr,stv
prerequisite to admission, has generally been .,po,
Tor several months and until the fees had been paid
Ihere IS evidently strong repug TO any roduc,
OF their fees among the professors Unyeri,y
from an apprehension that their salaries may moi, in n
en~ prove 10 De sufficient Tor their support And th,
can DC but little doubt, that the desire ge, hold of
'ees mas oeen principal II not tho Only cause Of the
mission OF many unworthy students into the Univ,r,
The remedies tor the evils have adveIted to- sp-sar
me 10 be obvious Let the standard OF quair Grion
admission be raised and let student be suffered Ia
circulate, until he has undergone strict examipsuyn
the fees required OF the Students be paid into the
ilnd oi The University, aud each professor receive e.
hRd salary, which IN instance should exceed 81 81
exclusive Of the use OF dwelling house and garden Il
sala equivalent to $4,000, including the rent OF nous
- fully equal to the salaries received by our Judy,s At
Coutt oi Appeals we take into consideration the din
ence IN the expense OF living, between Charlottesville
this city Such salaries, in my opinion will be srfet
TO command the Of the ahlcst professors md
mode OF paying them will hs far muic lust than n
which now prevails. uad,I the present sysem n u,
oiien happen and is believed IL does happen that ,b
proessoshps which require the very highest atainmer
aud The most labor the part OF the professor prov. 20
est' f,oh'aoe' owing to the small number OF stude
VINO take their tickets; and yet the branches laugh
them are indispensable to a perfect education Besid
Is no more trouble to lecture TO fifty. than ten
dents and II IS to be presumed that each professor deyo
MS whole time and attention the dutes of his office
these views have reason to believe that several Of
Committee OF Investigation concur, and IL is possible
u we had had more time, most OF them would have h,
concdred IN by majority, and have been embodied
| the report made To the General Assembly
concur with the majority of the Committee tina, IN
ought not 10 be any reduction Of the annuity a. the L
vesiiy ut this time. II the fund arising from the annu
and the fees. is more than sufficient to pay the expen
oil the Institution, the ouR TO be applied town
the discharge Of the University debt
AZ member Of the committee 1 was disnosed In h,
expressed the opinion that proper attention bad NOT a
Time. been paid TO investigating the of the Proct,
accounts, by those whose duiy IL was to have done a.
that the course pursued by Visitors in
tha discovery a the irrsguarity in the settlement Of
looked upon IL as calculated do Commandment irus
10 the Commissioner who settled those accounts VIII
conduct was admitted, all hands To have been bis
meritoous. At the same time checrfully aron,t the
siors OF any intentional injustice any one and bell
nat their motives have been oil times praisewurihy
patriotic.
am decidedly Of the opinion that an act ou,b, 10
passed by the General Assembly in conformity TO the
OF the Faculty Of the University in reere
to Students dlsm ssed from the Institution and TO the n
or proposed to be conferred Justices Ut the Peace
competing witnesses TO appear before them, and ans
| general interrogaiores.
IL may not be improper 10 notice certain imputau
which have heard have been attempted to be cast on
Investigating Committee. II has been stated IA L.,
that tho Committee held their siungs ur some Them
secret; and that they refused, neglected 10 pusb
inquiries INTO alleged abuses existing in the management
inc University, as Tar as they should have done IL is
true. that the committee held their sessions IN secret
the contrary, they held them in the Town OF Cbaroi
VILE Tor the purpose OF having them public ss posi-
and they were subjected to great inconve nience from
pressure OF the crowd. The only Circumstance Nhic
can call TO mind, which give even a colorado foun
ton for the charge Of secrecy in the proceedings Of
Comm ttee, was the TACT thai, after the committee
hnlshed thei: examination If witnesses, they held
terence with the Visitors, their request for specihl
pose To which the Committee alone were invited Rut
which, presume, no other gentleman ought 20 have
sired to be present. reference TO the notice set In
Charlottesville, and to the testimony tnken will prove
the members Of the Committee pushed heir inquiries
all the alleged nbuses in the management Of tho Uniye
~, TO the utmost extent aud IN their eaRerness to re
their origin, they did not even cOnfno themselves Al
ing legal questions. A MEMBER
Of The Uniueyufy Committee
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