The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-07-04
LEXINGTON, Va, July 9, 1872.

\
STATE TREAsuRY-THE MEMORIAL
VOLUME, &C.
LEXINGTON, Va, July 9, 1872.
Commencement week al the Virginia Mill
tary Institute opens with the promise Of q
| more than usually Interesting occasion. 4
large number of the visitors TO the University
| commencement remain over and many others
have come in.
The Board of Visitors have been in session
for several days, attending to various matters
| Of importance. We give the following eS-
tracts from General Smiths annual report to
the Board: .ss H.ss ~ ssf ~ ~ 81
''To estimate Justly the efforts Of the Yir-
cnia Military Institute In its work Of recon-
| strlction. il must he borne in mind that the
| war left the institution q total senn. No in
come existed whercwith to pay the salaries
of the prufessors---none to. provide the most
necessary supplies aud il was only when
the youth OF the South Hooked TO the school,
that they might receive the benefit of its
lNcular course of instruction and discipline,
that the Beard of Visitors rcsorted to the
only eXlGdcut left tlicni--of authorizing the
SUPERINTENDENT 10 negotiate i loan upon the
filth OF tic institution for .ftfy thousand dol
! lars H. .s.s 81 r..ss3 4-s..r
| The report dciiils how the difficulties of
| obtaining this SIM were. overcome by the
REIMBURSEMENT OF Is third OF their salaries by
the professors AMI the kind help uf friends
of the Institute. .a. ~. E,rt
with this limited credit, embracing in
| reality not more than for, thousand in ready
money, nil Of the public buildings have
| been rebuilt The departments of instrlIc-
| tio, haze been refurnShcd with apparatus
and implements; Il r0mmodious hospital
| hus been purchased and QUILTED; the mess
| hall has beer rebuilt and completely furnished
and a comnodolS kitchen and storehOuSc
added 10 its convenienceS-thc library has
| been rcStorrd-tlc public grounds have been
| greatly enlarged and improycdthe gas
| works and heating apparatus rce>tbllshed
mon m improved basis--and the military
| hrJGtmcnt rtl:tted with guns. implements,
and 1,nl>--!fc whole involving total en-
penditurc of soc, 600 in money; and all tins
hos been done for the State by this State in
! slitntipn without involving the demand OF
one Guiidr upon the treasury OF the state"
| The report then details the important work
| which the institution has done for Virginia
| in recalling from his foreign exile her most
| distinguished scientist putting him III charge
Of ia, Physical Survey" and enabling him
| "a publish reports and maps OF the resources
| and advantages of Virginia, which have been
scattered through this country and Europe,
and proven Of immense value to the State.
| This work haS been done ut q cost Of Si0,0oO
| 10 the Institute, for which it lEts received no
uecuniary return. The $4,000 annuity re-
ctiyed from the State has been expended III
sustaining fifty State cadets every session
/" free Of oil charge for board and tuition"
! This charge has been checrfully borne.
| The SOILS Of the widowed mother, LETT sllcll
by The war; the orphaned lad without 4
| home. or the poor boy struggling with adj
y,r>ity, have been brought under the shell
trring wing of the institution, where they
| brave been educated and supported and quail
fed Ia enter upon Il career OF usefulness 10
fine state. How many hearts have been made
| clad Nv this timely gratuity no tongue can
| lrIl. BAT, hcSiurs this. the Institute has
| given free tuition, or granted indulgence in
| In, uavlncut OF fees, to large numbers o.!
| others who have gone out 10 I'LL useful posi-
| tions i'm tine State. Besides this, the insti-
| t,tt has drawn cadets from every State from
| MARYLAND to the Gulf and from the Atlantic
to the Missouri river.
Since the war the Virginia Military 1usti-
tutc has sent out IT, graduates to enter the
various walks of life and carry to every cor.
ner the beneircnt influences Of the lnStitu-
ton.
The report ably argues, in view of all these
| facts, thai the 5000, 900 was most wisely cX-
! pcnllrd, and that the Federal Government
ought tn reimburse the institution for the
heavy expenditure it has been called upon
to make in restoring the ruin which the war
occ:,Sionrd. The report makes the following
reference 10 the
MEMORIAL VOLUME.
The Academic Board, through the agency
: of Lieutenant Charles ID. Walker, Il distin-
wniSIed graduate Of the Institute, have been
earnestly prusrcn!n" the sacred duty Of pre-
pairing Il memorial volume to perpetllate the
officers and GIcvts of the Virginia Military
Institute who fell during our civil war.
/ Numbering us the list does the names OF
Stoncwcl Jackson, General Robert E.
Rhodes, General Samuel Garland, Colonel
Crntclticld, the Pattons, Aliens, Williams,
| Smith, Ellis. and other gallant sons of the
South. who were martyrs u our cause, il is
with pleasure | have to report that we have
now 81 memoirs ready fer the press, .G3
nearly ready, and ~ promised to be ready
total, 40. Twenty-sevcn have not yet been
heard from, the aggregate being 1871. We
have also record of from 500 to 700 who
served in the army during the war.
1t would touch any heartto read the simple
and unaffected story which these memorials
Of youthful conservation 10 truth, right, and
| duty present. Besides adding 4 most valid
able contribution 10 The history IF The war,
the Young men Of our country cannot read
these records OF the Virginia Military In
siilutc cadet without Il thrill Of pride that
these We're ''namcs that were not born to die"
All of the faculty agree that the corps passed
I'm unusually iinc examination this year.
NIATOR.
| BETTER from Petersburg.