Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-11-04

upon the conuues, and know OF no subs,an-
tial reason why it should be continued
The general plan laid down in the Code,
for getting juries is perhaps the best that can
be adopted. The number OF Jurors required
by the Code to be drawn and summoned was
perhaps larger than the business of the mas
jority of the counties justified. This number
can safely be diminished if the power is re-
tanned in the courts to order ) larger number
4 ssushmoned when necessary.
ADJUTANT GENERAL
The State Superintendent of Free Schools
who by act OF February Is, 1ST was made
I ticaolAd djutant General and Quartermaster
!; General, has declined to perform the duties
i of these Offices, holding that under the new
/ Constitution they are incompatible with the
1 Office to which heswas elected think his
position is a, correction and I SO stated in
one of my special messages communicated to
i you during your former session Therefore
since March q the State has had neither Ads
jutant General nor Quartermaster General-
could not have appointed to these Offices
4 without assuming Legislative powers they
4 were in effect abolished and their duties aus
pexed1 to another Office. and an attempt TO
fill them by appointments would in effect. be a
creation of the.ofices themselves this power
Il
1 WhileSthe duties of Adjntabt General and
| Quartermaster 6 eneral are eslight, still Tneed
hardly suggest that'they, cannotbe dispensed
with. There is noreed of making a sinecure,
q reasonable com pensation is all that is nec..
j essary. -
1 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
Private enterprise has done much towards
| discovering and making known the mineral
resources of the State. But in the nature of
1 things individual efforts of this kind are par,
tial or local; aod the information thus given
is always liable to the suspicion of being
| colored by personal interest. Nothing but a
geological survey under the auspices of the
State can give comprehensive and authentic
information in relation to the mineral forma-
tiops of the State; aud at the same time con-
meet and compare them with the formations
of the States adjoining US. Therefore renew
my former recommendation on this subject.
| IMMIGRaTIoN
L also renew my recommendation in relation
to Immigration. The State has many ad-
| vsntages to offer to the hardy and industrious
immigrant, and although no marked results
have so far attended the efforts of the cons
missioners. ye. liberal policy in this direction
must eventually produce. good results.
BOUNDARY LINE BTwEEN WEST VIRGINIA
AND VIRGINIA .{,
| In Nay last the Governor of Virginia COM
! munca,ed to me Joint Resolution adopted
4 by the General Assembly of Virginia, April
t /, 1878, "in relation to the appointment of
commiSsi"nersto to ascertain and define the boun.
| dairy line between Virginia and West Virginia.
lie informed me that he had appointed the
three commissioners required by said resolu.
t'on, and invited me to appoint commissions
ers ''to meet, confer and act with tbem I
replied that in the absence of any legislation
on the subject, l did no. feel authorized to
take any action in the premises, bnt tbat..I
would recommend you at your present ses>
sion to adopts similar resolution This cor
respondeuce and the Joint Resolution referred
to will be laid before YOU am not advised
that there is any conflict of authority or iu>
risdiction between the two States with respect
T. any territory: But inasmuch as the boun
/ dary line hss not been run out aud estab,
leshed, it would be good policy to do so now,
when it can be done without any possible i'll
| feeling, which might exist if there should be
such conflict of jurisdiction..for the wsnt.ofa
| fixed boundary.
| THE JAMES R1vER AND ..KANAwHA wA1ER
| LINE
| One of the greatest projects of the country
is the construction of a water liue communi,
I, cation between the waters of the Ohio and
the Chesapeake, utilizing the waters of the
kanawha and James Rivers for the purpose
Private enterprise can hardly accomplish so
grand work, and besides, it is of national in
terest. bill was before Congress at its last
session providing for. the commencement of
this work by the General Government West
Virginia has too deep an interest in this un-
dertsklng to permit any proper effort to se>
f,,, i
to go untried. The commissioners sppointed
by several of the States, to look after the i'm,
provement of the Ohio have taken the mat
ter in hand, and will press the question before
| Congress The commissioners for this State
have taken an active part in the matter, but
they have been compelled to pay not onlv
their own expenses, but also TO paw out of
their purses the proportional share of the ex>
I penses incident to the sittibgs of the commis>
sion This ought not to be. They neither
expect nor ask for any compensation A
small appropriation ought to be made 20 cover
their expenses.
REPORTS.
| Section IL of article I Of the constitution
Z requires the subordinate officers OF the Execu
1 tive Department and officers OF public ius,itu
tions of the State to make semi-annual reports
! to the Governor Of the money received and
disbursed by them. This duty having been
almost universally neglected, in the latter
part of September addressed circulars to the
chief officers whose duty it is to make these
reports, calling their attention to the subject,
and also asking for such additional facts as |
deemed essential to enable me to give you
] proper, information. The boards and officers
of the 81 ospital for the Insane and of the In
stitution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind re.
sponded as promptly as they could by sending
in full reports. From the peniten,iary and
the normal school at Fairmont no reports of
any kind have been received The Princi-
pal of the Glenvile nssmal school informed