The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-02-16
CITY NEWS.

| IhE DTATE DECENTRALIZATION OIL
THE SENATE To.DAY.--It will be re
membered that when the Senate adjourned
on Thursday, it adjourned to NEE
to-day. Prior to this action, it passed ,
JOINT resolution, which was concurred il
by the House, authorizing the appointment
of joint committee for the purpose of re
moving the books ia the library during th,
interval. This morning, shortly after the
Senate convened, Mr.. Wynne presented 9
report from the library committee, the pur.
port of which was published in our issue
OF Saturday, showing that the floor was
70 H." and offering in connection there.
with joint resolution recalling the resolu.
| ton authorizing the removal of the library.
now in the hands OF the Governor. and
followed it up by saying that suitable
room could not be found, &c.
Mr.. Hundley arose and asked by what
authority the committee presented this re-
port. s}
Mr.. kirkpatrick said he believed that
the Senate had acted hastily in the mat
ter and that the removal could not be
made without entailing large expense
upon the state.
Mr.. Quesenberry didn't agree with the
Senator. He for one had not acted hastily.
and he did not believe any of them had.
MIR. Moffett said, in response to
the remark of the Senator from
Richmond, that the superintendent of pub
nc buildings said q number of places could
be had to remove the books to, The
architects and engineers had examined the
floor but they had not examined the walls.
Every one knows that the floor ia new, but
the walls are entirely worthless. The
change could be made at cost not ex-
ceeding three hundred dollars, and he
wanted to see it done.
Mr.. kirkpatrick arose again and said the
whole thing showed haste. They didn't
know whether the Governor had to sign It
or not ;..but he did have to sign, and it had
been placed on his table this morning,
Judge Nowlin explained why it had not
been placed before the Governor before, in-
forming them of the absence Of the Gov
ernor and the routine through which it had
to pass. He also gave the opinion of the
Governor in relation to the removal of the
books, saying that the Governor was
willing and would sign it if insisted
upon by the Senate, but that he hoped if
they did remove them, they will place
heavy weights of iron in the library room.
as he regarded it safer with weight upon it.
He asserted that it was perfectly secure
and that the brick were better than those
that were being made now. He didn't be-
lleve that wall could be made as strong
as the walls o! the Capitol.
Mr.. Hundley said there was one argu-
ment conclusive to his mind, and that was
that they all had doubts about its security,
and he wanted it removed. He went
on to explain the insecurity of
the floor of the Senate chamber, as
stated in the report of one of the archi-
tects he wanted to know if the weight
ABOVE helped the arches underneath the
Senate chamber.
Mr.. Wynne again arose and gave his
opinion as to the soundness of the wall,
and went on to illustrate the weight of the
books around the walls, using books and
cane for his illustration, and fully explaining
the recent examination as made on Satur.
day.
Mr.. Connally said that the opinion of the
architects was not sufficient for him. He
had known walls that had been built by
one Of them to be propped up to prevent
its falling down.
Mr.. Pridemore advocated the passage of
the resolution.
Mr.. Stevens opposed the resolution.
Mr.. Wynne again arose and explained
why certain architects were invited to ex-
anime the capitol.
On motion, the rules were suspended
and the resolution rejected, by the follow.
ing vote /: Ayes IA, noes IA.
There being tie tho president cast the
deciding vote aye, and the resolution was
adopted.
Mr.. Eubank moved to reconsider the
vote by which the resolution was adopted.
The question being called by ayes and noes.
resulted ayes Ia, noes 10. Mr.. Cochran
moved to adjourn. Carried-ayes Is, noes
Ia.