The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-03-04

The CRY JAIL, STATE CABINET FOR NINE
r,s AND SruoOt- Books. DISCUSSED IN The
SENATE CoMal1TkE on PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
The senate Committee on Public institll-
lions met nigh; before last in the Serate
chamber. Major kirkpatrick, OF Lynchburg,
presiding.
Before going into the regular business OF
the meeting. the Chairman gave an account
81 4 visit which be had Just paid TO the city
ttil with Miss Van Lew, which be said was
In a bad condition; that the food waS not
such a 1t ought to be: that the bread was
sour. and far inferior 10 that furnished the
ronyic,s at the pententiary. Hesaid he had
talked with one colorcd man who was
wrapped up in a thiniy-worn blanket. He
told Major kirkpatrick that be hadn't been
sent to iail Tor any criminal Ctf"rce, but be-
rluSc he had gone 10 the lime kiln one night
10 yet warm. one Of the mans legs was
emaCistrd and shrivellCd, and hc said that he
was suffering from The rheumatism. "Well,'
said Major Kirkpatrick, "why don't you
y", the ply stefan to give you some medl-
cinc:" .Why. sir" replied the prisoner,
'.th. phy sic which hc gives amt worth any.
:hing. and Won't do ne any good"
Moj1r kirkpatrick gave detailed account
al what he had seen at the Jail, and conclu-
G,d that there should not only be a reform
8, the Jail n once. bat in the State regulation
.. that institution; the manner in which the
prisoners arc sub>stcd. and the manner in
wnich the jaiior is paid by the State.
This discussion being over, General limbo
den, who was present. addressed The commit
tee in the interest OF erecting cases IN the
rotundA OF the capitol. for the care and pre-
ec.yutiOu OF mineral Specimens from all paris
ui the State 4 bill apprOpriating $500 for
Ills purpose has passed The House 0! Dele
gatt~, and the General told the committee
;ha; in his judgment if TIE Senate would pass
the hii! it would be the lpcauS Of Inviting
capital, aud would be money well expended.
The General having expressed his views left
The senate chamber.
The chairman announced that the CON-
mitce had been called to consider the sub.
jcct Of the till in relation TO school, books,
and that be hnd invited DR.. Rutiner, super
iutcndcnt OF public instruction, to be pre-
sent, and reply to what had been said on a
former occasion by another gentleman, who
had made the statement that Dr.. Rutfner was
prciudiccd againsta certain series and in
..tSor Of another.
Dr. Rufncr said that it occurred to him
that ii WAS very singular that he should be
charged with prejudice against the Uni
ycrSlly series when beyond the State he was
charged with being too local in bis views. In
other word, he had been charged with being
Irt lUdiccd in favor Of Virginia books. He
would Oilcr large reward TO Colonel With.
erS or any one else if he could find in his
oih1e any evidence Of any preference for any
set OF books. In point Of fact, he
had ncccr expressed any opinion on
this subject, and it was an entire mistake,
and tiu rpcrnSt iIno .,h;cb boI bncp ~,
mated. He said there had been scenes in the
BOARD Of EducItion on This subject which
WOULD amaZ- the committee were he to de-
tali thelu. 1t WAS probably through bis in
>iruincntality that The selection Of series
bad been prevented. Two books OF each
class were finally chosen: but as 10 4 State
uniformity, il WAS the vcricst humbug i'm
aginable The position which he holds i
Very Illuminating, because the scheme Is tho
roughly impracticaJic in lis general work
iugS. He declared, ia conclusion, that he
was the in,lIgator OF 30 movement, and wa.
utterly ignorant OF tue whole subject unit
il WAS almost in lie committee. The Consti
tuition had been violated, the contract iol
books had been vioIuted, and the whole
scheme had broken down in its practica
operations.
Mr.. John b. Crensbaw followed DR.. Ruff
ner, and assured the committee that, SO far as
be knew, he (Rufncr) had never expressed
preference for any set of books.
Much Of the remainder OF the session OF
the committee was occupied in discussion
a, TO what constituted uniformity in the
system of school-bookS. The committee
then discussed the bill to provide uniformity
in the system of school-books. The bill pro-
tects the present contracts for school-books
which lasts for three years, and permits the
local boards 10 use the three sets Of book,
now in use. At the expiration of the pres
ent contracts the whole subject is to be com.
mitted TO the local school boards, who are to
select such textbooks as they may deem
best.
1t WAS finally agreed that the bill should be
reported 10 the Senate, and the committee
a. II O'Clock arose. Yesterday, in the Sc.
nate, the bill was placed on tue calendar.