The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-10-13
October 10, i soA. y 81 {. a.

O the 7'h,# as 8 s'n'pie ao1 9! N S}aEs;ee
October 10, so4A..
Virginia Day at the Exposition.
Editor Of The Times Dispatch:
SES Sir-Friday, September 3d., is TO i be
Virginia Day att,theS ST. Louis Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Governor Monta-
que, with his private and official families.
! Is already there and 4 at tended by that
Incompatible battalion, the Richmond
Blues. thousands OF Virginians, many
Of whom still fondly cling to their dear
old mother and many unweaned ones
whom she has lent to her sister States
Will be added to these, and may the socca-
sion come off With the grandest eclat!
e But whilst it was very meet and
proper for a special day to be appro-
3priated to the Old Dominion, is not the
entire Exposition. from May to December,
Virginia Day? 1t is the centannuals COM
melnora ton of the acquisition by the
United States Of that vast Louisiana. ter
ritory which In only tenty GOO veal rs
has become so amazingly developed This
magnificent acquisition was made by
Thomas Jefferson in 1903, when he was
President of the new republi II 9 had
become deeply impressed With the 4neces.
;sityH OF the navigationIof the i" - Their 9 8
WATERS and Of commercial depot at
Mr. Livingston, at the Court OF n apoleon
Bona parte, was in anxious negotiation on
Nose important subjects. Prcsident Jef-
&lersonG was so intent on them that he sent
Mr. Monroe as special envoy q assist
Mr. Livingston in Paris. Y N poleon nag
obtained Louisiana from Spain, and was
thenlIn such imminent peril from Ems land
that. to save 1t from her grasp; ne l..- was
willing to sell it to the United states.
When sTalleyrand unexpectedly made this
known, jefferson and Monroe We're filled
with surprise and delight. The; great pslr-'
chase was &consummat ted for on ~ tltteen
millions OF dollars. Mr. Jefferson had
some scruples as to- Its constlt utlonailty,
and expected to havcssthe ConstllLutloH
amended so as to sanction t. 3nt " was was.
SO Indispensable to the future Of the re-
nublic that "the strict gconstructlonists'
acduicsced in 1t withoutaany amendment
to the Constitution. Well, both Jcfrerso
and Monroe were ma tlves OF $Virgl mia, and
DO til, as Presidents OF the United states,
5prcsided. over the whole louisiana pur-
chase. IN order to cl!nch It ana ascer1aln
what 1t was worth Presldent JEFFERSON =
Iscnt out the exploring II expe0o7atito q
to the Pacific coast. Ihcy,$,. oo, = 3, W W. ~
fVirginIans, and from the Presidents
county-red- LANDED and blue-ridg geo AIDE
marie. Il q II ], Il, q /, Z,
of st. Louis Is not west OF y he Mis-
sIssippi. Onit eastern shore Is a consld-
erable community Known s ,sast u tF -,
Louis, AS 1t Is In an otlie Sla1l g y me-
not be merged into great ~. ouis,S ~
Brooklyn has been IN Grea ter y ewt iofh,
Yet there It Is, and pldly3 gfo q.
tho beginning OF tho war Of ependenc,e
Its site was In the possession OF ,Engla an
But General George Rogers Clar k, a VIZ
g,nian,8 conquered 1t with State troops
under a State Governor, and ma de III
part of yirglnlas enormous Is county z, %
Illinois. But for this conquest. When ne
treaty Of peace betwcen Engla nd and llae
United States was concludcd }s ~ ~ 100 e.
England would have claimed the NORM
west territory upon the nrlnelple o. !, !, ~,
ternatlonal la ", known as NJ Iosslnst's
Moreover, ST. Louis and II ne gT i s,te
part OF the Louisiana purchase arc WITH !.
the chartered domain OF ID ne colony ON EoI
Virginia. by the first char ter Of 6A q 2 E
two colonies. northern A nd fsout ern' Nele
10 keep one hundred miles apart
and both were limited to- Wlthln
one hundred miles from the sea sea.
coast. But by the more ilpsra! cHa 49,,
OF 1909 their hounds were exteilsteo !1 ~
tho Atlantic to tho Pacific, between -ttlle =
north latitude Thus, the pressure 4. o.
England ,pnn Franco In lsH LED 10 tlls
realization of the hounds which slle nan
granted to her nrst American colony very
near two centuries before.
Within the Exposition grounds 4 = Y
louis are Mr.. Jefferson and Nonlleello.
III bodily form, and the slmple lnonlnlen,t
which once marked his ,loroFeu crave ~
there. also. This having been suppla ~ SO
the State University Of Missouri, whose
nresent head is q native ylrgiuiap as TWO