The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-10-24

the SCHOOLS OI lH6 0lhtS, anu AZ Tic
present year, ten years later, there
was distributed $7SS,OOO, or more than
double the amount distributed in the
last year of the Democratic admins
tration.
Public Buildings.
Another remarkable statement OF
Mr.. McGraw is that: "All our mag.
nificent State institutions, except the
asylum at Huntington, the capitol an
mex and a few minor buildings, had
been substantially completed when
the Democratic party passed out of
power" Here, again, Mr.. McGraw
shows that his acquaintance with the
history Of his own State is very de-
ficient indeed. The three miners
hospitals, the branches Of the Univer'
slty at Keyser and Montgomery, the
asylums for incurables, now known
as the West Virginia asylum, the In
dustrial Home for Girls, the capitol
annex, and many additions and i'm.
provements to the existing buildings,
have caused a large expenditure OF
money. In 1904 had table made
up from the official records which
shows that in the last eight years of
the Democratic administration, 1889
&C, they spent for public buildings and
grounds for purchase, construction,
repairs, rents and furnishing. $SG7,.
900; while in the first eight years OF
Republican administration, from 1897
1904, there was spent for the same
purposes, $1.792,OOO, or an increase by
the Republicans in their eight years
of $925,000 over the Democrats in their
eight years. In additions to the new
buildings stated there were additions
TO eleven institutions, among which
may be named the armory, the library,
mechanics hall, and heating plant at
he university, and three or four new
buildings at the colored institute. At
the oenitentiary there were num-
her of new buildings put up and the
inside of that great institution has
been practically rebuilt in the last
five years so as to make 1t modern
and up to date. That work will be
completed this year, and then West
Virginia's penitentiary will be one of
the most modern of any in the Unit
cd States. At Weston and Spencer,
at the schools for the deaf and blind,
at neary or quite all Of the normal
schools, great improvements have
been made. A splendid new building
vas erected at Sheperdstown, the re-
form school at Pruntytown has been
very largely added to, so that the old
part is now considerably the least i'm
portant. The excellent new institu-
ton at Salem, the Industrial Home
for Girls, is not to be overlooked. But
I make no pretense Of enumerating all.
The intelligent citizens of the State
who keep informed of the history of
the State need not to be told of these
things.
In Mr.. Cracraft's table. above re-
ferred to, he showed that the total
amounts spent by the Democrats in
their twenty-five years administra-
ton for new buildings, etc., was
S1.621 1922. Now for the same purpose
precisely the Republicans spent from
1897 to 1904, s1,792,OOO, as above stat
cd, or more in eight years than the
Democrats spent in their whole TWEEN
ty-six years. Since 1904 very con.
siderable sum has been expended for
the same purposes, and this does not
include large expenditures made for
the excellent geological survey OF the
State, now in progress.
The appropriations made by the
7 legislature frum 1889 up to 1905 will!
be found in the appendices to the
House and Senate journals beginning
with 1897. These tables were made
by Captain Alfred Phillips, the expert
accountant in the auditors ofice,anl
no doubt are approximately correct.
They will show what the money was
and used for, and l wish
that every taxpayer in the State could
have these tables before him and