Evening star., 1953-11-10
80 Legislators
Push Inspection
Of institutions
Virginiuns to See
z Schools, Mental
Hospital Today
By Alex R. Preston
Stdr Staff Correspondent

sSI0f S'Oti ~OHSSPOHoS"
WILLIAMSBURG, Va, Nov.
10.-StatisticS were reduced to
human equation today for the
people who will make Virginia. s
new laws next January.
Members of the General AS
sembly elected last Tuesday
continued on a To-day inspection
tour of State institutions.
Where previous legislators had
dealt mostly in budget figures
and more figures. the Legislature
OF 1854 will include a large group
of men and a woman who have
seen at first hand what the data
means to literally thousands of
Virginians.
First Time for Tour.
The inspection tours, being
tried for the first time this year,
prompted Harrison Mann, a
Washington attorney who was
elected to the House of Delegates
from Arlington. to say:
This is one of the best things
the General Assembly has ever
done. We are seeing for our
selves what the problems are"
The group of 80 legislators.
consisting mostly of those elected
last week, left Richmond early
this morning to drive here for
their first stop at Eastern State
Hospital where $3,915,500 for
new buildings and $4,805,745 for
operations is sought in the 1854
Sc budget.
Gov. Battle has said he will
not recommend any increase in
taxes. Gov.-elect Thomas B.
Stanley eampaigned on the same
promise before his election last
Tuesday.
Increases Request.
Yet Eastern State-one of
more than 80 State-operated in
Stitutions-haS submitted budget
requests amounting to $3.5 mil
lion more than is provided for
1t in the current two-year budget.
At the College of William and
Mary, $6.2 million for construc-
ton is asked to relieve what
President Alvin Duke Chandler
calls crowded conditions for 1,5OO
students in an institution de-
signed to accommodate 1900.
Today'S tour will wind up at
Newport News where the Virginia
State School for deaf and blind
Negro children wants to raise it's
operating budget from $464 100
to $550,500 and its capital out
lays from $4,000 to $1,682 900
in the upcoming biennium.
The first days tour yesterday
was devoted entirely to eXamin-
ing Negro facilities in the
Petersburg area.
Dalton in Group.
Among handful of veteran
legislators in the touring group
was State Senator Ted Dalton,
Republican, who lost to Demo-
crat Thomas B. Stanley in the
gubernatorial election. When
his turn came to identify him
self at a brieflng session, Mr.
Daton said:
Tied Dalton of Radford-de-
feated politician"
Later in the day, Mr.. Dalton
said 'it is too soon after the
election" for him to criticize
some of the conditions he saw
but, he added. 81 would think
Tom Stanley would be here"
Mrs. Kathryn Stone, delegate
elect from Arlington. seemed to
be impressed by the fact that
the States highest center of
learning for Negroes had only
$4,000 books in the library and,
she added. "a lot of them seemed
to be unuSable."
Told that the number was
about half of what should be on
hand for more than 1,500 stu
dents, Mrs. Stone walked back
into the crowded book stalls and
asked, Where would you put
more books"
DR.. r. P. Daniel. college presi-
dent, said the library building
would be replaced by a larger
one if budget requests are
granted.
Hit Limit in Agriculture.
The visitor saw a sad lack of
facilities at the School of Agricul-
ture. Said Omer L. Hirst. dele
gate-elect from Fairfax and Falls
Church:
Considering the high proper
tion of colored citizens engaged
in agriculture. this college can
not do nearly enough in that
field. Such halfway measures
are not a good investment of the
taxpayers money"
At Eastern State Hospital for
Negroes, the visitors heard the
pathetic noise of mental patients
in their 8-foot cells. All of
the cubicleS had two beds in
them. some had three.
Eastern State provided the
first "shock" of the tour, not that
the institution does not nave
many good facilities. Its Grim
inal building is as modern as
can be found anywhere. 1t has
excellent medical facilities. But
there are 1850 patients where
1882 ought to be. In some of
the wards beds are literally
inches apart.