22. The counties of Rockingham, Shenandoah and Page shall constitute the twenty-second circuit. 23. The counties of Augusta and Nelson shall constitute the twenty-third circuit. 24. The counties of Rockbridge, Bath, Highland and Alleghany shall constitute the twenty-fourth circuit. 25. The counties of Botetourt, Roanoke, Craig and Giles shall constitute the twenty-fifth circuit. 26. The counties of Montgomery, Carroll, Floyd and Pulaski shall constitute the twenty-sixth circuit. 27. The counties of Wythe, Bland, Tazewell and Buchanan shall constitute the twenty-seventh circuit. 28. The counties of Washington, Smyth and Grayson shall constitute the twenty-eighth circuit. 29. And the counties of Russell, Lee, Scott and Wise shall constitute the twenty-ninth circuit. Respectfully submitted, C. Y. THOMAS, Chairman. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN RELATION TO THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, ROOM OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, To the Honorable the State Constitutional Convention of Virginia: Your Committee on Public Institutions beg leave to submit the following report on the resolution of Mr. Carr, of Dinwiddie county: "Resolved, That the property known as the Virginia Military Institute ought to be obliterated, and the property and funds of the same be converted into a fund for the benefit of common schools." The following correspondence of the committee is respectfully submitted: "STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA, "RICHMOND, Va., January 7, 1868. "J. M. HERNDON, ESQ., Secretary of the Commonwealth : "SIR: "In a session of the Committee on Public Institutions, the following resolution was adopted, viz : “Resolved, That a communication be addressed to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, making inquiry in regard to the Virginia Military Institute, its status, endowment and the State's interest in the said institution, and also under whose management the Institute is at present.' "I therefore beg that you will, in accordance with the above, furnish, at as early a date as practicable, all the information that you can procure. "I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, " (Signed) WM. JAMES, "Chairman of Committee on Public Institutions.” To the above the following answer was received, viz : "OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH, "RICHMOND, VA., January 8, 1868. WM. JAMES, Esq., Chairman, &c.: "SIR: "In compliance with the request contained in the resolution adopted by the Committee on Public Institutions of the State Constitutional Convention of Virginia, a copy of which is contained in your letter of the 7th instant, I have to state, that from the best information which I have been able to obtain in regard to the status and endowment of the Virginia Military Institute, it was established by the State of Virginia and organized as a State military and scientific school under an act of the General Assembly passed March 29th, 1839. The cadets admitted into the school consist of two classes, viz: State and pay cadets. "The Institute supplies to the State cadet his board and tuition, and in consideration thereof, he is required to teach two years after graduation. "Such cadets are selected by the Board of Visitors from young men in different sections of the State, who are unable to bear their own expenses. "The number of State cadets is now 36, and of pay cadets is 214. "The State makes an annual appropriation of $15,000 for the support of the Institute. This sum supplies tuition and board to the State cadets without charge, and supports, by the aid of tuition fees and the income from vested funds, the Faculty. "In 1860 a donation of $20,000 was made to the Institute by General Philip St. George Cocke for the endowment of a chair of agriculture; and in the same year a donation of $11,800 was made by Dr. Wm. A. Mercer, of Louisiana, to endow a chair of animal and vegetable physiology applied to agriculture. A donation was also made by Mrs. E. L. Claytor, of Virginia, of $5,000, to erect a hall of natural history. "The Institute is managed by a Board of Visitors, appointed by the Governor, and consists at present of the following persons, viz: John Letcher, (President of the Board) of Lexington; Wm. H. Macfarland, of Richmond; Waller R. Staples, of Christiansburg; George W. Bolling, of Petersburg; A. C. Cummings, of Abingdon; Zeph. Turner, of Rappahannock county; Wm. L. Owen, of Halifax county; Richard H. Catlett, of Staunton; and Wm. H. Richardson, Adjutant-General, (ex-officio) of Richmond. "I am, very respectfully, "Your obedient servant, J. M. HERNDON, "Secretary of the Commonwealth. The following is a copy of a letter addressed to the Superintendent of the Institute, F. H. Smith, Esq.: "STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA, "RICHMOND, VA., February 4, 1868. "F. H. SMITH, Esq., Supt. of the Va. Military Institute: "SIR: "The Committee on Public Institutions have expressed their desire that a communication should be addressed to you in your official character as the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, for such information as may be in your power to give, relating to the status (past and present) of the Institute, for the purpose of enabling them to place a correct report before the Convention in answer to a resolution which was referred to us. "Very respectfully, "Your obedient servant, “ (Signed) WM. JAMES, Chairman." The following was the reply of General Smith, the Superintendent: "VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, Feb. 10, 1868. "WM. JAMES, Esq., Chairman, &c., Com. Pub. Institutions, "SIR: “Constitutional Convention, Richmond, Va.: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 4th instant, expressing the desire of the Committee on Public Institutions to receive from me, as Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, such information as I may be able to give in relation to the status (past and present) of the Institute, with the view of placing before the committee a correct report in relation to the resolution submitted to the consideration of the committee. "In obedience to this call, I respectfully submit the following response: "The Virginia Military Institute, from the foundation in 1839, has been a practical scientific school, under military organization, controlled by the State of Virginia. "Its aim has been essentially, 1st, to provide competent teachers for the schools of the Commonwealth, as a State normal school; 2d, to promote the agricultural interests of the State, by imparting a practical education for the farmer; 3d, to train civil engineers to construct the works of internal improvements of the State; 4th, as incidental to its military government, to provide competent officers for the State militia. This brief outline of its general character shows that the Virginia Military Institute is a practical school, organized and regulated to meet the wants of the industrial classes, including in this designation the teacher, the farmer, the merchant, the manufacturer, the civil engineer and the miner, and its courses of study and methods of instruction have been carefully prepared to meet these important ends. As illustrations of the work of the school in this especial field, I would say that 350 poor young men, some of whom have been taken from the plough, the tailor's board and the work-shop, many of them without resources of any kind, and have been here trained for usefulness and distinction; all of whom, save two, have first taught in the schools of the State, as required by law, and thus aided in improving and developing the educational interests of the State; others have built our railroads and canals; others again engaged in mining and like industrial pursuits; and they have exhibited a capacity for their distinctive work which has been so marked as to place them in positions of eminence and expansive usefulness. Besides these, 2,000 others have been educated as pay cadets, and these have contributed their share in developing all the great interests contemplated by the organization of this school. “Such a work, so necessary to the State, and so satisfactorily executed, could not fail to attract the public attention of those whose views corresponded with this mode of developing the State's highest interests; and the result was, that |