terior and exterior ornamentation of all public institutions is now justly deemed a necessity, an index of the general taste, and a help to refining influences over the people. We regret that some of the trees, all of which were a gift from Colonel Irby Morgan, one of our most worthy and public-spirited citizens, whose liberality we take pleasure in acknowledging, did not survive the protracted. drouth which prevailed during the late autumn; but their places can be easily supplied at an inconsiderable cost, and, we fancy, that the grounds will soon present an attractive and tasteful appearance. The item of $243.00 was spent for carpentry work, painting, etc., of the boiler-house, and for the purchase of some fixtures connected with the machinery. The basement, or rather cellar, under the north wing, owing, perhaps, to its proximity to more elevated grounds, in which layers of horizonal rock are imbedded, became very damp, and in seasons of continued rainy weather water rose in some places to a height of more than a foot. Apprehensions for the health of the pupils forced the Trustees at once to remedy the evil. We therefore thought it our duty to dispense with the painting and plastering of the center building, the estimates for which amounted to $1,320, and use the money in putting the basement into a condition free from any danger on the score of health, and at the same time useful as a part of the establishment. Drains were made into the sewer for the purpose of carrying off any surplus water, floors were laid, the doors and windows painted, and all the rooms are comfortable and apparently healthy. The improvement was demanded as a necessity for health, but that is not the only advantage, for the rooms can be turned to good acccunt, and the space. thus gained, if the school increases in numbers, will soon be indispensable. The sum of $2,406.36 represents the cost of work on the north wing.

There is not a debt of the smallest magnitude nor any outstanding claim unsettled against the Institution growing out of any contract for building or improving. The expenditures were kept strictly within the limits of the appropriation, and of the two appropriations, large in one sense, we do not believe one dollar has been uselessly expended. The plan of the building as approved by the Governor, and as contemplated by the Acts of Assembly, requires, in order to complete the conveniency of arrangement, as well as to give to the building architectural beauty and proportion, that

the front center building should be elevated one story higher, with tower, etc., as set forth in the original design of elevation. The cost is estimated at $11,734.98, and we hold the obligation of the contractors who finished the other part of the Building, to do that work for this sum. That being done, and the necessity for it is well set forth in the report of the Superintendent, the State would possess accommodations ample for educating all the blind children in the State. Whether an appropriation shall now be made for that purpose, or the pleasure deferred till a more prosperous era dawns upon the community, is a question for your Honorable Body to decide. As Trustees of the School, we shall always try to effect as much good as we can with the means, whatever may be the amount, generously placed at our disposal by the State.

For the domestic management of the Institution we respectfully refer to the report of the Superintendent, who has so long and so faithfully served in that laborious and responsible capacity. Much must necessarily be left to the good sense, business management and integrity of that officer, and we take pleasure in stating, that in no instance have we found him faithless to his trust. There was, we regret to say, a complaint brought against him by a pupil in the work-shop department, who alleged that the money drawn for his support and education from the Treasury was not fully expended for his benefit, and also, that money was drawn from the Treasury on the faith of his name, while in fact he was not then a pupil of the Institute. The facts are fully detailed in the report of the Superintendent to be rendered to your Honorable Body, to which we invite special and particular attention. As soon as the charge was made, an inquiry was ordered, a special committee appointed, composed of Messrs. Lindsley, Watkins and Smith, who reported that every cent received on the quarterly statements, covering the entire period involving the matter of complaint, was properly expended for the benefit of the Institution. It may be well to state the mode of procedure by which the quarterly appropriations come into the Treasury of the Institution. The law appropriates $200 for the support of each pupil per annum, and this sum, dependent, of course, upon the number of pupils and the time that they remain at the Institution, coupled with the general appropriation of $5,000, constitutes the fund, out of which the salaries of teachers and servants are to be paid, fuel, provisions and furniture bought, medicines

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furnished, and innumerable expenses paid incidental to the support of so large an establishment. The general appropriation is usually paid at the beginning of the year. At or near the close of every quarter the Superintendent presents to the Comptroller a list of the pupils and receives from him a warrant, the amount depending, of course, upon the number at the school, the appropriation allowing at the rate of $200 per annum for each pupil. This warrant is made payable to C. W. Nance, Secretary of the Board, who deposits the proceeds in bank to the credit of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. At every quarterly meeting of the Board, the Superintendent presents his vouchers for payments made on account of salaries, provisions, wages, fuel, gas, etc., which are examinednot taken for granted-but scrutinized, and if found correct, the Board orders the Chairman to check for the money which may be due. A standing resolution authorizes the advance of one thousand dollars on the estimates for the current quarter, and this advance is always taken into the account on the final settlement at the close of each quarter. The checks against improper management on the part of the Superintendent, it seems, are as good as could be devised. The charge, we think, is based on a misapprehension of the objects and purposes of the law. The appropriation of $200 per annum for each pupil surely does not imply that that sum must be set apart and specially expended for the personal and exclusive benefit of each pupil. No personal account is or could be kept with every pupil. The entire fund is a general support to the Institution. Occasionally, when, for satisfactory reasons, the pupil boards elsewhere than at the Institution—a very rare instance the Superintendent in his discretion, pays for such boarding out of the general fund, and of this the pupil cannot complain, for he gets just as much benefit as if he were domiciled with the other pupils. Such cases sometimes occur with persons learning trades in the workshop. The receipt of the $200 per pupil is expended in salaries, provisions, fuel, servant hire, and for other useful purposes, in the enjoyment of which the pupils equally participate. An accidental or intentional misstatement of the registry of pupils at the Comptroller's office could bring no benefit to the Superintendent, for the warrants are not payable to his order, and he gets no money unless he brings a voucher evidencing previous disbursement for a similar amount. The only possible way in which he could profit individu

ally in the disbursement of funds, would be by collusion with the persons in whose names the vouchers are made, and against such a supposition a long life time of upright and honorable conduct might well be interposed. The charges aforesaid and every document and paper in our possession connected therewith, shall be laid before the Committee on Charitable Institutions, and we invite a careful examination, and ask a full and explicit report. The party complaining shall be served with notice and requested to present before the Committee all matters of grievance for which he has arraigned the Superintendent. We regret the circumstances which force us to solicit this inquiry, but considerations of public interest, aside from the good name of the Superintendent, demand that all the facts should be thoroughly sifted and publicly made known.

No radical change has been made within the last two years in the management of the Institution except that, as we have now ample room for the exercise of the mechanical departments, we shall discontinue the plan upon which, with limited space, the work-shop department has been hitherto necessarily conducted. All authority to the Superintendent to provide board for the pupils outside of the Institution, has been withdrawn. The work-shop department will hereafter come under the immediate supervision of a committee of the Board.

Occasionally, questions on application for admission to the School involved some difficulty in the solution. The applicant sometimes is only partially blind. In a recent case the young man was virtually blind, tolerably educated, and wishing to qualify himself for a teacher, desired to board at the School and attend the lectures at the State Normal College. We adopt a liberal interpretation of the law, and, when it is proper, try to give every aid to our unfortunate fellow-beings who are partially or totally deprived of sight. Even aged misfortune, if aggravated by blindness, can here find a temporary refuge and means afforded for learning any trade which will provide a future honest and independent support.

A comparison of the expenses incurred at this Institution with the expenses of similar Institutions in the United States, will show, we think, considerable economy in the management. In a school for the blind more teachers are required than in any other literary institution-in many branches every lesson has to be separately taught—each pupil for many purposes is helpless, and greater ser

vice in every way is hence demanded-altogether, for these reasons, appropriations must necessarily be liberal for the support of this branch of public benevolence. It is a subject of almost universal complaint that eleemosynary institutions, public and private, are extravagantly managed. There is reason for the complaint. Even where criminal intent is absent, waste is seldom checked when the public purse is open to every demand. All who deal with the State, whether directly or indirectly, ask higher prices than are demanded of individuals; and managers generally, trustees and directors, whose time and attention are a gratuity, do not give to details the minute attention which is bestowed upon private affairs. The reasons are numerous why it costs heavily to support a public institution, and, therefore, it is necessary to throw all possible guards and checks around the disbursement of appropriations.

As a measure of protection to the State, as well as a satisfaction to the Trustees, we respectfully ask that we be authorized to employ a competent book-keeper or accountant, whose duty it shall be to make a balance-sheet every quarter, a copy of which is to be filed by the Trustees in the office of the Comptroller. A grouping of these statements would more plainly and clearly set forth the financial management than a general report of receipts and disbursements biennially rendered to the General Assembly. An inspection of all the numerous vouchers would, of course, attest the correctness of any report, but so great a labor can hardly be expected of a Legislative committee, the members of which have various other duties to perform. The object is to present in a condensed form, and at short intervals, the whole pecuniary management-the salaries to teachers and servants, the quantity of provisions used, number of barrels of flour, kind and quantity of groceries, and, in brief, a particular exhibit of every expense whatsoever. The daily entries on the books would, of course, be made by the officer appointed for that purpose, and this journal, at the close of every quarter, handed over to the accountant, who would analyze the entries and specify on the balance-sheet, under appropriate headings, the various purpuses for which disbursements were made. The pay of said bookkeeper or accountant should not be more than a few hundred dollars, and he need not have-in fact, it would be better he should not have, any other connection with the Institution. Such condensed statements would be a great help to the Trustees in their