A BILL To establish the Virginia Armory School. January 25, 1847-Read first, to be read second time. Whereas it has been represented to the general assembly that a corps of cadets, formed into a 2 military school, may be advantageously substituted for the public guard in the City of Richmond: 1. Be it therefore enacted by the general assembly, That the public guard established by the act 2 passed the twenty-second January eighteen hundred and one, entitled "an act to establish a guard 3 in the City of Richmond," shall be disbanded in the mode hereinafter provided. 2. Be it further enacted, That there shall annually be appointed by the executive of this com2 monwealth six fit and suitable citizens of this state, who, together with the adjutant general, shall 3 constitute a board of visitors, any four or more of whom shall constitute a quorum, whose duty it 4 shall be, on or before the first of July next, to assemble in Richmond, and annually thereafter to 5 visit said school, and to make such laws and regulations, not contrary to the laws of this state or of 6 the United States, as will at some early and convenient period thereafter organize the contemplated 7 school, and place under its care the armory building, with its arms, and the bellhouse at the south8 western corner of the capitol square, and will furnish protection to all other public property which 9 is guarded by the present soldiery, and to make all needful and proper regulations for its future go10 vernment. They shall also appoint a treasurer, and take from him bond and security, with ade11 quate penalty, payable to the governor and his successors in office, for the faithful disbursement of 12 the funds of said institution. Said board shall annually audit and settle the accounts of the trea13 surer, and make a report of the same to the governor. They shall also annually inspect the public 14 arms at the said armory, and report their condition, as well as the condition of the school, to the 15 governor, to be by him, together with the accounts of the treasurer, laid before the general assem16 bly. They shall also appoint one or more professors, qualified to give to young men instruction in 17 the various branches of military science, and such other instruction as will qualify the cadets of 18 said school to be competent and useful instructors in the common schools of this commonwealth; officer or pro 19 shall have power to fix their salaries, and may for good cause remove from office any 20 fessor, subject however to the approval or disapproval of the governor of the commonwealth. Said 21 board shall be allowed all reasonable and proper expenses incurred in the discharge of the duties 22 hereby required of them. In case of the death, resignation or removal of any of the said visitors, 23 his or their places shall be supplied by appointment of the governor. 3. Be it further enacted, That the cadets of the said school shall consist of two descriptions of 2 young men. The first shall be called regular cadets and shall be selected in the following manner 3 to wit: The respective boards of school commissioners of each county shall be regarded as the 4 organs through whom application for admission into said school shall be ordinarily made of all 5 such young men as may wish to enter the institution herein provided for; the said board certi6 fying that the applicant is of good moral character, and so far destitute of pecuniary means as to 7 render him unable to obtain such an education. From the list of applicants presented to the 8 board of visitors by the said school commissioners or other persons they shall select such a num9 ber of young men, assigning as far as practicable the same number to each senatorial district of 10 the state, as the means of said institution will enable the board of visitors to have educated; 11 the said board prescribing in every instance the terms of their admission, the duration of ser12 vice and all other things connected therewith: Provided however, That the term of service be 13 not in any case less than three nor more than five years. The second description of young 14 men shall be called irregular cadets, who shall be required to pay all or such proportion of the 15 expenses incurred by their connection with the institution as the board of visitors shall deter16 mine. While connected with the institution the irregular cadets shall be subject to the same 17 laws and regulations in all respects as the regular cadets, and shall perform the same services 18 or duties. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said institution shall be located at the armory, and the students 2 shall constitute the public guard, to discharge the duties now required of the existing guard, and 3 shall be formed into a corps, to be called "The Cadets of the Virginia Armory School,” and shall 4 be under the command of one of the professors, as instructor of military discipline and tactics, who 5 shall have such rank as the board of visitors may determine, and be required to perform all the va6 rious duties now devolved by law on the captain of the guard. Any cadet admitted as aforesaid, 7 shall be subject to the rules and articles of war, prescribed for the government of the army of the 8 United States, and may at any time be suspended or dismissed by the professors; but said cadet 9 shall have the right of appeal to three or more of the board of visitors, whose opinion in writing, 10 or that of a majority of them, (after being furnished with a certified copy of the evidence and pro11 ceedings,) shall be final. 5. Be it further enacted, That the board of visitors hereby created, shall employ a surgeon and 2 fix his salary, who shall attend once each day, and at such other times as the commanding officer 3 may require, upon the military professors and their families and the corps of cadets. 6. Be it therefore further enacted, That whensoever the board of visitors shall certify to the go2 vernor that said military school is prepared and ready to go into operation, and that a sufficient 3 number of young men has been admitted into said school as will certainly and effectually secure 4 the public arms and protect the public property, and shall also certify that they have conditionally 5 engaged a military commandant and two other professors, capable of instructing the cadets in mili6 tary tactics, and in such other studies as will qualify them to be teachers of common schools, and 7 that they have received proposals from some responsible person to act as steward of said school, 8 according to a plain and comfortable bill of fare to be prescribed by the board of visitors, and that 9 the compensation to such steward, together with the salaries of the professors, and all other neces10 sary charges for carrying said school into complete and full operation, will not exceed annually the 11 sum of eighteen thousand dollars, the governor shall forthwith disband the said guard, except one 12 noncommissioned officer and two musicians, and order the public grounds, buildings, arms, and other 13 public property at said armory, with its appendages, to be surrendered and delivered over to the 14 custody of said military school. 7. Be it further enacted, That previous to the admission of any youth into this school on state ac2 count, he shall be required to pledge himself, in such mode as the said visitors may appoint, to 3 teach in the common schools of the state, for the same number of years for which he was a student 4 of this school, unless excused for some good cause by the board of visitors. 8. Be it further enacted, That no cadet shall be admitted into said school who is under the age 2 of sixteen, or over the age of twenty-five, and who is not at least five feet high, and otherwise capa3 ble of performing the duties of a soldier. 9. Be it further enacted, That for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this act into effect, 2 there shall annually be appropriated out of the public treasury the sum of eighteen thousand dol3 lars: Provided nevertheless, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the legisla4 ture at any time hereafter from altering, modifying or repealing in whole or in part, all and singu5 lar its provisions. 10. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the A BILL To amend the Act of 25th February 1846, entitled "An Act to establish District Free Schools in the Counties of Lancaster, Westmoreland, Richmond, Prince William, Loudoun, Fairfax, and certain other Counties therein mentioned." January 25, 1847-Read first to be read second time. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That upon the petition of one third of the qualified 2 voters in either of the counties of Lancaster, Westmoreland, Richmond, King George, Accomack, 3 Northumberland, Loudoun, Brooke, Jefferson, Henry, Frederick, Kanawha, Prince William, York, 4 James City, Fairfax, or in the City of Williamsburg, in which the district free school system, pro5 vided for by the act of the twenty-fifth of February eighteen hundred and forty-six, entitled “an 6 act to establish district free schools in the counties of Lancaster, Westmoreland, Richmond, Prince 7 William, Loudoun, Fairfax, and certain other counties therein mentioned,” may have been or may 8 hereafter be adopted, as it now is or as it may hereafter be amended by the general assembly, the 9 county court of said county, or the hustings court of said city, as the case may be, shall direct the 10 commissioners of election at the next ensuing election for members of the general assembly to take 11 the sense of the voters in said county or city, qualified to vote at such election, upon the question 12 whether said district free school system shall be continued in their county or city; the names of 13 those voters in favour of said system to be entered in the pollbooks in a column headed "District 14 Free Schools," and the names of those voters opposed to the continuance of said system to be en15 tered in said pollbooks in a column headed "No District Free Schools"-and said commissioners 16 shall return the poll of votes so taken to said county or hustings court. 2. If it shall appear from the return of votes so taken that a majority of the voters qualified as 2 aforesaid in said county or city are opposed to the continuance of said district free school system, 3 the said county or hustings court shall enter that fact upon its records, and from the date of such |