The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1868-06-19

GEN. SchOfieId On the Test Oath.
1t is known that Gen. Schofeld, who
was appointed Military Commander
of Virginia, and has been confirmed
as Secretary Of War by the Radical
Senate, strongly opposed the proscrip-
tive features of the Virginia Black and
Tan Constitution, and that by consent
of Gen. Grant, he has refused to order
an election on the question OF ratify-
ing it, Since his appointment as Sec
rotary of War, he has sent to Congress
a communication which he had ad
dressed as commander of the first mil
itary department to Gen Grant, say
ing he transmitted it at the suggestion
of the General of the Army for the
consideration of the proper commit
tee:
HDQ'Rs 1sT Mil. DIST. OF VIRGINIA.
Richmond, May 16, 1868.
To Gen. T. s. Grant
GENERAL Il have the honor to in
vite your attention to matter which
l understand to be of great Importance,
and which, if am correct, will demand
the early attention of Congress. /
suppose the amendment to the consti-
tuition of the United States proposed
by the 39th Congress, and known as
article IA, will soon be declared to
have been ratified and become a part
of the constitution, and | understand
the effect will be at once to remove
from office all persons who are dis
qualified by that amendment. IfIam
right in the above supposition, and in
my understanding Of the effect of the
proposed amendment, it becomes a
matter of great Importance to deter
mine what is to be done in those States
where governments are still provision
al only. In the States which shall
have been readmitted to representa-
ton in Congress, no serious difficulty
will exist, for the reason that in those
States the only disqualification for
office will be that contained in the con-
stitutional amendment, hence an ample
field will be left for the selection of
persons to fill all the vacant offices,
except, perhaps, the higher judgships
but, in the States not readmitted to
presentation, the oath prescribed by
the act of Congress of July 2, 1862,
will still be required of all persons
elected or appointed to any office.
have called for reports which will give
the number of officers of the various
grades in Virginia who will be dis
placed by the operation of the consti-
tutional amendment, and will forward
the specific information when obtain
ed. For the present, can only state
that the number will probably be sew
eral thousand, and that only a small
proportion of the vacancies thus Gre
ated can possibly be filed by persons
possessing the necessary qualifications,
including ability to take the present
test oath, the number of persons would
probably be insufficient; for nearly
all lawyers of sufficient experience
to fit them for the bench held some
office before the war, and hence are
by the constitutional
Il have already appointed in Vir-
ginia nearly 500 officers, and would
have appointed more if qualified per-
sons could be found. 1t is important
to observe that the large majority of
city, town, and county officers receive
little or no compensation for their
services; hence, men who possess the,
necessary publications cannot be in
duced to accept such offices, except III
places where they reside and own
and have substantial interest.
Reports have been received from sew
eral portions of the State, that no per-
sons can be found even to fill vacan-
cies that now exist. When the consti-
tutional amendment takes effect. a
large number of important offices must
become vacant, and remain so until
the restoration be completed, unless
some relief is afforded by Congress.
every respectfully,
sYour obedient servant.
81. nj. SCHoFIELD."