The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-06-06
,,,,,o Admission of virginia.


r,n Secretary Of War sent to the House
Wednesday the communication which ne
N,t1rrnssed. as commander of the First Mill
%n nr district, to General Grant, saying he
'a'. ,,,;.;cd It, at the suggestion Of the Gene
tr1 ne the Army, for the consideration Of
"a! " ,,ner committee. The following is the
"or.pTsss FIRST MILITARY DISTRICT,
"hE''' "SrArs OF yIga1NIA.
RICHMOND, VA, May Is, 1868.
:. General y. s. Grant:
<,coneral.-I have the honor to invite
o,tent;on 10 a matter which under
yV. nd n he Of great Importance, and which.
SAW ..T"r, correct, will demand the early at
i .; ~: Of Congress. suppose the amend
''. .. 70 the Constitution of the United
. s.,.n. proposed by the Thirty-ninth Con-
..'. and known as article fourteen. will
CIV be declared to have been ratified.
~ become part Of the Constitution; and
ss"a,n5srstand the effect will be to at once re-
49,, from office all persons who are dis
'.rsed hy that amendment. IF am right
.be above supposition, and in my under
III ..s;nr of the effect of the proposed
S,nrdment, it becomes matter Of great
"nortonce to determine what is to be
. ,,as in those States whose governments are
III ,.provisional only" In the States
, h;,l shall have been reSdmittcd to repre-
...o,;on in Congress no serious difficulty
IN exist, for the reason that in those
s,.,es the only disqualification for Office
III bc that contained in the constitutional
,mnndment, and hence an ample field will
-, Isft for the selection of persons to fill all
no vacant Offices, except, perhaps, the
S;rber iudgeships but in the States not
limited to representation the oath pre-
..~;bed bv the act of Congress of July. 2,
1sf7 will still be required of oil persons
elected or appointed to any Office. / have
LIED for reports which will give the
,nmher of officers of the various grades in
y;rr;nia who will be displaced by operation
r the constitutional amendment, and will
farward the specific information when OBJ
,o;rod. For the present | can only state
,bot the number will probably be several
,balsand, and that only small proportion
o; the vacancies thus created can possibly
he filed by persons possessing the necessary
opalifcations, including ability to take the
resent test oath. In the judiciary depart
rsnt to dispense with the test oath even
could probably be insufficient, for nearly
al LAWYERS of sufficient experience to tit
them for the bench held come office before
the war, and hence are disqualified by the
Constitutional amendment. have already
appointed in Virginia nearly 500 officers,
anl would have appointed more if qualified
persons could be found. 1t is important
10 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 qualiica-
tions cannot be induced to accept such ofti-
ccs, except in the places where they reside
and own property or have substantial in
,erests. Reports have been received from
several portions of the State that no persons
can be found even to fill vacancies that now
exist. When the constitutional amendment
takes effect, large number of important
Offices must become vacant and remain so
until restoration is completed, unless some
relief is afforded by Congress. Very re-
spectfully, your obedient servant,
81. NJ. SCH0FIELD."