Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-09-10
ina virginia Legislature -.-Os;nion ofa,torney-
General Hoar

}
Attorney General lIrar with rco,rI to tho
ta'us Of Virginia in her rel,ri,ns with !
lie General Government, and also, with !
"gard to administering tho ",cst oath" to /
'he recently elected members Of the Gen-
cral Assembly Of that State. It NAV be-
interesting to our readers, and we give i, !
in full:
hTroRSErGENEnAL's OFr1cE,
"AsHINcroS, ID. G., Aug. oe, 1860.
70 tie Hon. John A. having, Secretary
9 JFor-
SIE: havo tho honor to ACKNOWLEDGE
The receipt Of your letter of July 27, 1860,
III which you request my opinion upon so
'nuea "f !he questions submitted in the
'el!er Q! The Commanding General Of Tic
First Military District, dated 10Th inst and
accompanying papers, copies Of which are
enclosed, as refers to tie legal q',al;fica-
tons OF officers to be elected under the
proposed Constitution Of Tie State Of Vir-
g'na, and especially upon the question
whether persons elected to Office in such
stale under said Constitution arc r;uu:r
cd by the supplemental Reconstruction
Act OF July 10, 1867, 10 take and sub
scribe the oath prescribed CT referred to in
Section 0 Of said Act before entering upon
The duties oflheir respective Offices. TIC
latter question is tho only ore indicated
Win such dlstinctness as to enable me to
DC fully satisfied that its purport is appre
hehdcd, and propose TO conline my an
Swcr to that. By the statue Of April 10,
lS0o, Tic registered voters Of Virginia
were authorized tc vote OH the question of
The adoption OF :: Constitution Tor tie S:ar,.
and nj The sa,Ec time to elect officers under
~ subject 10 The approval Of Congress.
Inc vote has been taken in pursuance o.
the provisions Of the act, and the election
held, and some parts Of the Cun>ti,u,icn
submitted have lccn adopted by the peo,
Pic aud others rejected. The parts Of ,hc
proposed Constitution 'hls adopted. if they
sha!! he approved Ly Congress, will DO the
Constitution Of Virginia, under Which i!
its 'slicers will be required to act, and ;l,.
! iIna''i:"'lon: AS well as the duties Of lhcsc
oil;ers viii be dc;crn.:''sd Ly ii. When
'rs'a'a is restored 10 its proper relation.
t. tne country IA Safe ot tie Cnr,. its
ofli'c's ana Legislature will j.. s:;ch as the
Constitution OF the State provides, Gc.:v
ing their powers from that instrument; and
1t will clearly no. be il the power of Con-
- to impose amy requirement Of adLi
'i"nal qualifications upon them dilIv.eu,
hom those which, under the Constitution
ofthe United States, may 10 required in
al The States.
! If therefore, any tests were to DC
imposed upon members OF the I,cc:s-
laturc not provided by the Constitu,
tlon OF Virginia, or any restraint
imposed upon the people nr the State
IN their choice Of officers not rccor-
nized 10y it, AMI not made applicable
under the legitimate powers oC Con
grcss to all the States, the Legislature
} and officers would not, in my opinion
> be the Legislature and officers OF
Virginia under It's Constitution. !
do l:ot sec that Congress- can under
take - furnish the State with a suila.
bic Legislature to start with, or to cx.
crc'*c any control over its compost
ton which could not tc exercised
over subsequent Legislatures. 1 am,
therefore, OF the opinion that the oath
prcscribcd by tho statute of 1862,
and by the statute Of July 10, 1867,
Chapter 30, Section 8, required to be
taken by all persons elected or ap--
pointed to Office in said Military Dis.
tricts, under any so-callcd State or
municipal authority, is not to be re-
); qulrcd Of the officers Of the State of
Virginia or members Of the Lcsisla.
turc elected under the new Constitu.
ton. 1t docs not seem to me that
the provisions Of this seco: d section
which are applicable to the govern
mcnt Of the State under military au.
thority, were intended to apply to
the Legislature and officers under
whom the State is to be restored to
It's proper relations to the Union, and
by whom the government of the State
is to be administered after lis rcsto.
ration. This opinion is strongly con-
lirmcd by reference to the second
section Of the same Act, which au-
thorizes the commander of any Dis.
trict named in the Act to remove or
suspend from office or from the per-
formancc Of official power any officer
or person holding or exercising, or
protesting to hold or exercise, any
civil or military Office or duty in said
District under any power, election,
appointment or authority derived
from, or granted by, or claimed un-I
der, any so-called State, or the GOV.