The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-10-27
AZ. nnhnctnntc Disa NilifinS.

The En0uyrc7. saws that the Dispatch
seems" to admit that hlr. JOHNSTON, our
senator elect. labors under disabilities. By
- means. We said distinctly that II the
!..:~ were rs stated he was undoubtedly
,s,.c,"Ii:icd and we were 30 particular as
f,a3d Ihatir the act purporting 10 remove
his disabilities Was passed in June, ana ne
amendment bccumc par; OF the Con>l:Iu-
ION in July following. then and iii ihat ease
his disabilities remained untouched. We
based our opinion upon the facts assumed.
Whc Wing has the following from the pen Of
- legal gentleman
The Constitution Of the United States,
article five. provides that amendments to
Ills Coustifutiou shall be
rata to all t~tcatS and purposes as Il part
81 this Constitution when ratified by INC
Legislatures Of ihrCc-foulthS OF the several
States The ratification Q! the fourteenth
amendment br The Legislature Of Alabama
~ the 18th july. 1865, completed the con-
.s!fuinnal requirement OF 'thrcc-iourthS oil
;nn several states Consequently the tour
:cculh amendment became valid to all IN
1au.S and purposes from and after that
Gay: aHd when Congress, by Il vote OF two
thirds o! each House, removed all the po-
l.tical disabilities Of Judge Johnston on the
:: III rf July. 1868, it must have removed
his disabilities under that amendment,
which had already, 10y the action OF threc-
tourlh> Of the States become part OF the
supreme law of the land
II will be seen that this opinion admits
that the law of the ease is just what we
stated it to be-namclv, that "the moment
1.-The fourteenth amendment became part
"thc Constitution i tn" moment when Mr..
GouSsToS's disabilities were crcatcd,I
hu, gocs on 10 claim that the facts are not Is
We had supposed them to be. We kno'C
nothing as to the facts. If the relieving bill
ua>.cd even one House before the 18th OF
.lur. Mr.. JOHNSTON would not be cifcum-
>tanccd as the wings correspondent sup
poses nc is. That our view is the one taken
y; General GRASr and his Cabinet appears
from IN article in the state JOurndt (of Mon
dav}. whose editor is understood to have
lad an interview with Mr.. boutwell, and
General GRANT very recently. The journal
says:
"But there is something in The remark Of
the Dispatch that Congress would do Tra-
ciouS act by promptly paSSin. law re-
iir. digestion is the more important mas
mitch = the Dispatch was anticipated III it
i,y liT. Boutwell, himself. 1t was through
tn1t genilcman's mistake that the disabili-
ties q our senator elect were not removed !;
atI,i Ir. Boutwell, has declared that Judge
Johnston has moral right to the removal
% his disabilities. and that Congress ought
Il. once to correct its error and vindicatc its
original intention in the matter. Nay, there
i even higher authority for this suggestion.
The President himself concurS with Mr..
Boutwell,. and expresses the opinion and the
hope that Congress will promptly relieve the
disabilities Of This gentleman and render ell
vctiYe its own intention in his case, which
would otherwise prove abortiye.'
our view is further proved to he the cor
rect one by the fact that Congress itself UNI
dcrtook last spring to remedy the defects in
It's previous legislation for the purpose of
removing disabilities. 1t passed an act in
tended to relieve Mr.. JOHNSTON and others,
bat which failed Of its object through 4
mistake made by Mr.. boutwell, in drawing
the bill.
We discuss this, rs al other such Qu"S-
tons. without reference to the parties TO
he affected No one would be more
pleased than We to see Nj. JOHNSTON aG-
rl:ttrCsat once into the Senate.