Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-01-23
The Radical Plan of Recon-
sFucfien
The New Plan of the OId Con-
seTVatiVe Fossils.



OF seven months and a half In this
time the body, which consisted of eighty
white men and twenty-five negroes.
framed what il, perhsps, the worst con
stitutiOn OF any that has been made un-
der the reconstruction scheme.
Against the sweeping disfFanchise-
ment Of paragraph four Of section one,
as above, Gen. Scholield, the Depart
ment C0mmRndRnt in Virgins, protest
ed earnestly at the time It was under dis
cussiOu, but his renOnstrsnces were dis
regarded and the clause put in. As will
be sseu, its effect, if this villainous in
strument goes into operation, will be to
disfrsnchise almost every citizen Of Viz
ginia who ever held a State offiee from
that Of Governor down to that Of consta.
bic, prior to or during the late war.
PARAGRAPH OF SECTION /.
"Every person who has been 8 Senator
or representative in Congress, or Elec-
tor OF President or Nice-President, or
who held any Office, civil or military,
uuder the United States, who, having
/ previously taken an oath as 8 member OF
/ Congress, or es an officer Of the United
i States, or SO a member Of sny State Leg
islsture, or as an executive or judicial
officer Of any State, shall have engaged
in insurTeci ion or rebellion against the
/ same, or given aid or comfort to the enc
mics thereof. This clause shall include
the following officers: Governor, Lieu
/ tenant Governor, Secretary Of State,
Auditor Of Public Accounts, Second Au-
dltOr, Il gister OF the Land Office, Sta
/ Treasurer, Attorney General. Sheriffs,
/ Sergeant OF City or Town, Commits
/ siOner OF the Revenue, County Survey
Ors, CODstables, OveTseeTs of the Poor,
/ Commissioner OF the Board Of Public
/ WOTks, Judges Of the Supreme Court,
Judge CT the Circuit Court, Judge Of the
Court of Hastings, Justices Of the County
Courts; Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen,
/ COunciimen of 8 City or Town CCrO-
/ neTs, Eschestors; Inspectors CT tobacco,
/ -four, etc; Clerks Of the SIpreme, Dis
{ trict, Circuit, ana County Courts, and Of
/ the Court OF the Hastings; ana AttOr-
/ neys fer the Commonwealth; RrOUided
/ That the Legislature may, by vote Of
I thTee-fifths OF both Houses, remove the
disabilities incurred by this clause from
any person included therein by a sega
rate vote in each c6se.n
The Testric ctioDs on the right to hold
Office are even more stringent il this il
strume1t than those on the electoral
franchise, including, as they DO, the test
oath, or irOn-clad, the severest End most
searching in the whole restrictive and
punitoTy legislation OF Congress.
From this it will be seen that in con-
temptation Of the reconstructed COnsti-
tuition proposed for Virginia it is intend
ed that the State shall be ofiicered alone
by the test-osth men. IN rehlOnstraace
against ouch an effort, Gen. Schodeld,
who seems, though with no success, TO
have sought TO mitigate the ferocious
temper Of the Convention, addressed to
Gen. Grant, under date Of Msy IS, 1865
q letter TO show the impossibility Of car
ryiDg on the government OF Virginia
under the irOn-elsd oath.
In none other Of tie reconstructed .
Constitutions is the test-O8tl here 81 |
luded TO made q sine qua non TO Office, /
and that the difficulties that have al
ready arisen in Virginia from q quasi
enforcement Of this principle amply bear
out Ger. SchUheld's declaration of the
impcssibility Of any even moderately re- /
spectacle administration Of State govern /
ment under it.
Among the other provisions OF this re-
constructed constitution, there is one di-
reeting the first Legislature under it to
re-regiEter all voters under an oath
which compels the applicant for regis
tration, under penalty OF perjury for er-
ror in the premises, to swear that he is
not disfrsnchised under the new c0nsti- .
tuition. 1t Is also declared that " all Citi- I
zens sFe to have equal civil and political /
rights and pTigfleges - which language |
has in certain steamship csses at NCT- /
folk, been held TO mean that negro is I
to hsye entire social equality with whites 4
on all lines Of travel aud ia public &C.
commOdRtiobs. An distinction OF races
ia schools is forbidden, and board /
of education is prOyided for, with fuI
legislative powers, ample 20 enact laws 4
for compulsory education, to prescribe I
choice OF books, selection Of teachers, I
irrespective Of color, and even to levy
school taXes-a yeritable imperinal in
imDeriO.
To render difficult and, Indeed, WELL /
nigh imUOssibie any ameliOgstion OF this (
instrument, it is cunningiy provided 4
that, in order to amend it, there must /
be q msj0rity vote in two successive .
Legislatures, and then final submis- .
sion to the people, ain such manner and 4
at such tiHse IS the General Assembly .
shall presCriDe," " which carries q virtual .
power not to submit st ali,
The Legislature being biennial, this
uou,o t"ke four yesrs 10 begin with, and
then, at the ep,. Of the four years, the
Assembly might postpon. - N0's 70 tLe
end OF four, or four-sEd-tWenty, yea
more.
THE ALEXANDRIA CONSTITUTION.
To avoid the disorders that must OF ne
cessity result from the enforcement of
an instrument so bad in itself and so
difficult OF amendment ss this, various
plans have been proposed. One, by 8
knot OF venerable old gentlemen who
q i r.
" FOSSILS" is for Congress to give the
thing the gO-by and admit the S,ate-so
reads the phrase, admit the Old Domin-
ion, mother OF stRtesmen-intO the
Union on basis OF universal negro suf-
frsge and universal white amnesty. Ths4
support given this proposition does not |
appear 10 be extensive in Virginia, and
there are not lacking hints that the move
emsnRtes in the desire Of some old party
hacks to re-enter on the sweets of Office
on any terms. Another proposition is
that what is known ss the Alexandria
Constitution be adopted in lieu Of the
negro instrument, and, as the history
aud nature Of this Constitution are but
little known, some account thereof may
be OF interest. By act of what is known
as the General Assembly OF Virginia Ia
few Union men and refugees assembled
at Alexandria, then occupied by United
States troops,) bearing date December
q, 1868, seventeen az persons, ASSUME
ing to be delegates elected thereunto as 4
II" Convention 20 alter snd auend the
of the State OF Virginia.
met in Alexandra on the 18th of Feb
rusry, 1864 in the United States District
Courtroom, which had been put at their
disposal by that eminent judicial person
age, Judge Underwood. Remaining in
session up to the TIA OF April, 1864, 3
period Of fisty-nine days, these seventeen
persons excogitated a Constitution which
provides that white male eitizs sns psy-
ing taxes may vote, save
That no person shall vote or hol9
office under this Constitution who held
Office under the so-ealled Confederate
or any Tebellious State
or who has been member
Of the so-cslled Confederate Congress. or
a r,aanabar NJ any State Tavisl st,,-, =,