The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-09-11
Opinion of the Attorney General
ON Affairs hsa Virginia.

The Attorney GeneralHoss has written
!, letter TO Gen'l .Canby. dated Washington,
August 20, 1869, in which he gives his
official opinion Of the political condition Of
affairs in Virginia, for the gui5snce of the
Department General. The text of the
letter is as follows:
SIR: have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt Of your letter of July 9th, 1869.
in which you request my opinion upon so
much of the questions submitted in letter
of the commanding General of the First
Military District, dated the 10th inst, and
accompanying papers, copies Of which are
enclosed as reports the legal qualifications
of officers to be elected under the proposed
Constitution of the State of Virginia, and
especially upon the question whether per
sons elected to Office in such State under
said Constitution are required by the sup
Elemental reco, sstruction act of July 10Th,
1868, to take and subscribe to the prescrib'
ed article referred to in section 8 of said
act, before entering upon the duties Of
their respective office. The latter question
is the only one indicated with such distinct.
ness as to enable me to be fully satisfied
that its purport is a~pprehended, and I con
fine nv answer to that.
By the statute of April 10th, 1869, the
registered voters Of Virginia were author
Used to vote on the question Of the adoption
of a Constitution for the State, and at the
same time to elect officers under it, subject
to the provisions of Congress. The vote
has been taken in pursuance Of the provis,
ions of the act, and the election held, and
some parts of the Constitution submitted
have been adopted by the people and others
rejected. The parts of the proposed Con.
stitrtion thus adopted, if they shall be ap
proved by Congress, will be the Constitu.
ton of Virginia, under which all its officers
will be required to act, and the qualifica
tons as well Us the duties of those officers
will be determined by it. When Virginia
is restored to its proper relations to the
country as a State Of the Union, its Officers
and Legislature will be such as the Consti
tuition Of the State provides, deriving theil
powers from that instrument, and it will.
clearly not be in the power of Congress tc
impose any requirements Of additional quail
ifications upon them different from those
which, under the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, may be required Of all the States
If, therefore, any tests were to be imposed
upon members of the Legislature not pro.
vided by the Constitution of Virginia, OF
any restrictions imposed upon the people
of the State in their choice of officers not
recognized by it, and not made applicable
under the legitimate powers of Congress to
all the States, the Legislature and officers
would not in my opinion be the Legislature
and officers of Virginia, under its Constitu.
ton. do not see that Congress can un
dcrtake to furnish the State with a suitable
Legislature to start with, or to exercise any
control over its composition which could
not be exercised over subsequent Legisla.
lures. / am therefore OF the opinion that
the oath prescribed by the statute of 1862,
and by the statute of July 10th, 1857,
chapter 80, section 9, required to be taken
by all persons elected or appointed to Office
in said Military District, under any social
ed State or Municipal authority, is not to
be required under the new Constitution.
1t does not seem to me that the provisions
of this 9th section, which are applicable to
the government of the State under military
authority, were intended to apply to the
Legislature and officers under whom the
State is to be restored to its proper relations
with the Union, acd by whom the govern
ment of the State is to be administered
after its restoration. This opinion is stron-
ely confirmed by a reference to the sec.
ond section of the same act which
authorizes the commander of any district
named in the act to supersede or remove
from Office or from the performance of off.
cial powers any officer or person holding
or exercising, or protesting to hold or ex.
ercise any civil or military Office or duty
in said district under any power, election,
appointment. or authority derived from or
granted by or claimed under any SO called
State or the government thereof, and to
detail a competent officer or soldier of the
army to perform such duties. 1t would be
impossible to suppose that Congress could
that a Legislature under the Consti-
tuition of q State could have its members
appointed by a detail from soldiers of the
army. The only reasonable conclusion
seea S to me to be that it was not intended
such Legislature should be allowed to
exact and and act until reconstruction was
except for the limited and quail
fed purposes requisite to reconstruction,
but on the other hand l fully concur with
the views of the general commanding in
Virginia that under the reconstruction acts
Of Congress no officer or Legislature is com.
petent or should be permitted to exercise
the functions or power of his Office within
that Stale, except so far as those acts them.
selves provide without taking the oath
which is referred to in the statute of 1867
above quoted. The act of April 10th, 1869
the Legislature to meet at a time
which it desiguates; that it is to meet i'm
plies, that it is to come together for some
1t is required under the previous
aw to act upon the question of adopting
he fifteenth amendment to the Constitution
If the United States before the admission
VI the State to representation in Congress.
am of opinion, therefore, that it may come
ogether, organize and act upon that
but that until Congress shall
nave approved the Constitution and the
,ction under it, and shall have restored the
'tste to its proper place in the Union by
.ecognizing its form Of government as Re-
and admitting it to representation,
he Legislature is not entitled and could not
Without violation Of law, be allowed to
any business, pass any act or res.
luton or undertake to- assume any other
lnctions Of a Legislature, ifthe test oath
as not been required of its members, and
hat no officer elected under the new Con-
can enter upon the duties of his
without taking the oath, while mill
ary government continues.
Very respectfully,
E. R. HoAR, Attorney General.
~>~~~a@~~
CHINESE WAsHERMEN OF all the
nployments in which Cinnamon best
1cceed is the laundry business. They
re wonderful washermen, but they insist
pom d%ampening clothes by taking the
alter into their mouths and sending it
Mt in snrav fhrourh THAR clnsad teeth |