The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-07-15
The I Legislature Free.

The Legislature Free.
It isgenerally supposed that General CAN
BY has power to callthe Legislature together
and supervise its organization. These, we
submit, are great mistakes. What says the
act Of Congress? We quote:
"SEcrIoS 5. That if either fsaid constltn-
t,ons shall be ratified at such election, inc
Legislature Of the State so ratitying, eiectca
as provided for in this act, shall assemble III
the capital of said State on the fourth TUES
day after the official PRONUNCIATION OF such
ratification by the military officer command.
ing In said State"
Thus it will be seen that General CANDY
has nothing more to do with the assembling
of the Legislature than the thermometer has
with the state of the weather. He wiliissue
a proclamation officially announcing the
ratification of the constitution. On the
fourth Tuesday after that proclamation is
issued the Legislature will meet-not in obc-
dience to any order from General CANDY,
but because the act of Congress fixes that
dav for its assemblagc. Now, what has
General CANDY to do with the Legislature
at all? Nothing whatever. 1t will meet
under the Joint authority Of the new con-
stitution and of an act of Congress. Gene
raj CANDY cannot, for instance, postpone
the meeting of the Legislature. Once
his proclamation is issued, the time
for its meeting will be fixed, and
he cannot change that time. How Illogical,
then. to hold that he who cannot even so
much as postpone the meeting of the Gene
raj Assembly for twenty-four hours can
prevent it from meeting at all unless Its
members do an act which Congress does not
require of them. And if Congress had in
tended to exact the iron-clad oath of them
it is almost absolutely certain that the very
section Of the law which we have quoted
alone would have contained the require
ment. 1t will be seen that the Legislature
is expressly required to be ''clected as pro-
vidcd for in this act" And if there had
been any wish or purpose on the part OF
Congress to require other qualifications
than those prescribed by the fourteenth
amendment, the fact would unquestionably
have appeared in this law.
This view of the question is sustained by
the first of the reconstruction acts, which
says:
"SEcT1oS 6. And be 1t further enacted,
That until the people of said rebel States
shall be by law admitted to representation
i'm the Congress of the United States any
civil government which may exist therein
shall be deemed provisional only, and In all
respects subject to the paramount authority
of the United States at any time to abolish,
modify, control, or Supersede, the same;
and in all elections to any office under such
provisional governments all persons shall be
entitled to vote, and none others, who are
entitled to vote under the provisions OF the
fifth section Of this act ; and no person shall
be eligible to any Office under such pro-
visional governments who would be dis
qualified from holding Office under the pro-
visions Of the third section of said constitu-
tional amendment
Now, this section shows, first, what Con-
grcss means by its references to provisional
governments-that Is, that it alluded to the
so-callcd "rcbel' governments existing in
the several southern States-and, secondly,
what kind of persons are eligible to Office
under such provisional governments. If
General CANDY says, ;S we understand he
does, that our new State government is
PROVISIONAL" then we show him that ac-
cordinG to the original reconstruction act
itself all persons are eligible to office who
are not disqualified by the third section OF
the fourteenth amendment. TO require the
test-oath of such men is TO add to the re-
quirements made by Congress, and to re-
quirc qualifications which Congress does
n" isequire-in other words, is to lcSslatc
Tor Congress, thus uSurping 4 power be-
longing to that body alone.
But il is so unreasonable and illogical t"
hold that our new State government is Il
PROVISIONAL government within the
meaning of the reconstruction acts that we
do not care to enlarge upon that branch of
the argument which is based upon so alb
surd an assumption. Read the language of
the law itself. 1t claims for Congress power
g to abolish, modify, control, or SuperSede.
"he same" Now, Congress cannot
" abolish' the new State government--for
it is not in actual existence it is not in
power; it is not in Office. Congress cannot
" modify" the new State government. All
it can do is to accept it OF reject it. Congress
cannot "control" the new State govern
ment; for there is nothing TO control until
it is recognized, and when this is done Con-
gress will lose its power to control. Con-
GresS cannot "supersede" the new State
government for until it is recognized and
established, it could not be "superseded,"
and when once it is recognized and estab-
lished, even Congress would not dare to I'M
dertake to supersede" it. In fact it is us
certain as language can make anything that
Congress never meant to classify the new
State governments i'll any of the States with
the provisional" ones referred to in the
reconstruction acts.
In word, all the argument is on one side
on this question as to the test-oath. All the
power may be on the other side. We shall
soon see how that is. But at any rate neither
Congress nor the President can have any re-
proaches for people who have taken so
much pains as the voters Of Virginia have to
choose Legislature not one of whose men,
bers is disqualified under the Federal Con-
stitution, under our own new constitution,
or under any act of Congress. -..
-----.--
The COURSE OF EMIGRATIoN.-Perhaps
there is in the following paragraph a hint
which will throw light upon the rapid in
crease of population in the northwestern
States. 1t is from the pen of Judge PAS
CHAL, of Texas, and is part of an article in
the last No. of the New York Tribune. He