The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-07-14
rne I,agislature-The Test.oath..

WEuNESDA1 .......JUL1 II, icoo'
The Legislature The Test-Oath.
The great trouble which General CASBY.
encounters In his attempts to relieve the
people of Virginia Of an odious oath, which
they have already, under the authority OF
an act of Congress, relieved themselves OF,
reminds MS of those terrible lions which lay
in the way of BuNYAN's CHRISTIAN as nc
ionrneycd to the Celestial CITY. lhcse
lions were all securely chained, and CHRIS
TrAN's fears were owing to his own faint
heart, He could see the lions, but not the
chains which bound them. General CANBY
sees the test-oath, but cannot for his life sec
that the language OF the acts of Congress
prevents it from being required Of the men,
bers Of our new Legislature.
We published yesterday General CANsY $
letter to the New York Times. In that let
ter. il anywhere, is to be found his justiflca-
ton for his avowed purpose of exactins the
tes-eath from the members of the LeSisla-
t,,re. But the Times shows that General
CASRY is mistaken in his facts. We showed
the same thing several weeks ago. General
GRANTS letter to General MEADE was Wit
ten on the Goth of April, and Georgia was
not admitted TO representation IN congress
until the 25t1, of June following.
But where does General CANBY find his
authority for exacting this oath! No act OF
Congress that we have ever seen requires IL.
General GRANTS telegram and letter TO 9e-
neral MEADE settle that question. General
CANBY, however, in his letter to the Times
says:
"Undcr constitutional and legislative provision
ALI executive and judicial officers oil the severn
States must before they proceed to eSf SS n se
scribed oath or affirmation
That is quotation from the Federal Con-
stitution, which requires that an oath to
support that instrument shall be taken. NO
member of our Legislature will object TO
taking That oath. But General CANDY adds,
by way of enlightening the public and jus
tifying his own conduct, the following:
1.-THE caths or afflrmations now prescribed, arc
those OF July ., 1862, and July IL 1865 ana those
prescribed by the State s,nr Se w,eH or S
the ea ADMISSION OMISSION Of the stses district
s yin nn de n Gntni
DIV to particular cases. and substitute for them
TIE cath By
action without assuming a power when congress
has expressly reserved to ITSELF.
The Times did not take the trouble to
examine these laws to see how far they
Justify General CANDY. What will the in
telligent reader say when he learns that the
law of July 3, 1862, reads as follows?
D. "a yaJ ao At hcrcuftnr nprSOG
elected or appointed to any Office of honor or pro-
fit under the Government Of he United states,
the public service. except the President of the
United States, SHALL take the iron-clad OATH.
Now, General CANBY certainly knows
that that law does not apply to any State
oficers-that the members of the New York
Legislature, for instance, are not required
by that act to take the iron-clad oath. Yet
he expressly refers twice to that law as one
under which he is acting.
The other law to which he refers is, he
says, that of July II, 1868. We have care
fully examined our own files and the alb
stract of the laws and joint resolutions of
the Fortieth Congress contained in the
World almanac and the Tribune almanac,
and we can find no act bearing upon the
subject except one approved on the 18th of
July, 1863, prescribing an oath of office for
persons whose disabilities have been re-
moved. This act like the other, applies, of
course, only to Federal officers, and we
cannot imagine why General CANBY refers
to it at nil. AT any rate, our legislators can
take that oath conscientiously. tfthcse two
acts contain all the authority he has for en-
unf;rp tho iron lul pnth IF MON hprS Of fhp
Legislature, he has not Il shadow of warrant
for requiring it. And if he has any other
authority, he fails TO refer to it in his letter.
But the fourteenth amendment rccog-
nizes the difference $50 well known to law
yerS) between officers and members of
Legislature. We have neither time nor
space just here and now for the argument.
Suffice it to say that us members of Il Legi>-
ture are not officers, there is no law of any
sort which can be cited us warranting the
eXaction of the test-oath from them.
That General CANDY is totally mistaken in
supposing that the Constitution Of Georgia
had been accepted by Congress when Gene
raj GRANT wrote to General MEADE, and
that the case laid before General GRANT was
exactly similar to ours, is abundantly proved
by the following able and interesting letter
from General MEADE to General GRANT.
We quote it entire, and commend it to
General CANBy's careful consideration
HEADQUARTERS THIRD MILITARY DISTRICT
department Of Georgia, Ftortdd and
ATLANTA, GA, April 10, 1868. J
General U. S. Grant, commanding U. S. army,
Washington, ID. e.:
General The Georgia Convention, in
It's ordinance requiring the election of Fedc-
raj and State officers on the same days as
the election for ratification, provided as fol-
lows:
And Major-Gencral Meade is respectfully re-
qucstcd to give the necessary orders to carry into
effect the foregoing provisions, ana cause due re-
turns to be made and certificates Of election to is
sue by the proper ofhcers.''
This duty of issuing certificates of cleo
ton was one should never voluntarily have
assumed; but, unfortunately, my attention
was not called to it till after the adjourn
ment OF the Convention--tOO lrte to have the
ordinance modified and have the returns
sent either to the President of the C0nyen-
ton, as was the case in Alabama, or to
board Of canyaSserS, rs is provided iii the
ordinance of the Florida constitution. The
objection to discharging this duty is that it
imposes on me the necessity Of inquirng
luto tnC HuulauSaokOlo aiiu vi tho''
officers who are not members of bodies
competent themselves to adjust such ques-
tions, as, for instance, the Governor.
On the Sd instant letter was handed to
me by committee of gentlemen asking Of
Ee an expression OF opinion on given
statement OF facts as to the eligibility of the
Hon. D. Irwin as u candidate for Governor;
to which letter replied, giving my opinion,
and stating that If a person with such
status were elected should not feel myself