Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-01-28
Admission of Virginia.

Wy N6S ENE KISS
AN ACT TO ADMIT THE STATE OF VIRGINIA TO
REPRESENTATION IN THE CONGRESS OF THE
UNITED YATES
Whereas the people Of Virginia have franz
cd and adopted a Constitution of State Gov
eminent which is Republican and where
as the Legislature of Virginia, elected under
said Constitution, have ratified the four
tenth and fifteenth amendments to the Con-
%stitution of the United States and whereas
the performance of these several acts in good
faith was a condition precedent to the repre-
sentation Of the State in Congress there
fore.
Be 1t enacted, &c., That the said State
of Virginia is entitled to representation in
the Congress of the United States: Provi-
ded, That before any member of the Legis-
lature of said State shall take or resume his
seat, or any officer of said State shall enter
upon the duties of his office, he shall take
and subscribe, and file in the Office of the
Secretary Of State of Virginia, for perma-
nent preservation, an oath in the form fol-
lowing "I,-, do solemnly swear
that l have never taken an oath as a member
Of Congress, or as an officer of the United
States, or as a member Of any State Legisla-
ture, or as an executive or judicial officer Of
any State, to support the Constitution of the
United States, and afterward engaged in in
surrection or rebellion against the same, or
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,
so help me COD; Or such person shall, in
like manner, take, subscribe, and file, the
following oath "I,-, do solemnly
swear that I have, by act of Congress of the
United States, been relieved from the disa-
bilities imposed upon me by the fourteenth
amendment of the Constitution of the United
States, so help me God"; which oaths shall
be taken before and certified by any officer
lawfully authorized to administer oaths and
any person who shall knowingly swear false
ly in taking either Of such oaths shall be
deemed guilty Of perjury, and shall be pun
ished therefor by imprisonment not less than
one year and not more than ten years and shall
be fined not less than $1,000 and not more
than $40, 900 and in oil trials for any vio-
lation of this act the certificate Of the taking
of either Of said oaths, With proof of the sig
nature Of the party accused. shall be taken
| and held as conclusive evidence that such
oath was lawfully and regularly administer
ed by competent authority.
And provided further, That every such
person who shall neglect, for the period of
thirty days next after the pessage of this act.
to take, subscribe, and file, such oath as
aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken, to all
intents and purposes, to have vacated his
office.
And provided further, That the State Of
Virginia is entitled to representation in Con-
gress upon the following fundamental condi-
tons That that Constitution Of Virginia
shall never be amended or changed as to de-
prive any class of citizens of the United
States of tho right to vote who are entitled
to vote by the Constitution herein recognized,
except as a punishment for such crimes as
are now felonies at common law, whereof
they shall have been duly convicted under
laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants
of said State Provided, That any alteration
in said Constitution prospective in its effects
may DO made in regard to the time and place
of residence of voters; That it shall never
be lawful for the said State to deprive any
citizen of the United States, on account of
| his race. COLOR, or previous condition of SER
vitude, Of the right to hold Office under the
Constitution and laws Of said State, or, up
on any such ground, to require of him any
other qualifications for Office than such as are
required of all other citizens; that the Con-
| s~titution of Virginia shall never be so
amended OF changed as to deprive any citi-
zen. Or class Of c~itizena, Of the United States
of the school rights and privileges secured
by the Constitution OF said State,
From the following special dispatch to
| Vindicator, it will be seen that the House
has also passed the bill:
RICHMOND, Jan. "a; 6 F. M.-House
just passed Senate Bill admitting Virginia,
with all the conditions as it came from the
Senate: Ayes 1853, Noes 81.
| The Nep York Tribune, treating of the
| Senate vote on the above bill says: Mr..
brakes proscriptive amendment to the Yir-
| GINA admission bill-not one vote being
given for it from the three great States Of
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which
together number more than one-fourth of the
people of the Union, was carried By a COM
binatiop flute States and little souls.
The Tribune never uttered a more truth.
full assertion.
The Washington correspondent Of the Bal
timore Sun, on the 10Th, gives the follow
ing on the subject Of Virginia's admission !:
An enrolled copy of the Virginia bill was
signed to day by the Vice President and
Speaker of the House, and was laid before
the President this evening. There is no
reason to dsuht but that he will sign it. An
investigation shows that the cath prescribed
in the bill only effects two members Of the
Legislature-one who was a county constable
when he was nineteen years Of age, and one
who was g magistrate forty years ago.
TIE CONGRESSMAN EIEcg
The committee on elections had an infor-
NAL meeting this morning, for the purpose
of considering the question of the admission
of the Virginia members as soon as the bill
for the admission Of the State shall have be-
| come c law by the approval of the President.
Nothing final was determined, and the COM
mittee will have a further meeting ta.nor-
row. The impression seems to be that the
only members excluded will be Messrs.
| Booker and Mckenzie. whose seats are
contested, Mr.. Porter on account of his
disloyal record, and Mr. Seegar, about the
legality of whose election there is some doubt
as it is questionable whether the State is
entitled to a representative at large.
Our contemporary of the Richmond Dis
patch is endeavoring to make the best face
possible over Virginia restoration. He says: