The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-04-21
THE MAYORALTY CASE
BEFoRETHE COURT OF APPEALS.
ARGUMENTS SOFJAMESN NELSON AND
HENRY A. WISE
THE DECISION RESERVED.
When the court met yesterday

to assent to any arrangement that might be
agreed upon.
Mr.. WISE: Go on; so fhr as am con
cerned you can have all the time you want
Mr.. NELSON then addressed the court
He said that the questions involved in these
causes are not numerous or difficult, how
ever novel they may seem to be. On the
one hand, there is the Constitution, which
commands our respect if not admiration
and commendation. On the other, there Is
an act of the General Assembly alleged ia
would contend that this act was perfectly
constitutional, in conformity with acknow.
ledged principles, in violation of no
principle of right, and designed to effect
the public good. 1t should therefore
receive commendation rather than de.
nunciation. If repugnant to the Con.
stitution it is the duty Of the court
to declare it to be so, but he denied that II
was their duty to do so until it seems to
the court that there is an irreconcilable
conflict between the two instruments. The
Legislature is entrusted with the guardian
ship of the Constitution as much. as is the
judiciary. The Legislature is composed ol
the immediate representatives Of the peo..
ple--sworn to support, protect, and defend
that instrument and that obligation is as
solemn and efficient as any that can be i'm
posed on the judiciary.
He then referred to the remarkable his.
torical changes in the last ten years, and
the varied and perpleXing experiences
through which we have passed. But after
death there has been q resurrection. The
valley Of dry bones has been reanimated,
and il is to he hoped that we live again as
sovereign State, subject alone to the Con.
stitutiun Of the State and the paramount
authority of the Constitution Of the United
States. We must not ignore, but take cog
nzancc of, these changes when called upon
to pronounce upon the validity of an in
st. umcn that was the growth and produc'
ton Of these extraordinary events. a
glance at some Of the facts of our recent
history was therefore necessary.
He would first revert to the condition o.
events i'm March 1867, when the first recon
struction act was passed. That act declared
that there was no legal government III flr
g;nia, although there was government
here, in point Of fact, efficient and benef
cent in its operation. This act, however
placed us under the military power of tlt
United States. 1t was proclaimed subJul.
CATION. The fifth section of that act de
clarcd that after certain conditions had beef
filed. and the State admitted to representa-
ton in Congress, the provisions Of the ac
should thereafter be imperative that is
that The Subordnaton of the State Govern
ment to military authority should cease
! That provision had the effect Of
repeal 0! the law, so far as TIN
state Of Virginia was concerned, s.
| soon as the conditions referred to shoul(
be fulfilled. 4 subsequent act, supple
mcntary to the first, gave the control of tn
civil offices OF the state into the hands O
the commanding General, comforting upol
him absolute and unlimited power for th'
removal and appointment Of all civil func
| tionarieS. OF course, rs these acts were
supplementary and explanatory, when tht
first cease to operate they fall with 1t
| That is, when the State is admitted into tht
| Union. and is represented i'll Congress, the
| military power is withdrawn.
1t was under the last act that the com
| mandiug General ut that time and his sue
ccssor assumed the task of directing The
civil government Of Virginia. How these
Generals discharged the duty he was no
called upon to say, but perhaps they dis
charged it as faithfully as any of the com
nnndcrS of military districts. Genera
Schoticld, who was first i'll command, found
the offices of the State under the admins
lration of Governor Picrpoint filled will
men Of ability who were acceptable to tht
whole people. These were the men whom
it was claimed that the Convention Intended
to keep in Office Notwithstanding the tac
that many Of them were known TO be oh
noxious and odous to the majority of that
bodv-mcn not one of whom in il Thousand
possessed the qualifications prescribed by
that body. The speaker would aver, rs a law
yer. that il was the purpose of that Conven'
| ton, instead Of continuing, to eXpel such
men from power and TO disqualify then
perpctllally. This assertion was demon
Stratcd by the proScriptiye clauses OF the
Constitution as proposed by that Conven
ton, and rejected by the good people o
the State. Those clauses forbade anybody
who had ever enjoyed the confidence OF thu
people as Il public officer from thereafter
| holding Office or even exercising the righ
of suffrage. A test was prescribed Which
no man who had ever yielded obedience Il
the Confederate Government could take.
; it possible, in view of these proscriptiv,
| features OF the instrument, to suppose tina
| il WAS the intention of the trainers Of tha
| instrument TO continue in power the incum
benlS at that time, nearly every one Of WHOM
was one Of the prescribed class? So con
yinccd was General Schoteld of this outra
ccous design of the Convention that h,
| made his appearance before the body AM
| cndeavored to mitigate the prescribed quail
iiicatio!ls for Office, declaring that he believe,
| it impossible to inaugurate good Govern,
meut on that basis.
TNlr. NELSON here read General Soho
| fields speech as reported by the olhcla
stenographer of the Convention and pub
lished in the Daily Dispatch Of the day.
| Rcsuming, Mr. NEESUN repeated that tn
| incumbcntS of offices at that time were dis
qualified by the Constitution framed-odlou
! to the dominant party, and public enenie
a. fn lao forever
| 1t was unreasonable to suppose that the.
| designed to keep them i'll power until Tn
new Constitution should 80 into effect. Bu
the Convention nccntcmptuouSly dlsregalde!
General SchoticlUs protest, and ne, on Ill
part, declined, by an emphatic sIence, u
submit the Constitution to the people OF
: the day named in the ordinance and
never was submitted to the people IN TIL
form i'll which il came from the Convention
The Convention adjourned on the 18th da.
OF April, they proposed an election Oh
the I'd day of June, and d meeting o
the Legislature on the 9th day OF TIT
same month. When the time for tha
meeting came, they knew full well that TIT
Constitution could not have been approved
| hy Congress and the State admitted to re
! presentation. What would the Legislator,
have done! Their power of continuing il
! Office and OF appointment and removal wa
| In the hands of the commanding Genera
| alone, and it would have been piece o
! assurance, if not an act of rebellion, for tha
Convention to assume this power.
The present Constitution did not in effect
nor was it intended to, continue in ofic,
any officer of the Government preceding
it. The trainers, transcribing large portion
it. But it had been asserted that an office
continues in office, even in the absence Of
constitutional regulation, without beins
subject to legislative action, until the quail
ticafion of his successor. He would no