The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-09-28
COUNTING QUORUM IN DIXIE.
The Johny Rebs. Outdid Speaker Reed in
That Line.

The Johny Rebs. Outdid Speaker Reed in
That Line.
Much has been said of Speaker Reeds quorum
counting exploits but the method of countinga
quorum of voters in many of the Virginia regi-
ments during the Civil War when elections were
held for the counties they represented-counties
occupied by the Union forces-discounted all
that Speaker Reed has DONE Along about the
latter months of 1868 and in 1864 and 1865. when
the prospects of the Confederacy began to look
blue and continued steadily to take on more and
more cerulean hue those who had hitherto
kept out of the fray in one way or another but
were liable to military service were even more
anxious than ever not to expose their precious
carcases to the chances of perforation by Yankee
bullets Patriotism and enthusiasm were at a
mighty low ebb with large class of people
The better class, if it may so be STYLED was but
slimly represented in the conscript levies 1t
had come to such pass that rich or influential
men would make almost any sacrifice or pay any
amount to keep their sons arrived at military
age out of the service. Civil offices, which made
the incumbent exempt from conscrption were
the eagerly sought for prizes and the scramble
for them was disgusting. Any bomb-proof
position was bonanza worth fighting for, such
as conscript officers, conscrpt-camp guards
suffers to posts tax gatherers, ct id Gel,1S oIpne
Why, gathered within the lines of the Army of
Northern Virginia there were from every county
of the State held by the enemy able-bodied Off
cials claiming exemption, such as judges of cir
cult and county courts who never had any cases
to try and who perhaps had never mounted the
bench; there were clerks OF courts and assistant
clerks who never had occasion to record trans
fer OF property or issue a writ there were
sheriffs and deputy sheriffs and constables
and so on, who had no duties to perform from
one years end to the other-alI clngng des-
perately to their offices merely to keep from
serving at the front. And will it be believed
W or % chn fTc o1n lie Nf
from counties that had been occupied by the
Federals since the beginning of the war walk
ing around Richmond with exemption papers
in their pockets, although their terms of office
had long since expired. Even after West Vir-
ginia had been cut off from the mother State
officials socalled from the counties beyond
the Alleghanies claimed exemption from mill
tary service, although they had performed none
OF the duties of their offices for three wears or
more. What was most irritating to the men in
the field was that the claims of these skulkers
were recognized by the authorities on the plea
that it was necessary to maintain at least SEM
blance of jurisdiction in the aforesaid counties
| Late in 1868 elections for county officers to
| represent the counties of Alexandria, Fairfax
Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquer Stafford,
| Accomac, Norfolk, and so on, which had been
virtually held down under the paws of the
Yankee lion since the first year of the war; were
ordered to be held in the camps of the compa-
nies which had been raised in those counties
| Needless to say, the elections We're a screaming
| farce from beginning TO end. VI course, the
| incumbents from State Senators down to con-
| stables were candidates for reelection to a
man. a very large proportion of these gentry
were able-bodied and physically as fit to do
service in the field as any soldier In the ranks.
| They knew that the election under the circum-
stances was farce, but with superna gall thev
| went around among the weather beaten and
| war-worn veterans announcing their candidacy
and soliciting votes. 1t might be asked why
! the veterans did not kick these candidates ont
OF their camps and give them good ducking
| in the nearest stream? Well the candidates
forestalled the election some six months by fire.
quently visiting the camps, bringing papers, re-
| failing all the news they could gather from
their local neighborhoods offering to send let
lers through the blockade, bringing in big lug
OF apple-jack occasonally-in fact currying
favor in Just the best way to obtain soldiers
good will. Moreover, they had no opposition,
for men over the military age were
ashamed to ask to be elected to offices
which had not existed, and it would
have been as much as an able-bodied mans life
would have been worth-not an incumbent
to come into camp for such a purpose.
The boys had good lark over the election,
and they welcomed anything to relieve the mo-
notony of camp life. And as the candidates
''set 'em up" pretty freely on election day,
Though where they got the means to do so is
mystery, as their yearly salary from the State
would hardly pay months board,) everything
went off lively The polls consisted of com
pany officer standing convenient to the men of
county, holding hat in his hand, in which the
ballots We're deposited. Where a regiment was
composed of companies from different counties
the holders of the hats would cry out, for ex
ample: This way Alexandria" !" ''This way
EairfaX"' "lhis way Fauquier!" and so on
The ballots were then sent to Richmond to the
State Secretary Now, it is fact, that it hap
pened that in the case of number of these iso-
lated counties the soldier vote cast was not
much over couple of hundred votes, and were
the only votes cast, while the normal vote of
these counties had been from 800 to 5000 end
over Yet the State authorities certified the
election on the meagre soldier vote. Numbers
of the rank and file, who could not see the fun
of the situation or any reason for exempting
abe-boded men, kicked at this summary me-
thod of counting a quorum" of votes,
and the legal members of the Senate and
House of Delegates must have been sadly
worried if they read all the indignant
letters that reached them from soldiers ap-
pealng to them to reject the seating of the
so-called senator's and delegates, who had been
declared elected on ''false count of a quo
rum" Well, the report of the matter was that
the State authorities had their way in ''counting
quorum" just as Speaker Reed has had his,
and large number of men able to bear arms
remained at ease and in safety watching the
struggles of their kinsmen and neighbors on
many bloody field until the final collapse at
Appomattox. T. j. NJ.
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