758 



VIRGINIA. 



eminent of the State of Virginia will continue to per- 

 form the duties of their respective offices, according 

 to law, unless otherwise hereafter ordered in indi- 

 vidual cases, until their successors shall be duly 

 elected and qualified in accordance with the above- 

 named Act of Congress. 



3. It is desirable that the military power conferred 

 by the before-mentioned Act be exercised only so 

 far as may be necessary to accomplish the objects for 

 which that power was conferred, and the undersigned 

 appeals to the people of Virginia, and especially to 

 magistrates and other civil officers, to render the ne- 

 cessity for the exercise of this power as slight as pos- 

 sible, by strict obedience to the laws, and oy impar- 

 tial administration of justice to all classes. 



4. The staff officers now on duty at headquarters, 

 Department of the Potomac, are assigned to corre- 

 sponding duties at headquarters First District, State 

 of Virginia. J. M. SCHOFIELD, 



Brevet Major-General, U. S. A. 



5. T. CHALFIN, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



Immediately after the publication of the Act 

 of Congress of March 23d, steps were taken to 

 commence the registration of voters. A Board 

 of Army Officers was named by the command- 

 ing general for the purpose of selecting for ap- 

 pointment suitable persons as registering officers 

 throughout the State. In making the selections 

 preference was given, first, to officers of the army 

 and of the Freedmen's Bureau on duty in the 

 State; second, to persons who had been dis- 

 charged from the army, after meritorious ser- 

 vices during the war; third, to loyal citizens 

 of the county or city where they were to serve. 



On the 2d of April an order appeared sus- 

 pending all elections, whether State, county, 

 or municipal, " under the Provisional Govern- 

 ment," until after the registration should be 

 completed. Vacancies occurring in the mean 

 time were to be filled by temporary appoint- 

 ments made by the commanding general. 



The element in Virginia, which had in former 

 times been dominant in the politics of the State, 

 seemed by no means satisfied with the situation 

 of affairs, and it was deemed necessary by the 

 military authorities, on one or two occasions, 

 to rebuke the violent animadversions which 

 \vere publicly made on the policy of Congress, 

 and the a'ction of the party which had been ele- 

 vated to control in political matters. A lecture 

 by H. Rives Pollard, on the "Chivalry of the 

 South," advertised tor be delivered at Lynch- 

 burg, was suppressed by order of the post 

 commandant of that place. The following 

 warning was in one instance sent to the editor 

 of a leading newspaper in the city of Richmond, 

 but in general it was the policy of the com- 

 mander to permit the utmost freedom of dis- 

 cussion : 



HEADQUABTEES FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF VIRGINIA, I 

 EIOHMOND, VA., April 27, 18C7. f 



Mr. Charles H. Wynne, proprietor of the' Richmond 

 Times, Richmond, Va. ; 



Sir : The commanding general directs me to call 

 your attention to an editorial article in the Eichmond 

 Times of this morning, headed, " A Black Man's 

 Party in Virginia," and to say that while he desires 

 not only to permit, but to encourage the utmost free- 

 dom of discussion of political questions, the character 

 of the article referred to calls for' severe censure. 

 Especially the following words, " It is a proposition 



which implies that they are ready to grasp the blood 

 stained hands of the authors of our ruin." are an in- 

 tolerable insult to all soldiers of the United States 

 Army, and no less so to all true soldiers of the late 

 Confederate army, as they have long since extended 

 to each other the cordial hand ot friendship, and 

 pledged their united efforts to restore peace and har- 

 mony to our whole country. The efforts of your pa- 

 per to foster enmity, create disorder, and lead to 

 violence, can no longer be tolerated. It is hoped this 

 warning will be sufficient. 

 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

 S. T. CHALFIN, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



At the call of a committee of the " Union 

 Republican party of Virginia," a convention 

 assembled at the African Church in the City of 

 Richmond on the 17th of April, composed of two 

 hundred and ten delegates, of whom fifty were 

 whites. Some rather inflammatory speeches 

 were made, and a large number of members of 

 the convention favored measures of confisca- 

 tion. An address to the citizens of Virginia 

 was adopted, together with a series of resolu- 

 tions. The address sets forth the evils and 

 needs of Southern society, past and present, 

 and closes with a declaration of " allegiance to 

 that great Republican party which has delivered 

 us from the power of our ancient and life-long 

 enemies, which holds that the only permanent 

 peace-makers on earth are truth, freedom, and 

 justice which are, like God Himself, no re- 

 specter of persons ; which proclaims that the 

 character, and not complexion, is the only stand- 

 ard of worth ; and that every citizen in all the 

 future shall be judged, not by accidents of birth 

 or fortune, but by the character his deeds have 

 established among his fellow-men." The first 

 of the series of resolutions adopted returns 

 thanks to the Thirty-ninth Congress for its re- 

 cent legislation, and pledges the earnest and 

 persistent efforts of the party to carry its pro- 

 visions into effect. The second resolution de- 

 clares that the principles of the " National 

 Republican party " contain all that is to be 

 desired for their political guidance, and invites 

 all classes to cooperate in supporting them. 

 The third resolution is as follows : 



That we adopt, as part of our platform and as car- 

 dinal points in the policy of the Union Eepublican 

 party of Virginia, the following propositions : First, 

 equal protection to all men before the courts, and equal 

 political rights in all respects, including the right to 

 hold office ; second, a system of common-school edu- 

 cation which shall give to all classes free schools and a 

 free and equal participation in all its benefits ; third, a 

 more just and equitable system of taxation, which shall 

 apportion taxes to property, and require all to p_ay 

 in proportion to their ability ; fourth, a modification 

 of the usury laws sufficient to induce foreign capital 

 to seek investment in the State ; fifth, encourage- 

 ment to internal improvements and every possible 

 inducement to immigration. 



The fourth expresses the .faith of the con- 

 vention in the "noble utterances of the found- 

 ers of our Constitution." In the fifth they 

 pledge themselves to support no man for an 

 elective office who fails to join them in the 

 adoption and enforcement of the principles em- 

 braced in this platform. The sixth and last 

 resolution is in these words : 



