VIRGINIA. 



761 



support." The course to be pursued in ac- 

 cepting the benefit of this order is marked 

 out, and, at the close of the order, the com- 

 mander declares that "it is the purpose of the 

 commanding general hereafter, as heretofore, 

 not to interfere with the operation of the 

 State laws as administered by the civil tribu- 

 nals, except where the remedies thereby af- 

 forded are inadequate to secure to individuals 

 substantial justice. It is expected that, in 

 general, cases of the class referred to in this 

 order will be settled by mutual concession and 

 compromise between the parties, in accord- 

 ance with the principles herein set forth, and 

 that the orders of the commanding general 

 will be required only in exceptional cases." 



The following order was issued on the 30th 

 of March : 



General Orders, No. 33. 

 HEADQUABTEBS FIBST MILITABT DISTBICT, } 

 STATE OF VIBCUNIA, > 



KICHMOND, VA., March 30, 1868. ) 



1. By an order issued from these headquarters on 

 the 2d day of April, 1867, all elections for State, 

 county, and municipal officers in Virginia having 

 been suspended until the registration prescribed by 

 act of Congress should be completed, and it having 

 been found expedient to continue said suspension or 

 elections, whereby certain elective offices have become 

 vacant by expiration of terms of service, and some 

 of the officers whose terms have expired being in- 

 eligible for reelection, appointments will be made by 

 the commanding general, as soon as suitable persons 

 can be selected, to fill all such vacancies. 



2. Military commissioners will report, without un- 

 necessary delay, the names of all elective officers 

 whose legal terms have expired, stating whether 

 such officers are eligible for reelection ; and, if in- 

 eligible, they will also forward the names of suitable 



Eersons to fill the vacancies, accompanied with satis- 

 ictory evidence of character and qualifications. Pe- 

 titions from citizens (registered voters) for the ap- 

 pointment of any person _tp office will in like manner 

 be forwarded by the military commissioners, with 

 indorsement as to character and qualifications. 



3. All officers will continue to act, after the ex- 

 piration of their official terms, as required by exist- 

 ing laws, until their successors are qualified. 



By command of Brvt. Maj.-Gen. SCHOFIELD. 

 S. F. CHALFIN, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



On the 4th of April the official term of Gov- 

 ernor Peirpont expired, and, he being ineligible 

 for another term, the place became vacant. 

 Henry H. "Wells was thereupon appointed by 

 the military authority to act as Governor of 

 Virginia. A few days later John S. Oalvert, 

 'the Treasurer of the State, was suspended from 

 office by General Schofield on the recommen- 

 dation of Governor Wells. Mr. Oalvert was 

 accused of having retained in his possession a 

 portion of the State funds unaccounted for, 

 since August, 1865. George Rye, who had 

 been the secretary of the Constitutional Con- 

 vention, was appointed Treasurer ad interim. 

 At about the same time the Superintendent of 

 the State Prison was removed, and Burnham 

 Wardwell appointed to the position. On the 

 8th of May Hon. Joseph Mayo, who had been 

 mayor of Richmond for fifteen years, with the 

 exception of a short period after the evacua- 

 tion by the Confederate forces in 1865, was 



removed from office, and Mr. George Chahoon 

 appointed as his successor. On the general 

 subject of appointments to office, the military 

 commander wrote to General Grant, under 

 date of May 15th, in the following terms : 



HEADQTTAETEBS FIBST MILITABY DISTBICT, ) 

 KICHMOND, VA., May 15, 1868. } 

 General V. 8. Grant : 



GENEBAL : I have the honor to invite your atten- 

 tion to a matter which I understand to be of great 

 importance, and which, if I am correct, will demand 

 the early attention of Congress. I suppose the 

 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 

 proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known 

 as article fourteen, will soon be declared to have been 

 ratified and become a part of the Constitution, and 

 I understand the effect will be to at once remove 

 from office all persons who are disqualified by that 

 amendment. If I am right in the above supposition, 

 and in my understanding of the effect of the proposed 

 amendment, it becomes a matter of great importance 

 to determine what is to be done in those States whose 

 governments are still " provisional only." In the 

 States which shall have been readmitted to repre- 

 sentation in Congress, no serious difficulty will exist, 

 for the reason that in those States the only disquali- 

 fication for office will be that contained in the con- 

 stitutional amendment, and hence an ample field will 

 be left for the selection of persons to fill all the va- 

 cant offices, except, perhaps, the higher judgeships ; 

 but, in the States not readmitted to representation, 

 the oath prescribed by the act of Congress of July 2, 

 1862, will still be required of all persons elected or 

 appointed to any office. I have called for reports 

 which will give the number of officers of the various 

 grades in Virginia who will be displaced by operation 

 of the constitutional amendment, and will forward 

 the specific information when obtained. For the 

 present I can only state that the number will prob- 

 ably be several thousand, and that only a small 

 proportion of the vacancies thus created can possibly 

 be filled by persons possessing the necessary quali- 

 fications, including ability to take the present test- 

 oath. In the judiciary department, to dispense 

 with the test-oath would probably be insufficient, for 

 nearly all lawyers of sufficient experience to fit them 

 for the bench held some office before the war, and 

 hence are disqualified by the constitutional amend- 

 ment. I have already appointed in Virginia nearly 

 five hundred officers, and would have appointed 

 more if qualified persons could be found. It is im- 

 portant to observe that the large majority of city, 

 town, and county officers receive little or no com- 

 pensation for their services. Hence, men who pos- 

 sess the necessary qualifications cannot be induced to 

 accept such offices except in the places where they 

 reside and own property or have substantial interests. 

 Keports have been received from several portions 

 of the State that no persons can be found even to 

 fill vacancies that now exist. When the constitu- 

 tional amendment takes effect a large number of im- 

 portant offices must become vacant, and remain so 

 until restoration is completed, unless some relief is 

 afforded by Congress. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



J. M. SCHOFIELD. 



General Schofield, having been appointed 

 Secretary of War, was relieved from the com- 

 mand of the First Military District on the 1st 

 of June, and Brevet Major-General George 

 Stoneman was assigned to the command in his 

 place. General Stoneman assumed the posi- 

 tion by a military order dated June 2d, in 

 which he declared that all officers and ap- 

 pointees, military and civil, in the district, 

 would continue to perform their respective 



