VIRGINIA. 



713 



the purpose of preventing the incorporation of such 

 iniquities in the organic law of the State. 



3. That this convention, while expressing its hos- 

 tility to the leading and general features of the said 

 constitution, and while urging the necessity of or- 

 ganization for the purpose ot defeating such provisions 

 as may be submitted separately, declines to make any 

 recommendation to the Conservative voters of the 

 State, as to their suffrages upon the constitution ex- 

 purgated of said provisions, or as to the candidates 

 that may be. before the people, feeling well assured 

 that their good sense and patriotism will lead them 

 to such results as will best subserve the true and sub- 

 stantial interests of the Commonwealth. 



The minority report opposed the constitu- 

 tion and the plan of reconstruction altogether, 

 declaring : 



3. That the clauses of the Underwood constitution 

 proposed to be submitted to a separate vote are im- 

 material and insignificant compared to the leading 

 features of that instrument : universal negro suffrage, 

 negro eligibility to office. That the same number of 

 votes that will strike out the clauses to be submitted 

 to a separate vote, will, if polled to that effect, defeat 

 the whole constitution. 



4. That the military rule of one of our own race, 

 responsible to his superiors, is far preferable to the 

 domination of an irresponsible multitude of ignorant 

 negroes ; and that, impelled by these considerations, 

 we call upon all white men, whether native or adopted 

 citizens, to vote down the constitution, and thereby 

 save themselves and their posterity from negro suf- 

 frage, negro office-holding, and its legitimate con- 

 sequence negro social equality. 



An address to the people was subsequently 

 published by the Conservative State Central 

 Committee, in which they urged the defeat of 

 the articles of the constitution which were to 

 be separately submitted, and favored the elec- 

 tion of Walker and his associates on the gen- 

 eral State ticket suggested by the anti-Wells 

 Eepublicans. A Colored Convention was held 

 at Richmond on the 28th of May, which in- 

 dorsed the platform and nominations of the 

 radical party adopted at Petersburg on the 

 10th of March. 



The election took place on the 6th of July, 

 but the official promulgation of the result was 

 not made until the 9th of September. The 

 whole number of names registered was 269,- 

 884. The vote on the constitution was as fol- 

 lows : Total vote cast on the question of rati- 

 fication, 215,422 ; for the constitution, 206,233 ; 

 against the constitution, 9,189; majority in 

 favor, 197,044; total vote on the disfranchising 

 clause, 208,765; in favor of the same, 84,404; 

 against it, 124,361 ; majority against it, 39,957; 

 total vote on the test-oath clause, 207,220 ; in 

 favor of the same, 83,114; against it, 124,106 ; 

 majority against it, 40,992. Gilbert C. Walker 

 was elected Governor by a majority of 18,317 

 out of a total vote of 220,753, he having re- 

 ceived 119,535 votes, and H. H. Wells 101,204. 

 The other Conservative candidates for State 

 offices were chosen by large majorities. The 

 Legislature, which was elected at the same time, 

 consisted of 43 Senators and 138 Represent- 

 atives. In the Senate there were 30 Conser- 

 vatives and 13 Radicals, 6 of the latter being 

 negroes. In the Lower House there were 95 

 Conservatives, 3 of them negroes, and 42 



Radicals, of whom 18 were negroes, while one 

 seat was contested. 



The act of April 10th, providing for the elec- 

 tion, declared that the Legislature chosen at 

 that election should assemble at the capitol 

 of the State on the fourth Tuesday after the 

 official promulgation of the ratification of the 

 constitution, which day fell on the 5th of 

 October. Before that body came together, the 

 question was brought up as to whether its 

 members would be required to take the " test- 

 oath." General Canby had written a letter as 

 early as the 26th of June, in reply to inquiries 

 on that point, in which he took the position 

 that they would have to take that oath, "un- 

 less the constitution should first be approved 

 by Congress, or the oath be otherwise dis- 

 pensed with by law." He also undertook to 

 show that "this decision is in conformity with 

 the action heretofore taken upon the same sub- 

 ject in another district, and was based upon a 

 careful consideration of all the laws bearing 

 upon the question now presented." The ques- 

 tion was, however, brought before the Attor- 

 ney-General of the United States, and he de- 

 cided, on the 28th of August, that the mem- 

 bers of the Legislature might meet and trans- 

 act any business necessary to facilitate the 

 restoration of the State to the Union, without 

 taking the test-oath, but could not go into 

 any " general legislation." The question then 

 arose, whether the election of Senators was 

 included in business " necessary to facilitate 

 the restoration of the State;" and this, too, 

 was submitted to the Attorney-General, who 

 expressed himself "of opinion that the elec- 

 tion of Senators, like voting upon the four- 

 teenth and fifteenth amendments to the Con- 

 stitution of the United States, is a part of the 

 action contemplated by Congress as prelimi- 

 nary to a restoration of the State to its full re- 

 lation to the Government of the United States, 

 as one of the States of the Union." 



Before the meeting of the Legislature, Pro- 

 visional-Governor H. H. Wells resigned, and 

 the Governor-elect was installed in his place 

 on the 21st of September. The Legislature, 

 which assembled at Richmond on the 5th of 

 October, was the first deliberative assembly 

 which had occupied the halls of the capitol for 

 three years, and the first regularly-constituted 

 Legislature which had sat in the Common- 

 wealth for ten years. It effected a permanent 

 organization, and proceeded to the business 

 of the session, but not until an attempt had 

 been made by some extreme members to have 

 the test-oath exacted, followed by a protest 

 against the loyalty and legality of the body. 

 On the third day of the session, a message was 

 received from the Governor, submitting the 

 fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, #nd 

 recommending the election of United States 

 Senators, and the appointment of standing com- 

 mittees, for the "consideration of finance, edu- 

 cation, internal improvements, and the judi- 

 ciary." This latter suggestion was made "in 



