did not immediately usher in as its successor an era of
professionalism and responsiveness to the wishes of the public.
Progress in these latter respects was postponed by slowness in
widening the suffrage and the opportunity to hold public office. In
this respect the Constitution of 1902 perpetuated the restrictive
system which had prevailed since 1875 by retaining the capitation tax
and the requirements of literacy and/or the ability to explain any
part of the constitution.

The beginning of the twentieth century also marked the end of the
rebuilding years which had followed the Civil War. The simple struggle
for subsistence, which had been the foremost theme when scarcities
existed in all types of goods and the sources of capital were meager,
no longer was the overriding consideration. A measure of normalcy had,
by 1902, returned to life in Northern Virginia. And if the pace of
this style of life was not as vigorous or spectacular as in some other
areas of the nation at that time, it offered, at least, the
substantial attractions of a comfortable and secure rural setting with
ready access to the centers of commerce and culture in nearby
Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown.

NOTES FOR CHAPTER V

[101] Hemphill, et al., _Cavalier Commonwealth_, p. 346.

[102] Samuel E. Morison and Henry S. Commager, _The Growth of the
American Republic_, (New York: Oxford, 1937), II, 37-41.

[103] Porter, _County Government_, p. 241.

[104] Walter L. Fleming, _The Sequel of Appomatox_, (New Haven: Yale
University, 1921), pp. 146-147.

[105] Explaining his action to General Grant, then supreme commander
of all the military districts, General Schofield stated that the
members of the Underwood Convention "could only hope to obtain office
by disqualifying everybody in the State who is capable of discharging
official duties, and all else to them was of comparatively slight
importance. Even the question of whether their constitution will be
ratified or rejected they treat with indifference. Congress, they say,
will make it all right anyway." Hemphill, et al., _Cavalier
Commonwealth_, p. 352.

[106] See Porter, _County Government_, pp. 243-246, 258-259, 293.

[107] The introduction of the township was probably due to the fact
that a number of New Yorkers participated in the convention. Townships
had never been part of the tradition of Virginia's local government.

[108] Virginia, Laws of 1874-75, c. 270.

[109] Porter, _Coun