General Schofield prevented the planned election of the Underwood Convention from taking place in June by refusing to appropriate money for election expenses. Such postponement gave the Committee of Nine an opportunity to obtain public opinion backing before the Senate voted for the Underwood Constitution. The House of Representatives had already voted in favor of it immediately before the Christmas recess occurred. A representative of the Committee of Nine stated before Congress that the Committee advocated the acceptance of full Negro suffrage as inevitable in order that constitutional representative government might be restored at once. Chairman Stuart had already successfully achieved the support of the Boston "Advertiser," the Chicago "Tribune," the New York "Times" and the New York "Tribune." President Grant, who had succeeded President Johnson, suggested that, when the election took place in Virginia, the Underwood Constitution be voted upon first and then the test oath. As a result of the test oath, only individuals who had never taken arms against the Union and had never given aid or comfort to the Confederacy would be eligible to vote or to hold office. Likewise, it was suggested that the extension of the white disfranchisement be voted separately. When the election took place on July 6, 1869, the Underwood Constitution was adopted, but the two separate items mentioned above were defeated. Gilbert C. Walker, a conservative Republican from New York and Pennsylvania, was appointed on September 21, 1869 as Governor of Virginia by General Canby, a successor of General Schofield. On October 8, 1869 the newly-elected General Assembly ratified the Fourteenth Amendment--"All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside ..." and the Fifteenth Amendment--"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Congress then approved the new state constitution, and Virginia was officially re-admitted into the Union on January 26, 1870. One of the biggest problems facing Governor Walker was the extremely high debt of approximately forty-five million dollars which faced the state. The Underwood Constitution had provided for numerous additional office positions in an attempt to force the New England Township plan upon the Virginia County plan and to create positions for the many "Carpetbaggers" (northern politicians who came south to gain control of the local governments) and "Scalawags" (southern politicians who helped the "Carpetbaggers" get control). This increased the cost of state government. To remedy this situation, the General Assembly decreased its total membership approximately one-fourth to help reduce expenses.