[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, _County Government_, pp. 249, 271; _Code of Virginia_ (1950 Edn.) Title 33, c. 1. [110] Porter, _County Government_, pp. 258-59, 289. [111] _Ibid._, p. 177. [112] Ralph McDanel, _The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1891-92_, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1928), p. 103, reports that R. Walton Moore was one of Fairfax County's delegation to the convention, and that he argued strongly for the social values of retaining the court. The motion to retain the monthly county court was defeated, however, by a vote of 41 to 19. [Illustration: The dedication of the Marr Monument in 1904. Copy by Lee Hubbard.] CHAPTER VI THE TWENTIETH CENTURY COURTHOUSE The twentieth century brought Fairfax County more than a new constitutional framework; it brought a new outlook and spirit. Something of this spirit was reflected in the following quotation from a short history and prospectus of the County published by the County Board of Supervisors in 1907: Verily, Fairfax County, old in its history, and hoary in its traditions, is throbbing with a new life and enterprise. Only yesterday were her advantages and possibilities appreciated; yet, today she is attracting settlers from all parts of the Union, and even from foreign countries. Certainly no other section extends a more cordial welcome and more attractive inducements to the investor and home-seeker.[113] If this statement seemed perhaps a bit too eager, it was at least hopeful and optimistic in contrast to the spirit that had prevailed during the long years of reconstruction. It expressed a feeling of confidence that came from having weathered the depression which followed the Panic of 1893 better than many parts of the country.[114] [Illustration: "The Tavern," across Little River Turnpike from the courthouse. Photo by Helen Hill Miller, 1932.] [Illustration: The courthouse about 1907.]