Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 8, 1908

File No. 27/224–225.

Minister McCreery to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Santo Domingo, June 2, 1908.

No. 99.

Sir: Referring to my No. 61, of November 23, 1907,¹ inclosing a copy of the constitution of the Dominican Republic, promulgated on September 9, 1907, and reporting that a constituent convention had assembled for the revision of that constitution, I have the honor to inclose copy and translation of the constitution adopted by the convention on “February 22, 1908, and published in the “Gaceta Oficial” on March 21, 1908.

Under the new constitution the legislative power is vested in a Congress composed of a Senate and House of Deputies. Senators are elected for six years, deputies for four. Heretofore the Congress consisted of a House of Deputies.

The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, courts of appeal, and tribunals and courts of first instance, the judges of which are elected by the Senate from lists made up by the electoral colleges.

The executive power, which under the old constitution was vested in the President and the secretaries of state, is now vested in a President who is elected for a period of six years. There is no vice president. In case of the incapacity, resignation, removal, or death of the President the Congress shall authorize a person to exercise the executive functions until the incapacity ceases or a new President is elected.

The Republic is divided into Provinces and communes. The President appoints the governors of the Provinces and the communal chiefs. He also appoints the alcaldes or justices of the peace.

Municipal councils are elected by the people. Contracts made by the municipalities affecting the property or revenues of the communes must be submitted to the House of Deputies.

A board of accounts, composed of five members appointed by the Senate from lists submitted by the House, shall examine the accounts of the Republic and report annually to Congress.

The new Congress will assemble in special session on the 20th instant and proceed to the election of judges and other functionaries.

On the 1st proximo the President will take the oath of office before the Congress and on the same date the other functionaries elected will be installed.

A census of the Republic will be taken within two years.

I have, etc.,

Fenton R. McCreery.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

[From the “Gaceta Oficial,” March 21, 1908.]

CONSTITUTION OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OF FEBRUARY, 1908.

The constituent assembly in the name of the people has adopted the following constitution:

Title I.

Section 1.—The Nation and its Government.

Art. 1. The Dominican people constitute a free and independent nation called the Dominican Republic.

Art. 2. Its Government is essentially civil, republican, democratic, and representative.

It is divided into legislative power, executive power, and judicial power. These three powers are independent in the exercise of their respective functions. Those invested with the authority of these powers are responsible and may not delegate their powers. These powers are limited to those expressly determined by this constitution.

Section 2.—The territory.

Art. 3. The territory of the Republic is and shall be inalienable. Its boundaries, which comprise all that called the “Spanish part” of the island of Santo Domingo and the islands adjacent thereto, are, therefore, the same which, by the treaty of Aranjuez of 1777, separated in 1773 the Spanish from the French part on the west, and they shall suffer no modifications except those legally authorized and those which may be derived from the plebiscite of the 1st and 2nd of June, 1895.

Art. 4. The territory of the Republic is divided into Provinces, and these in turn are divided into communes.

§ The number and boundaries of the Provinces as well as those of the communes into which they are divided shall be determined by a law.

Art. 5. The city of Santo Domingo is the capital of the Republic and the seat of the Government.

Title II.

Section 1.—Individual rights.

Art. 6. The nation guarantees to all the inhabitants of the Republic:

1. Freedom of labor, industry, and commerce.

2. Freedom of worship.

3. Freedom to teach.

4. Freedom of expression of thought, either orally or by means of writing or printing, without previous, censorship.

5. Freedom to associate and meet lawfully without arms.

6. Property with all its rights: It shall be subject only to the taxes established, according to law, to judicial decisions, or to be taken for the public good after just compensation adjudged by experts, or, when there is disagreement in the appraisal, by judgment of a competent court. The compensation need not be given previously in time of war.

7. Inviolability of private correspondence and papers except in case of a judicial investigation, in which case absolute secrecy shall be maintained relative to matters foreign to the matter which is being investigated.

8. The right of free transit. No person shall be prevented from entering and departing through the entry ports of the Republic nor from traveling in its territory without a passport.

9. The sole right, for a limited time, to inventions and discoveries, as well as scientific, artistic, and literary productions.

10. Individual security; therefore no one shall be arrested for debts not incurred through misdemeanor, nor be obliged to lodge and quarter soldiers in his own house.

11. Nor be tried by special courts or commissions, but only by the regular judges except when the competency of the judge is questioned.

12. Nor be imprisoned nor arrested without a warrant assigning the reason and written by a competent functionary, except in case the person be caught in the act. Every prisoner shall be interrogated within forty-eight hours after his detention, and the hearing and trial of the case shall take place without undue delay.

13. A dwelling house shall not be entered except in cases when a crime is being committed, or on competent authority, with the formalities established by law.

14. The right to petition any authority and to obtain action on the petition.

15. No one shall be tried twice on the same charge, nor be obliged to testify against himself.

16. The right to accuse any public official whatever for errors committed in the discharge of his duties and to question the constitutionality of the laws.

17. The death penalty shall never be imposed for crimes of a political character: political crimes shall be defined by a law.

Title III.—Political rights.

Section 1.—Nationality.

Art. 7. The following are Dominicans:

All persons who now enjoy this right by virtue of former constitutions and laws.

All persons who shall be born in the territory of the Republic, no matter what the nationality of their parents may be, except legitimate children of foreigners who reside in the Republic in the diplomatic service, or who may be passing through the country.

Persons born in foreign countries of Dominican parents, provided they have not become naturalized according to the laws of the country in which they have had residence or domicile.

Persons naturalized according to this constitution and the laws.

§ A Dominican woman married to a foreigner may adopt the nationality of her husband.

Section 2.—Citizenship.

Art. 8. All male Dominicans over 18 years of age and those who are or have been married, although they may not have reached that age, are citizens.

Art. 9. The Nation guarantees to citizens the following rights:

1. The right to vote.

2. The right to be elected to elective positions with the restrictions indicated in this constitution.

Art. 10. Rights of citizenship are lost:

1. For taking up arms against the Republic or for lending aid in any attempt whatever against it.

2. For having been condemned to any corporal and infamous punishment or infamous punishment alone and for as long as the punishment lasts.

3. By judicial interdiction.

4. For accepting while in Dominican territory employment from any foreign government without consent of the House of Deputies.

Section 3.—Naturalization.

Art. 11. Naturalization shall be granted by a decree of the President of the Republic to applicants over twenty-one years of age provided they have been authorized two years previously to fix their domicile in the country, have a good reputation and have lawful means of support, and the applicants shall have to take the oath of allegiance to the Republic before the governor of the Province in which they reside.

Art. 12. Children born of Dominican parents in a foreign country who have obtained another nationality may become naturalized by simple residence in the country provided they renounce their former nationality and fulfill the conditions required by the foregoing article.

Title IV.

Section 1.—Sovereignty.

Art. 13. The people alone are sovereign.

Title V.—The legislative power.

Art. 14. All legislative powers conferred by this constitution are entrusted to a Congress of the Republic composed of a Senate and a House of Deputies.

Art. 15. The election of senators as well as of deputies and of the alternates of these latter shall be made by the electoral colleges.

Art. 16. The office of senator and deputy is incompatible with all other public employment.

Art. 17. When vacancies occur in the representation of a Province, the electoral college thereof shall have power to fill them, and shall proceed to that end within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, upon convocation of the executive power.

Section 2.—The Senate.

Art. 18. The Senate shall be composed of senators elected, one for each Province, and their term shall be for a period of six years, a third part of the Senate being renewed every two years.

§ Immediately after the first assembly the Senate shall be divided into three equal sections determined by lot. At the expiration of the second year the seats of the senators of the first section shall be vacated; at the expiration of the fourth year the seats of the second section shall be vacated; at the expiration of the sixth year the seats of the third section shall be vacated, so that a third part of the Senate shall be elected every two years.

Art. 19. To be a senator it is required: To be a Dominican by birth or parentage, to enjoy the civil and political rights, and to be over thirty-five years of age.

Art. 20. The following are the powers of the Senate exclusively:

1. To appoint the magistrates of the supreme court of justice, of the courts of appeals and of the tribunals, and courts of first instance from the lists made up of citizens legally qualified, and which the electoral colleges have sent to it.

2. To appoint the members of the board of accounts.

3. The Senate alone shall have cognizance of the accusations formulated against the President of the Republic and against the magistrates of the supreme court of justice. The Senate upon impeachment shall not impose other penalties than removal and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the Republic. But the responsibility of the convicted party shall not end here; he shall be, in fact, liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to the laws.

Section 3.—The House of Deputies.

Art. 21. The House of Deputies shall be composed of members chosen every four years by the people of the Provinces in proportion to the number of inhabitants and in the manner prescribed by law.

§ Half of the House of Deputies shall be chosen every two years, and this election shall be made in the same manner as prescribed for the Senate.

Art. 22. To be a deputy it is required:

1. To be a citizen over twenty-five years of age.

2. To be a native of the Province which elects him, or to reside or to have resided at least one year in it.

§ Naturalized citizens cannot be elected to the office of deputy until eight years after having become naturalized.

Art. 23. To be alternate the same qualifications are required as to be deputy. These alternates shall replace the deputies in case of death, resignation, removal, or disqualification in order according to the number of votes they have received. In case they have obtained an equal number of votes, the House shall make the choice by lot.

Art. 24. To the House of Deputies belong:

1. The exercise of the right to impeach before the Senate the President of the Republic and the members of the supreme court of justice for infractions of the law.

2. The approval or disapproval of the contracts which the municipalities make whenever they affect the property or revenues of the communes.

3. To grant authorization to Dominican citizens to exercise foreign public offices.

Section 4.—Provisions applicable to both Houses.

Art. 25. When the first legislature convenes, each of the Houses shall examine the credentials of its respective members, and in the successive renewals each House shall examine the credentials of the new members.

Art. 26. The two Houses shall convene in a national assembly whenever it shall be necessary, and for this purpose at least two-thirds of the members of each House must be present.

Art. 27. Each House shall make all rules governing its proceedings and the order of business which belongs to it exclusively; it may in its disciplinary regulations establish punishment of its members according to the offences which they commit.

Art. 28. The Senate and the House of Deputies shall hold their sessions in different places, except when they meet in the National Assembly.

Art. 29. In each House the presence of two-thirds at least of its members shall be necessary for the validity of its resolutions, and the decisions shall be taken on an absolute majority of votes, except in matters previously declared important, which shall be decided by a two-thirds vote.

§ A majority assembled can, of course, organize and pass resolutions. A minority can adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members, in the manner and under the penalties which each House shall determine.

Art. 30. The members of both Houses shall enjoy the most complete immunity from punishment for the opinions which they may express in the sessions.

Art. 31. As to violations of common law which they may commit, they may not be held nor arrested during the sessions except with the authorization of the House to which they belong or in case they are caught in the act itself. When they are already in custody the same House may require, if it so considers advisable, the imprisonment for as long as the sessions of that legislature last.

Art. 32. The Houses shall assemble ordinarily on the 27th of February of each year and their session shall last ninety days, which period may be extended up to sixty days.

§ The Houses shall also convene extraordinarily upon convocation by the executive power.

Art. 33. Each House shall choose from among its members for the session of the year a president, vice president, and two secretaries.

§ When the two Houses meet as a National Assembly, the president of the Senate shall exercise the presidency and the president of the House of Deputies the vice presidency, and the secretaries of both Houses the secretaryship.

Art. 34. It shall be the duty of the National Assembly to examine the record of the election of the President of the Republic, count the votes, certify to the election which results from the general election returns, proclaim the election thereof, administer to him the oath of office, and accept his resignation, if offered.

Title VI.

Section 1.—The Congress.

Art. 35. The Congress shall have power:

1. To levy general taxes and imposts and to determine the manner of their collection and lawful expenditure.

2. To approve or disapprove, after examination of the report of the board of accounts, the statement of collection and disbursement of revenues which the executive power must present to it annually.

3. To take cognizance of the observations which the executive power may make on the laws.

4. To pass, before adjourning, the annual budget.

5. To determine all that is advantageous for the preservation and profitable use of the national property, and for the transfer of the property of the Nation.

6. To grant amnesty for political offences.

7. To determine everything relative to the preservation of ancient monuments and to the acquisition of all kinds of historic and prehistoric objects which will help to make up the national archeology.

8. To decree the creation or suppression of Provinces and communes and everything relative to their boundaries and organization.

9. To make uniform the use of weights and measures according to the decimal metric system.

10. To determine the periodic taking of the census of the Republic.

11. In case of disturbance of the public peace, to decree the state of martial law and to suspend, as long as the disturbance lasts, the fourth, fifth, eighth, and twelfth guarantees of the sixth article, which read as follows:

• “4. Freedom of expression of thought, either orally or by means of writing or printing, without previous censorship.
• “5. Freedom to associate and meet lawfully without arms.
• “8. The right of free transit. No person shall be prevented from entering and departing through the entry ports of the Republic nor from travelling in its territory without a passport.
• “12. Nor be imprisoned nor arrested without a warrant assigning the reason and written by a competent functionary, except in case the person be caught in the act. Every prisoner shall be interrogated within forty-eight hours after his detention, and the hearing and trial of the case shall take place without undue delay.”

12. To decree everything relative to immigration, the formation of the list of national property, and to the establishment of agricultural schools.

13. To make such regulations as may be necessary for the customs service.

14. To increase the number of courts of appeal, and to create or suppress such lower tribunals as may be necessary.

15. To vote extraordinary public expenses for which the Executive may request credit.

16. To raise loans on the credit of the Republic through the executive power.

§ No loan for which the revenues necessary for the budget are given as security shall be contracted.

17. To approve the international treaties and conventions which the executive power may make. In case it disapproves them, it must state the bases upon which they may again be made.

18. To regulate the services of communication by railways, telegraphs and telephones, highways, canals, and ports, and to regulate the boundaries of the maritime, river, and military zones, as well as all that tends toward the development of the Republic in all its manifestations.

19. To make all laws concerning the national debt.

20. To decree the amendment of the constitution.

21. To determine everything relative to the equipment of ports and seacoasts.

22. To promulgate ordinances for the land and naval forces and to fix every year the force of the standing army.

23. To grant authorization to the President of the Republic to absent himself from the territory of the country.

24. To interpellate the secretaries of state regarding matters entrusted to them.

25. To examine annually all the acts of the executive power and approve them, if they are in accordance with the constitution and the laws.

26. To approve or disapprove the contracts which the executive power may make.

27. When the Provinces, through their municipalities, request the establishment of local legislatures, or provincial councils, to decree the creation thereof and to give them powers by means of a law.

28. To create and suppress secretaryships of state, according to the needs of the public service.

29. To grant letters of marque and reprisal, to regulate captures in time of war, to define acts of piracy and the offences against the laws of nations, determining the penalties therefor.

30. To approve or disapprove the excise taxes which the municipalities may levy.

31. To decree the removal of the legislative Houses to a place other than the capital of the Republic, for reasons of force majeure duly justified.

32. To take cognizance of and resolve on all matters which do not belong to the province of another power of the State or which are not contrary to the text of the constitution.

Title VII.

Section 1.—Making of the laws.

Art. 36. The following have the right of initiative in the making of the laws:

(a) The senators and the deputies.

(b) The executive power.

(c) The supreme court of justice in judicial matters.

Art. 37. Every bill introduced in one of the Houses, shall be submitted to three different discussions with an interval of one day at least, between each discussion. In case it should be previously declared urgent, it may be discussed in three consecutive sessions.

Art. 38. After a bill has been approved in either of the Houses, it shall pass to the other for its discussion at the proper time, the same formalities being observed. If this House should modify the bill, it shall be returned with the observations to the House in which it originated; and, if the observations are accepted, the law shall be sent to the executive power; but if the observations were rejected, the bill shall be returned to the other House with observations and if this House approves them, the law shall be then sent to the executive power.

Art. 39. When a law has been passed by both Houses, it shall be sent to the executive power for its promulgation; if he does not make objections to it, he shall order it to be promulgated; but if he finds objections to its execution, he shall return it with observations to the Congress within the fixed period of eight days, counting from the date on which it was sent to him, if the matter has not been declared urgent, in which case he shall make his observations within the period of three days.

Art. 40. The Congress shall discuss the observations of the executive power and shall act according to them if it considers them well founded. In this case, after the bill has been amended, the Congress shall return it for promulgation.

Art. 41. If the Congress, in the judgment of two-thirds of the members present in each House, does not consider the observations of the executive power well founded, it shall again send the law to be promulgated and for no reason may the executive power refuse to promulgate it in this case.

Art. 42. The laws, after having been published, are obligatory on all the inhabitants of the Republic if the lawful time has elapsed so that they may tee considered as known.

Art. 43. All laws, decrees, regulations, and acts contrary to this constitution by that fact shall be invalid.

Art. 44. Bills defeated in one House may not be introduced in the other nor again in either of the two, except in the following Congress.

Art. 45. The laws have no retroactive effect except in case they be favorable to the person under judgment or undergoing punishment.

Art. 46. The laws shall be headed thus: “The National Congress in the name of the Republic.”

Title VIII.

Section 1.—The executive power.

Art. 47. The executive power is vested in the President of the Republic, who shall perform these duties for six years and shall be elected by indirect ballot and in the manner determined by law.

Art. 48. To be President it is required:

1. To be a Dominican by birth or parentage and to have resided twenty years at least in the Republic.

2. To be at least thirty-five years of age and to be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights.

Art. 49. In case of the incapacity, resignation, removal, or death of the President of the Republic the Congress by a law shall appoint the person who shall exercise presidential functions until the incapacity ceases or a new President shall be elected

§ If the Congress should not be in session when such a case occurs as is provided for in the foregoing article, the secretaries of state shall convoke it immediately for this sole purpose.

Art. 50. The President of the Republic can not resign except before the National Assembly; in case the Houses are not in session they shall be convoked expressly for the purpose of receiving the resignation.

Art. 51. In the regular elections the President-elect of the Republic shall take possession the day on which the period of the outgoing President expires; and in the special elections eight days at the latest after being officially informed of his election if he should be in the capital, and within the period of thirty days if he should be in any other part of the Republic.

Art. 52. The President of the Republic before entering upon the discharge of his duties shall take before the National Assembly the following oath: “I swear before God and the fatherland to comply and to cause others to comply with the constitution and the laws of the Republic, to maintain and defend its independence, respect its rights, and faithfully fulfill the duties of my office.”

Art. 53. The President of the Republic is commander-in-chief of the army and navy and his duties are:

1. To appoint the secretaries of state, accept their resignations, and remove them.

2. To preserve the nation against all foreign attack.

3. To promulgate the laws and resolutions and have them published and to see that they are faithfully enforced, issuing decrees, instructions, and regulations when necessary.

4. To see that the national revenues are properly collected and managed.

5. To administer the property of the nation.

6. To appoint all public employees whose appointment is not entrusted to any other power and to appoint the members of the diplomatic corps with the approval of the Senate.

7. To receive the chief magistrates of foreign countries and their representatives.

8. To preside at all public ceremonies of the nation, to grant pardons for political crimes, to direct diplomatic negotiations and make treaties with foreign nations, submitting them to the approval of the Congress, without which approval they shall not be valid and binding on the Republic.

9. In case of disturbance of the public peace, and if the two Houses are not assembled, he may decree a state of martial law, and suspend the guarantees, which, according to article 35, part 11, of this constitution, the Congress is permitted to suspend.

10. To fill ad interim the vacancies which may occur, while the Congress is in recess, among the members of the board of accounts and the judicial magistrates, reporting these acts to the next legislature, so that the latter may make the permanent appointments.

11. To make contracts of public interest and submit them to the Congress for ratification.

12. To fill the vacancies which may occur in the municipal councils, when the latter are in minority and the number of alternates has been exhausted.

13. To issue sailing licenses to national vessels.

14. To station the regular forces in time of peace or war for the purposes of the public service.

15. To declare war, after it has been decreed by the Congress, and to make peace, when necessary, subject to the approval of the same body.

16. To commute the sentence of death when a pardon is petitioned for, the prisoner being subject to the next less severe penalty.

17. In case of war with a foreign country the President may cause to be arrested and expelled from national territory citizens of the nations with which the Republic should then be at war.

18. To request the Congress for the necessary credit to carry on war.

19. To change the place of his official residence in exceptional circumstances and for causes duly justified.

20. To submit to the Congress within the first fifteen days of the month of March of each year the proposed budget of public expenses and the account of the expenditures of the nation.

Art. 54. The President of the Republic shall be present the 27th of February of each year at the opening of the sessions of the Congress and shall present to that high body a message accompanied by the reports of the secretaries of state, in which he shall render account of his administration during the year and shall submit to the consideration of the same body whatever else he may think fit.

Section 2.—The secretaries of state.

Art. 56. For the transaction of the business of the public administration there shall be the secretaries of state which the law may establish.

Art. 57. The following qualifications are required to be a secretary of state:

1. To be a Dominican citizen, and to be over twenty-five years of age.

§ Naturalized citizens may not be secretaries of state until eight years after their naturalization.

Art. 58. The secretaries of state shall be bound to give all reports that the Congress may ask of them and to attend its sessions when they are summoned as well as also to present to the President of the Republic, at the end of each fiscal year, a report containing their official acts, and also whenever the President may request it of them, a report on any matter in their department.

Title IX.

Section 1.—The judicial power.

Art. 59. The judicial power is vested in the supreme court of justice, the courts of appeal and the other tribunals which the law may establish.

§ The magistrates of the supreme court of justice, of the courts of appeal and of the tribunals and courts of first instance shall hold office for four years, and may be reelected indefinitely.

Section 2.—The supreme court of justice.

Art. 60. The supreme court of justice shall be composed of seven justices, at least, and one attorney general; and for its deliberations a quorum of five justices exclusive of the attorney general shall be necessary.

Art. 61. Only Dominicans over thirty years of age who are in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights and who are lawyers in the courts of the Republic may be justices of the supreme court of justice.

§ Naturalized citizens may not be justices of the supreme court of justice until eight years after they have become naturalized.

Art. 62. The office of justice of the supreme court of justice is incompatible with all other public employment and office whether temporary or permanent.

Art. 63. The supreme court of justice has the following exclusive powers:

1. To take cognizance, in the first and last instance, of the cases presented against the judges and prosecutors of the courts of appeal, and members of the diplomatic and consular corps, national and foreign, and against the members of the board of accounts, and in the last stage against the magistrates and prosecutors of the courts of first instance and governors of Provinces.

2. As a court of cassation, to take cognizance of the judgments in last instance, pronounced by the courts of appeal and lower tribunals, in the manner prescribed by law.

3. To take cognizance in the last instance of cases of maritime captures.

4. To take cognizance in the last instance of cases, cognizance of which in first instance belongs to the court of appeal.

5. To give final decision upon constitutionality of the laws, decrees and regulations in all cases in which they are subject of judicial controversy between parties.

6. The supreme court of justice is endowed with the highest disciplinary authority over all high functionaries and assistants of the judicial order.

Section 3.—The courts of appeal.

Art. 64. There shall be, for the present, two courts of appeal for the entire Republic. One shall have its seat in the city of Santo Domingo and the other in the city of Santiago.

§ The judicial districts which belong to each court shall be determined by law as shall also the number of judges which shall make up the courts.

Art. 65. The following are the powers of the courts of appeal:

1. To take cognizance of appeals from sentences given by the courts and tribunals of first instances, and as courts-martial to take cognizance of appeals from the councils of war.

2. To take cognizance in first instance of cases against the magistrates and prosecutors of the tribunals and courts of first instance and governors of Provinces.

3. To take cognizance in the first instance of the cases of maritime captures.

4. To exercise the other functions which the law entrusts to them.

Art. 66. The following qualifications are required to be a member of these courts: To be over thirty-five years of age, and to have the other qualifications which are required to be a justice of the supreme court.

Art. 67. In each court of appeal there shall be a prosecuting attorney, who must have the same qualifications as the judges of the same court.

Section 4.—The lower courts.

Art. 68. For each judicial district there shall be tribunals and courts of first instance with the powers which the law shall confer upon them.

§ The law shall determine the number of the judicial districts.

Art. 69. The following qualifications are required to be president of the tribunal or judge of first instance:

To be a Dominican, to be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights, and to be a lawyer practicing in the tribunals of the Republic.

Art. 70. The associate judges in the tribunals of first instance, prosecuting attorneys, and primary judges must have the same qualifications as are required to be president or judge of first instance, except that of being a lawyer.

§ A law may make the qualification of being a lawyer obligatory for the exercise of these offices.

Section 5.—The justices of the peace.

Art. 71. In each commune there shall be one or more justices of the peace with two alternates, respectively, appointed by the executive power.

Art. 72. The same qualifications are required to be justice of the peace as are required to be judge of first instance, except being a lawyer.

§ The law shall determine their powers.

Title X.

Section 1.—The board of accounts.

Art. 73. There shall be a permanent board of accounts composed of five citizens appointed by the Senate, chosen from lists of three presented by the House of Deputies.

Art. 74. Its duties shall be, besides those which the law shall confer upon it:

1. To examine the special and general accounts of the Republic;

2. To present to the Congress in each regular session the report of the accounts for the preceding year.

Art. 75. The members of the board of accounts shall hold office for six years, and may not be tried, except by the supreme court, upon accusation of the attorney general thereof.

Art. 76. The same qualifications are required to be a member of the board of accounts as to be a senator.

Title XI.

Section 1.—The municipal councils.

Art. 77. The economic and adminstrative government of the communes shall be entrusted to the municipal councils, the members of which, in the number determined by law proportionately to the number of inhabitants, shall be elected by the people.

Art. 78. The municipal councils in their administrative powers are independent, and shall be governed in everything by the law; but they are bound to render an account of the collection and use made of the revenues, and, with the consent of the National Congress, may levy all classes of excise taxes which affect the use and consumption of the commune.

Art. 79. The following are the principal duties of the municipal councils:

1. To provide a system of free primary instruction;

2. To provide sanitary service;

3. To provide for public adornment; and

4. To provide police service.

Title XII.

Section 1.—The government of the Provinces.

Art. 80. There shall be a governor in each Province, with his residence in the capital of the Province and a communal chief in each of the other communes, both functionaries being dependent upon the executive power.

§ The law shall determine their powers.

Art. 81. The qualifications required to be governor or communal chief are the following:

To be a Dominican, over twenty-five years of age, and to be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights.

§ Naturalized citizens may not be governor until eight years after they have been naturalized.

Title XIII.

Section 1.—The primary assemblies and electoral colleges.

Art. 82. Every citizen, unless mentally, legally, or judicially incapacitated, has the right to vote.

Art. 83. The primary assemblies shall convene without previous convocation three months before the expiration of the constitutional period, and shall proceed to exercise the functions which the constitution and the law establish. In case of extraordinary convocation, they shall assemble thirty days at the latest after the date of the decree.

Art. 84. Their powers are:

1. To elect the number of electors which belong to each commune, in proportion to the number of inhabitants and in accordance with the law, to form the electoral college of the Province;

2. To elect the councilmen, syndic, and alternates of the respective municipal councils.

Art. 85. The electoral colleges are composed of the electors chosen by the primary assemblies according to the law, and they shall convene in the capital of the respective Provinces, sixty days before the expiration of the constitutional periods, in order to proceed immediately to the election of the President of the Republic, of the senators, deputies, and alternates of these latter, and to form the lists for justices of the supreme court of justice, judges of the courts of appeal, and tribunals and courts of first instance.

§ In case of extraordinary convocation, they shall assemble at the latest thirty days after the date of the convocation.

§§ The electoral colleges shall hold office for a period of six years.

Art. 86. Elections shall be made by secret ballot and on an absolute majority of votes.

Title XIV.—The armed force.

Art. 87. The armed force is essentially obedient and in no case has deliberative power. The object of its creation is to protect the independence and integrity of the Republic, to preserve the public order, and to maintain the constitution and the laws.

§ In no case shall privileged bodies be created.

Art. 88. Persons in actual military service shall be tried by courts-martial, in accordance with the rules established in the military penal code; and in cases not provided for in this code, or when the persons accused include civilians, the trial shall be before the regular courts.

Title XV.—General provisions.

Art. 89. No one shall be compelled to do what the law does not command nor be prevented from doing what the law does not prohibit.

Art. 90. All usurped authority is invalid and its acts are null. Every decision made through the interposition of the armed force is null.

Art. 91. No impost shall be levied except by virtue of a law; nor shall any communal tax be levied except by the respective municipal council, after fulfilling the formalities of the law.

Art. 92. Annually, in the month of April, the general account of the receipts and expenditures of the Republic during the preceding year shall be published.

Art. 94. The relations between the church and the state shall continue being the same as they are at present, as long as the majority of Dominicans profess the Roman, Apostolic, Catholic religion.

Art. 95. The emission of paper money by the state is forever prohibited.

Art. 96. The national money shall not bear the image of any person and must express its value, weight, and the year of its coinage on the obverse, and the coat of arms of the Republic on the reverse.

Art. 97. The formation of perpetual mortgages, or annuities, religious obligations, and all kinds of entails is forbidden.

Art. 98. The 27th of February, anniversary of independence, and the 16th of August, anniversary of the restoration, are the only national holidays, and each year shall be celebrated with the greatest ceremony in all the Republic.

Art. 99. The national flag is composed of the colors blue and red placed in opposite quarters, separated by a white cross half as wide as the quarter, and it bears in the center the coat of arms of the Republic.

The merchant flag is the same as the national flag without the coat of arms.

Art. 100. The coat of arms of the Republic bears the national colors; in the center is the open Book of Gospels, with a cross above it both rising up above an insignia composed of spears and flags with branches of laurel and palms about it and crowned with a ribbon which bears this motto: “Dios, Patria y Libertad,” and encircling the base is another ribbon with these words: “República Dominicana.”

Art. 101. All functionaries on assuming the duties of their offices shall take an oath to respect the constitution and the laws and to faithfully perform their duties.

Art. 102. The powers established by this constitution shall not declare war until after having proposed arbitration.

§ In order to reaffirm this principle, the following clause shall be introduced into all international treaties which the Republic makes: “All differences which may arise between the contracting parties shall be submitted to arbitration before appealing to arms.”

Art. 103. The magistrates and prosecuting attorneys of the supreme court of justice and of the courts of appeal, judges and fiscals of the tribunals and courts of first instance shall enjoy the salaries which the appropriation law determines, and which shall not be decreased in any manner whatever during the period for which they were chosen.

Art. 104. No section of the territory of the Republic which has not previously shown its ability to maintain at least three schools of primary instruction shall be made into a commune.

Art. 105. The budget shall be divided into chapters which shall correspond to the different departments of administration, and no sum may be transferred from one section to another, nor may any money be devoted to other ends than those specified, except by virtue of a law.

Art. 106. Justice shall be administered gratuitously throughout the territory of the Republic.

Title XVI.—The amendment of the constitution.

Art. 107. This constitution may be amended only upon a two-thirds vote of the members of both Houses, specifying the articles which need to be amended.

Art. 108. The necessity of amendment having been declared, the Congress shall decree the convocation of a Constituent Assembly for that purpose, and the decree of convocation shall contain the proposed amendment.

§ The constitution may be amended only in the manner therein prescribed and it may never be suspended nor annulled by any power or authority nor by proclamations to the people.

Art. 109. The Constituent Assembly shall be elected by direct ballot on the date fixed in the decree of convocation and shall have the number of representatives that the Congress may determine, but their number shall not be less than two of each Province and they shall enjoy the same immunities as the members of the legislative Houses, the same qualifications being required as for deputies.

Art. 110. The Constituent Assembly shall consider and adopt or reject the amendment, it being understood that this amendment shall not affect the form of government, which latter shall always be civil, republican, democratic, and representative.

Art. 111. No amendment of the constitution which increases the powers of one or more public onicials, or their term in office, shall take effect until the constitutional period following that in which the amendment was made.

temporary provisions.

1. The present electoral colleges shall dissolve the fifteenth of May this year; the National Congress shall adjourn the nineteenth of June, and the executive and judicial powers shall end their duties the thirtieth of the same month.

2. On the first and second days of May the primary assemblies shall convene to choose the electoral colleges, governing themselves in this election by the provisions of article 79 of the constitution of the ninth of September, 1907, relative to the number of electors and to the political division therein determined.

§ A law shall fix the electoral quotient and shall determine the number of electors and councilmen that belong to each commune, as soon as the census of the Republic has been taken.

§§ Electors shall be chosen for the next period according to the present laws in force.

3. The electoral colleges shall assemble in accordance with the laws at present in force, in the capitals of the Provinces the 30th day of May, 1908 (thirtieth of May) and shall proceed to elect the President of the Republic, senators, deputies, and alternates of these latter and shall make up the lists of persons who are qualified in their respective Provinces to be justices of the supreme court of justice and judges of the courts of appeal and of the tribunals and courts of first instance.

4. The new legislative Houses shall assemble in the capital of the Republic in a special session on the twentieth of the coming June, and shall proceed to make the choice of justices of the supreme court, judges of the courts of appeal, tribunals, and courts of first instance and members of the board of accounts in the cases and with the formalities already established.

5. The oath of the President of the Republic shall be taken on the first of July of the present year before the Congress convened in National Assembly, and on the same date the other functionaries elected shall be installed.

6. Until the census of the Republic is taken the election of deputies shall be made at the rate of two for each Province, with an equal number of alternates.

7. The first census shall be taken at the latest two years from the date of the promulgation of this constitution.

8. Until a law shall determine the number of secretaries of state the President of the Republic shall appoint the following: Secretary of the interior and police, secretary of foreign affairs, secretary of the treasury and commerce, secretary of war and the navy, secretary of justice and public instruction, secretary of agriculture and immigration, and secretary of development and communication.

9. As long as the National Congress does not determine otherwise, the articles of the penal code which were virtually abrogated by the constitution of the 9th of September, 1907, remain in force and vigor.

10. The present constituted powers shall continue acting as at present until the expiration of their term, as provided for in these temporary provisions.

11. This constitution shall go into effect on the first of April next. Let this be sent to the executive power for its publication.

Given in the municipal palace of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros on the 22d day of the month of February of the year nineteen, hundred and eight, sixty-fourth year of Independence and forty-fifth of the Restoration.

The president of the Constituent Assembly:

Eliseo Grullón,
Deputy for the Province of Santiago.

• The Vice President:
  • F. Richiez Dicoudray,
    Deputy for the Province of the Seybo.
  • J. Lamarche,
  • C. Armando Rodríguez,
    Deputies for Santo Domingo.
  • Ramón E. Peralta,
    Deputy for Santiago.
  • Lcdo. Pedro A. Bobea,
  • Lcdo. J. A. Lora,
    Deputies for La Vega.
  • J. Grullón,
  • J. de J. Fondeur,
    Deputies for Monte Cristy.
  • Armando Portes,
  • Braulio C. Jaubert,
    Deputies for Samandá.
  • Tancredo Castellanos,
  • J. O. Menard,
    Deputies for Puerto Plata.
  • D. Cabral.
  • Ángel Rivera,
    Deputies for Azua.
  • J. M. Béras,
    Deputy for Seybo.
  • Ramón Rosa,
  • F. A. Lizardo,
    Deputies for Pacificador.
  • Cástulo Valdés,
    Deputy for Barahona.
  • Eladio Sánchez,
  • Betances,
    Deputies for San Pedro de Marcorís.
  • M. R. Perdomo,
    Deputy for Espaillat.
• The secretaries:
  • Joaq. E. Salazar,
    Deputy for Barahona.
  • E. Jiménez,
    Deputy for Espaillat.

1. See Foreign Relations, 1907, p. 363.