File No. 839.51/1793
[Untitled]
Santo Domingo, October 4, 1916.
Constitutional Assembly meeting daily with twelve members, and at least sixteen are necessary for a quorum. Four Supreme Court judges elected as delegates to the Assembly declined to serve, as the holding of two offices is unconstitutional. Electoral college in several provinces met of its own volition and returned to Congress all the Arias deputies whose terms expired December 1, and sent as Senator Santiago, the principal adviser to Arias in the plot of last April. Congress is still supposed to be in session but took a recess until September 10, when it was supposed to meet, but no meeting has taken place and the followers of Horacio Vasquez very likely would prevent a quorum if it should meet. The status of Congress is as follows: It could meet at any time before February 1, but there would be no quorum for the transaction of business; after November 30 it would have to meet with the lately returned members chosen by the electoral college, and these elections now claimed to be illegal as the colleges met without call from the Executive. Congress, if we recognize it, will have finally to sanction whatever is obtained now by decrees.
The situation is so complicated that I think that I should go to Washington for a short conference, on any naval vessel that may be going north in this connection.