Form of government.—Constitutions.—Presidents.—Election.—Powers. —Executive secretaries.—Land and sea forces.—Congress.—Local subdivisions.—Provincial governors.—Communal governments.

From the date of the declaration of independence, February 27, 1844, down to the present time, with the exception only of a portion of the period of Spanish occupation of 1861 to 1865, Santo Domingo has remained in form at least, a republic. Herein it contrasts with its neighbor Haiti, which has experienced several monarchies. Thus Dessalines proclaimed himself emperor in 1804, Christophe assumed the title of king in 1810 and Soulouque had himself declared emperor in 1849; and the latter two instituted pompous black nobilities. And though the Cibao of Santo Domingo and the region south of the Central Cordillera have ever been rivals and often in arms against each other under competing generals, there has never been any tendency to separate and form two states—as occurred in Haiti in 1806 when the northern portion fell under the sway of Christophe for a period of fourteen years, first as a nominal republic and later as a kingdom, while the southern portion became a republic under Petion and finally under Boyer.

But although the country has in form remained a republic and the title of the chief of state has never been more pretentious than president or protector, in fact there have been few years when the government was not autocratic and the president an absolute monarch whose powers were limited only by his own generous impulses or the fear of alienating his more influential supporters. Dominican writers have even referred to the constitution as a conventional lie.

The various Dominican presidents, as soon as securely in power, have generally been careful to follow constitutional forms, in an effort to deceive their followers and themselves into the belief that they were acting in regular course as servants of the people. The successful revolutionist was almost, always in haste to "legalize" his position by an election. Most of the presidents, among them Heureaux, have been great sticklers for form. Instead of moulding their wishes to conform to the constitution, however, they would mould the constitution to conform to their wishes, and repeatedly the first act of the successful revolutionist has been to promulgate a new constitution in accordance with his ideas. It has thus come to pass that the constitution, far from being revered as the immutable foundation of government, has rather been regarded as the convenient means for the president in office to exercise power. From 1844 to the present time nineteen constitutions have been promulgated in Santo Domingo, one in the year 1844, one each in 1858, 1859 and 1865, two in 1866 and one each in 1868, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1887, 1896, 1907 and 1908.

This extraordinary number is due in part to the practice of not enacting amendments to an existing constitution, but of promulgating the amended instrument as a new constitution. On three of the occasions here indicated a constitution was abrogated in order to revive a prior one. No account is taken in the above computation of the instances where a successful revolutionist in order to announce his adherence to the then existing constitution promulgated the same anew. Thus the constitution of 1896 was reestablished in 1903.

The Dominican constitutions have all been modeled on the general lines of that of the United States, and have differed from each other only in detail. The term of office of the president has varied from one to six years and the powers conferred upon him have been more or less ample. The constitution of 1854, revived in 1859, 1866 and 1868, practically invested him with dictatorial powers, and the only legislative assembly it provided for was an "Advisory Senate" of nine members.

The present constitution was drafted by a constitutional assembly which sat in Santiago de los Caballeros in the early part of 1908. It is disappointing both as a literary and political document. The style bears witness to the haste with which the instrument was compiled. Provisions quite unsuitable to Dominican conditions are included, such as that granting the right to vote to all male citizens over eighteen years of age. Such an extension of the suffrage would be looked upon askance even in countries where education is general, and in Santo Domingo would constitute a serious danger if really put into effect. While the presidential succession is left to be regulated by a law of Congress, the constitution goes into minute details regarding citizenship, naturalization and several other matters. Repeated attempts have been made to secure a new constitution and in 1914 partial elections were held for a constitutional convention, but for one reason or another the plan has not matured. A new constitution will probably be provided in connection with the cessation of American occupation.

According to the present constitution the president must be a native born Dominican, at least thirty-five years of age and with a residence of at least twenty years in the Republic. His term of office is fixed at six years, to be counted from the day of inauguration. The fact that no specific date is mentioned has repeatedly proved a matter of convenience to successful revolutionists. The designation of a presidential term of office in the various constitutions has thus far been something of an irony, for of the 43 executives who have come to the fore in the 70 years of national life, but three presidents have completed terms of office for which they were elected: Baez one term, Merino one and Heureaux four, nor was the distinction of these three due to ought but their success in suppressing revolutionary movements. Five vice-presidents completed presidential terms. Two presidents were killed and twenty deposed. The other chief magistrates resigned more or less voluntarily.

Of the 43 presidents 15 were chosen by popular election according to constitutional forms, 5 were vice-presidents who succeeded to the presidency, 4 were provisional presidents elected by Congress, 10 began as military presidents and then had themselves elected under constitutional forms, and 9 were purely and simply military provisional presidents.

A comparison of the list of presidents with the roster of executives of Haiti reveals a disproportion, for though the black Republic has been in existence since 1804, it has had but twenty-nine chiefs of state, the average duration of whose rule was therefore much longer than has been the case in Santo Domingo. It is to be observed, however, that of the Haitian executives only one completed his term of office and voluntarily retired; of the others, four remained in power until their death from natural causes, eighteen were deposed by revolutions, one of them, committing suicide, another being executed on the steps of his burning palace, and still another being cut to pieces by the mob; five were assassinated; and one is chief magistrate at the present time.

The president and members of the Senate and House of Deputies are elected by indirect vote. Electors whose number and apportionment among the several provinces and their subdivisions are prescribed by law, are chosen by general suffrage in what are called primary assemblies in the several municipalities and constitute electoral colleges which meet at the chief town of the respective province. The electors having cast their votes for president the minutes of the session are sent to the capital. The votes are counted in joint session of Congress and the successful candidate is proclaimed by that body.

Though the election procedure designated in the constitution was gravely followed, yet not once in the history of the country has the result of an election been in doubt, nor is there an instance when the candidate of the government was not elected, excepting only the election of October, 1914, when the American government brought watchers from Porto Rico to avoid gross frauds and coercion. Usually everything was prepared beforehand and the primaries and the meetings of the electoral colleges were little more than ratification meetings. The votes of the electoral colleges were generally unanimous in favor of the government's candidate, yet the odd spectacle has repeatedly presented itself, of a unanimously elected president being driven out of the country within a few months by a general revolution.

The constitution authorizes the president to conclude treaties with the consent of Congress, to appoint certain government officials, to receive foreign diplomatic representatives, and to grant pardons in certain cases, and makes him commander-in-chief of the army and navy. Most of the chief magistrates have not felt themselves hampered, however, whether in peace or war, by any enumeration of powers in the constitution, for their ascendancy has generally been such that their wishes would be complied with and their illegal acts ratified or ignored by a subservient Congress. President Heureaux so controlled Congress, the courts, and all public functionaries, that the government was practically identical with his personality.

The constitution provides that in case of the death, resignation or disability of the president the Congress shall by law designate the person who is to act as president until the disability ceases or a new president is elected, and that if Congress is not sitting the Cabinet officers are immediately to call a session. This is an innovation, as from 1853 to 1907 the Dominican constitutions provided for a vice-president. The vice-president was generally a decorative feature. He was required to possess the same qualifications as the president and was chosen with the same formalities, but no duties were assigned to him, not even that of presiding in Congress, so that his only attribute was the glory of being a president in escrow. The newly elected vice-president therefore often quietly retired to his farm, emerging occasionally to act in the president's stead when the latter left the capital on a trip through the country. Frequently the vice-president was made delegate of the government in some part of the country and at times he was invested with a portfolio as one of the cabinet secretaries. During the administration of a strong president, as in the time of Heureaux, the vice-president was generally one of his satellites, whereas, when the president's power was not so firmly established, as in the administrations of Jimenez and Morales, one of his rivals would be mollified by the vice-presidency. In such cases friction frequently developed, and in the two cases specified the vice-presidents and presidential rivals, Vasquez and Caceres, overthrew the president and established themselves in power. Evidently in order to avoid such disturbances and temptations the constitution of 1908 abolished the office of vice-president. The lack of a definite successor to the president, however, enabled Victoria to seize the presidency after the death of Caceres in 1911 and has given rise to uncertainty and trouble in the cases of presidential succession since that time.

It has been a custom, sometimes expressly authorized by the constitution, for the president to delegate executive powers and prerogatives to persons selected by him in various parts of the country, especially where revolutionary uprisings threatened. There has usually been such a delegate of the government in the Cibao and often one in Azua. They are powerful officials, inasmuch as they are regarded as the direct representatives of the president and his administration, command the local military forces, and constitute the fountain-head of all local executive appointments. Nominations as delegates of the government have been preferably conferred upon provincial governors or upon the vice-president. The president is naturally anxious to repose such powers in one of his confidants, but political exigencies have sometimes obliged him to soothe one of his rivals with the distinction and remain on the qui vive thereafter. More than one governmental delegate has overthrown the president and established himself in power.

Provisional presidents have been numerous in Dominican history. After a successful revolution the victorious general usually proclaimed himself president of a provisional government and until the constitution was again declared in force he and his ministers united executive and legislative power. How far the acts of such de facto governments were legally binding upon the Republic has been questioned in cases where obligations were imposed upon the country, but foreign governments in asserting their rights have paid little attention to such quibbles.

The constitution provides that there shall be such executive secretaries as may be determined by law. They are currently referred to as ministers and their number has been fixed at seven, namely, (1) secretary of the interior and police (interior y policia); (2) secretary of foreign relations (relaciones exteriores); (3) secretary of finance and commerce (hacienda y comercio); (4) secretary of war and the navy (guerra y marina); (5) secretary of justice and public instruction (justicia e instrucciÓn pÚblica); (6) secretary of agriculture and immigration (agricultura e inmigraciÓn); (7) secretary of public development and communications (fomento y comunicaciones). Communication between Congress and the executive departments is rendered easier than in the United States by the constitutional provision that the secretaries of state are obliged to attend the Congressional sessions when called by Congress. This right of interpellation has frequently been exercised.

The secretary of the interior and police is at the head of an important department. He is the administrative superior of the provincial governors and the communal and cantonal chiefs. His position renders him the sentinel of the government for the detection of revolutionary movements.

The foreign office of the Republic is directed by the secretary of foreign affairs. The diplomatic service of Santo Domingo is limited to the modest needs of the country, the more important posts being those of minister plenipotentiary in the United States, Haiti and France and chargÉ d'affaires in Cuba and Venezuela. The majority of consuls depend altogether upon consular fees for their remuneration, only a few of the more important being provided for in the budget. The consulates of most consequence have been considered to be those in the surrounding West India Islands and in New York City, for apart from their commercial relations with the Republic these places have been the favorite haunts of conspiring political exiles. Almost all the European countries are represented in the Dominican Republic either by ministers, chargÉs d'affaires or consuls. Of the diplomatic representatives residing in Santo Domingo City the highest in rank is the American minister. Before 1904 the American minister to Haiti was accredited to the Dominican Republic as chargÉ d'affaires. The United States has consular representatives at all the principal ports, there being an American consul at Puerto Plata and consular agents elsewhere. In the past, great respect has been shown to consulates even to the extent of allowing them privileges of extra-territoriality, and frequently political refugees have sought asylum under the flag of a mere consular agent.

The secretary of finance and commerce has charge of the sources of national income, and the customs and internal revenue services, and under his authority the disbursements of the Republic are audited. The office for the compilation of statistics, organized a few years ago, is also in this department.

The army, rural police, navy and the captaincies of the port are under the supervision of the secretary of war and the navy. This official is always a military man and generally takes the field in person in cases of revolutionary uprisings. During the insurrection of Jimenez against Morales in 1903-4, two of Morales' ministers of war were killed in battle.

Upon the American occupation in 1916 the military force of the Republic was disbanded. There were at that time twelve military posts, one in the capital of each province. The commanders and their aides and the chiefs of forts and their assistants were treated as distinct from the regular army. The army's strength and organization have varied greatly; at the time of its dissolution the authorized strength was one infantry regiment of about 470 officers and men, and a band of 33 men. Only a few months before, the preceding budget had authorized an infantry force of about 800 officers and men and a battery of mountain artillery of 100 officers and men, in addition to the all-important band. In reality, however, only the membership of the band was certain; in time of war the rest of the military establishment was much larger, and in time of peace it comprised numerous phantom soldiers, whose salaries were nevertheless regularly collected from the national treasury. Service was supposed to be voluntary, but the "volunteers" were generally picked out by communal chiefs and brought in under guard, sometimes tied with ropes to keep them from deserting.

There was also an inefficient and overbearing rural police called the "Guardia Republicana," supposed to consist of seven companies of about 800 officers and men, but here too things were not what they seemed. The higher officers of the Republican Guard were a brigadier-general, a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel and 2 majors; those of the army only a colonel, 2 lieutenant-colonels and 2 majors, which was very modest for a country teeming with generals and where the budget of 1909 even appropriated $20,000 for a "corps of generals at the orders of the president."

The American garrison in the Republic, comprising about 1000 men, took over the military posts in the Republic and lent strength to the Guardia Republicana. By an order of the military governor, of April 7, 1917, the sum of $500,000 was set aside for the organization of a constabulary force to be called the "Guardia Nacional Dominicana," to take the place of the Dominican army, navy and police. This Dominican National Guard is to be commanded by a citizen of the United States and such other officers as the American government may consider necessary. Its organization is far advanced and it has already absorbed the Guardia Republicana. In it will be merged the frontier guard of about 70 men depending on the general receiver's office, and probably also the small municipal police squads that compel the observance of municipal ordinances.

The Dominican navy is now composed of a single gunboat, the "Independencia." At the end of Heureaux's rule the country boasted three. The best of these was the "RestauraciÓn," which went on the rocks at the entrance to Macoris harbor in one of the first conflicts between the Jimenistas and Horacistas. The story goes that the steamer was about to attack Macoris, that the pilot, in sympathy with the opposition, grounded her with a view to having her captured, but that a sudden storm drove her to complete destruction. Another gunboat was the "Presidente," which had figured in history, for it was nothing less than the yacht "Deerhound," on which the Confederate Admiral Semmes took refuge after the sinking of the "Alabama" by the "Kearsarge." In 1906 it was sent to Newport News for overhauling as old age had made it unseaworthy, but since the repairs would have cost more than the vessel was worth, it was sold for old iron. The survivor, the "Independencia" is a trim vessel with a crew of fifty officers and men. Attached to the general receiver's office are several gasoline revenue cutters, recently provided.

The secretary of justice and public instruction has administrative supervision over the courts, jails and schools of the Republic, and the government subventions to primary and private schools are disbursed under his direction.

The secretary of agriculture and immigration is the cabinet officer of most recent creation. Prior to the 1908 constitution agriculture had been in charge of the department of public development and there had been no special provision for immigration. The importance of these subjects for the Republic was felt to be such as to merit the establishment of a special department. In practice the department has done nothing, its efforts being hampered by revolutions and circumscribed by the limited sums at its disposal. Its activities have been confined to a general supervision of agriculture, the preparatory work of the establishment of an agricultural experiment station and the operation of a small meteorological service.

The department of public development and communications has charge of the postal service of the Republic, of the national telegraph and telephone, of the lighthouses, and of the public works carried on by the government.

The size of the national legislature of Santo Domingo has fluctuated considerably. Under the 1896 constitution the Congress consisted of a single house of twenty-four members, two from each of the then existing six provinces and six districts. The increase of the national income permitting greater expenditures, the constitution of 1908 provided for two houses, one called the Senate, the other the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of twelve members, one from each province, elected by the same electoral colleges that elect the president and holding office for six years. One-third of the Senate is renewed every two years. The number of members of the Chamber of Deputies is supposed to be in proportion to the number of inhabitants of the various provinces, but as there has been no census the number is provisionally fixed at twenty-four, two from each province. The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a term of four years, also by the electoral colleges, which at the same time designate alternates for the several members.

Congress meets each year in regular session on the anniversary of Dominican independence, February 27, and its session is limited to ninety days, which may, however, be extended sixty days more. Since there are no provincial legislatures the powers of the Congress, set forth in the Constitution, are sweeping. They include the right to legislate in general for every part of the Republic, to approve or reject treaties and to try the president, cabinet members and supreme court judges on impeachment charges.

In practice the elections for deputies have been as perfunctory as those for president, though there were occasional contests. The character and attitude of Congress has varied with the character and condition of the presidents. During the incumbency of strong leaders, such as Santana, Baez and Heureaux, the Congress was little more than the tool of the executive, but when the personality of the president was not so overwhelming or when many of the deputies were followers of a rival chieftain, as in the administrations of Jimenez and Morales, an independent and sometimes a nagging spirit has been manifested.

Under the American occupation the Congress was by decree of January 2, 1917, declared in abeyance and all executive and legislative powers are temporarily exercised by the commander of the American forces. The heads of executive departments are officers of the American navy or marine corps. Otherwise the general structure of the government remains as before. The theory that Santo Domingo is an independent, sovereign country is carefully followed, though at times it leads to anomalous situations, as when the American military governor issues exequaturs to American consuls in Santo Domingo "by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Dominican Republic," or when the American minister, Hon. W. W. Russell, representing the United States and receiving his instructions from the United States State Department, calls on Admiral H. S. Knapp, chief executive of Santo Domingo, who takes his orders from the United States Navy Department.

For administrative purposes the Republic is divided into twelve provinces; Azua, Barahona, Espaillat, La Vega, Macoris, Monte Cristi, Pacificador, Puerto Plata, Samana, Santiago, Santo Domingo and Seibo. Formerly six were known as provinces and six as maritime districts, though there was in practice no distinction between them. The provinces are subdivided into communes and cantons—a canton being a commune in embryo—and these in turn are subdivided into sections. Congress is empowered to create new provinces, communes and cantons.

In the twelve provinces there are now sixty-five communes, several comprising cantons. The provinces bear the names of their capital towns, except Espaillat and Pacificador, the former of which is called after Ulises F. Espaillat who took a prominent part in the War of Restoration and was president in 1876, and the latter in honor of President Heureaux, on whom a fawning Congress conferred the title of Pacificador de la Patria, but these also are sometimes known by the names of their capitals, Moca and San Francisco de Macoris. The communes bear the names of their urban centers. Towns with long names are usually referred to by part of the name only, thus Santa Cruz del Seibo is known simply as El Seibo, Santa Barbara de SamanÁ either as Santa Barbara or as Samana, etc.

At the head of each province is an official who bears the title of governor. He acts as the direct agent of the president and is chief of the government police and commander of the military forces of the district. In civil matter he is dependent upon the department of the interior and police, in military affairs he is under the department of war and the navy. The governors are appointed by the president of the Republic and their salaries are paid from the national treasury. Under the present American occupation the various provinces still have their governors, but the real governors are the American officers locally in command of the occupation forces.

In each commune and canton there is a communal or cantonal chief who represents the governor of the province. He is paid by the national government and is charged with the preservation of the peace in his jurisdiction. Again in each section there is a sectional chief, a local police officer who depends on the communal chief.

The system of local chieftains of gradually diminishing category has brought Santo Domingo to resemble in some administrations a feudal monarchy rather than a constitutional republic. As governor the president usually chose prominent men of the locality, either friends whom he wished to reward or opponents or rivals whom he was obliged to placate. The communal chiefs were also appointed by the president, though the governor's wishes were respected to a large extent, and here too men of influence were selected, such influence usually being reckoned by the possession of a devoted following. The section chiefs were chosen under similar considerations.

Though the law prescribes the duties of the governors, their local prestige, their authority as commanders of the military, and their activities in revolutionary times, have so exalted their position as to convert them into something like satraps and make them powerful supporters or dangerous rivals of the president. Many insurrections have been inaugurated by disaffected governors. At times provinces have remained practically independent for many months, ruled merely by the governor and a coterie of his friends, while the president, in the impossibility of imposing his authority, was obliged to acquiesce. A conspicuous example of such a peculiar state of affairs was furnished by the district of Monte Cristi, during the presidency of Morales. In December, 1903, the formidable insurrection of Jimenez against Provisional President Morales originated in Monte Cristi and though the government gradually regained the remainder of the country it was unable to subjugate this district, where the entire population was Jimenista and the character of the country rendered campaigning very difficult. Finally in the spring of 1904 a formal treaty was signed by which the insurgents agreed to lay down their arms upon the government's promise not to interfere in their district, where all executive appointments were thereafter to be made as recommended by the local authorities. Though constitutional forms were still observed a few military chiefs thus assumed the direction of affairs. Whenever any executive appointment was to be made, the name of the nominee was certified to the capital to be ratified as a matter of course; when orders came from Santo Domingo City, whether in civil or military affairs, they were obeyed or ignored as convenience dictated; the entire amount of the revenues collected in the Monte Cristi custom-house was retained in the district. In order to stimulate imports and increase the customs collections the local authorities even conceded a secret discount from the general tariff. With the enforcement of the San Domingo Improvement Company's arbitral award and the inauguration of the receivership for Santo Domingo the control of the custom-house passed out of the hands of the local chieftains, who sullenly protested as against an invasion of their treaty rights. In other matters the autonomy of the district remained unimpaired until the beginning of 1906 when upon the fall of Morales the government troops, in suppressing the revolution in the north, overran Monte Cristi province and restored its dependency upon the central government.

The healthiest and most important political subdivisions in Santo Domingo are the communal governments, and whatever progress has been made in the Republic has been due largely to their initiative. They correspond to the Spanish "municipios" and the French "communes." In Santo Domingo the French name was introduced during Haitian occupation. The various towns constitute the centers of government, their jurisdiction extends over the surrounding rural districts, and the affairs of the whole are administered by a municipal council. The powers of such councils are manifold and far-reaching and their importance has been accentuated by the chronic impotency of the central government to foster public improvements. The councils exercise all the faculties commonly pertaining to city councils elsewhere and have control of education, sanitation, streets and roads in their respective districts. They also act as election boards.

When an outlying hamlet of the rural belt has grown to sufficient size it is erected into a municipal district or canton and accorded a justice of the peace and a cantonal chief and governing board. It remains subject, however, to the municipal council of the commune of which it formed a part until further development warrants its segregation as an independent commune with its own council. The cantons, as well as some of the sections, are also provided with a cemetery and a small church or chapel.

From among their number the municipal councilmen select a president who is regarded as mayor of the commune, though many of the duties elsewhere pertaining to mayors are discharged by an official called the syndic. The councilmen are supposed to be elected for a term of two years, but the oft repeated revolutions have interfered as seriously with their terms of office as with everything else. The average Dominican seems to manifest little interest in his municipal elections; my question as to when the last local election was held would generally be answered with uncertainty: "Last January, no, last April, no, I believe it was in November." After all, the elections have usually been mere ratifications of slates prepared beforehand. In the time of Heureaux the lists of new councilmen were often arranged in the capital and a few days before election remitted to the various towns, even with a designation of the person whom the council was later to choose as its president.

The results of such a method of selection of councilmen has not been as unfavorable as might be expected. The position of councilman pays no salary and is not of sufficient importance to appeal to the politician, so that under the present system the principal merchants and other prominent men are frequently designated. The law does not prohibit foreigners from forming part of the municipal councils and they have frequently been chosen, especially in Puerto Plata.