Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future

by Otto Schoenrich

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.