Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future

by Otto Schoenrich

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.