History of the Peninsular War, Volume 1 (of 6)

by Robert Southey

The Council of State was to consist of not fewer than thirty members, nor more than sixty, divided into the six sections or departments of justice and ecclesiastical affairs, the interior, and general police, the finances, war, the marine, and the Indies, each section consisting of a president and four members at least, and the King presiding over the council. The hereditary Prince might assist at their sittings, from the age of fifteen. The ministers and the president of the Royal Council were by their office members, and might attend their meetings when they thought it convenient, but they were not part of any section, neither were they accounted in the appointed number. The projects of all laws civil and criminal, and the general regulations of the public administration, were to be examined and determined here; and the decrees of the King upon subjects falling within the province of the Cortes were to have the force of law (having been discussed in this council) till the next Cortes should be assembled.

♦Cortes.♦

The Cortes or National Junta was to consist of an hundred and sixty-two members, in one chamber, divided into the three Benches of the Clergy, the Nobles, and the People; that of the clergy was to be placed on the right of the throne, that of the nobles on the left, that of the people in front. The bench of the clergy was to be composed of twenty-five archbishops and bishops, that of the nobles of twenty-five peers, who should be called Grandees of the Cortes: the bench of the People of sixty-two deputies for the provinces of Spain and the Indies, thirty deputies for the principal cities of Spain and the adjacent islands, fifteen commercial members, and fifteen deputies of the universities, men of learning, or distinguished by their proficiency in the sciences or the arts. The Ecclesiastical Deputies were to be appointed by letters patent, under the great seal, and they were not to be deprived of their functions unless by the sentence of a competent tribunal, legally pronounced. The Nobles were to be appointed and hold their seats in the same manner: they were required to possess an income of not less than 20,000 pesos fuertes, or to have performed long and important services either in the civil or military line. Members for the provinces were to be chosen in the proportion of one representative for about 300,000 inhabitants; and the provinces were to be divided into departments with reference to this purpose, each containing a population sufficient to entitle it to elect one deputy. The manner in which the Juntas of Election were to be constituted would be established by the Cortes; till that time they should be composed of the Deans of the Regidores in every place which contained not less than an hundred inhabitants; and if in any departments there were not twenty places containing this population, the smaller hamlets were then to be united for the purpose of furnishing an elector, in the proportion of one for an hundred inhabitants, chosen by lot from the Deans of the Regidores. The other electors were the Deans of the Curas, or parochial clergy, in the principal places of the departments; but the number of clerical electors was never to exceed one-third of the whole Junta of Election. The President was to be named by the King, and the Juntas of Election were never to meet except by letters of convocation. The Deputies for the thirty principal cities were to be chosen one for each by the Ayuntamiento, or corporation. A deputy for a province or city must be possessed of landed property. The fifteen commercial Deputies were to be chosen from the Juntas of Commerce, and from among the richest and most respected merchants. The Tribunals and Juntas of Commerce in every city were to form a list of fifteen persons, and from these lists the King was to appoint the members. He was in like manner to appoint the remaining fifteen from a list to that amount presented by the Royal Council, and from seven candidates presented by each of the universities.

Members of the Bench of the People might be re-elected to a second Cortes, but not to a third, till an interval of three years should have elapsed. The Cortes should assemble once in three years at least; it was to be convoked by the King, and neither deferred, prorogued, nor dissolved, but by his order. The President should be appointed by the King from three candidates whom the Cortes was to choose. At the opening of every session the Cortes was to choose these three candidates, two vice-presidents, and two secretaries, and four committees, ... of justice, of the interior, of finance, and of the Indies, consisting of five members each. The sittings of the Cortes were not to be public; votes were to be taken vocally or by secret ballot; and for every resolution a majority of the whole body was necessary. The opinions and votes were neither to be printed nor divulged; such publication, whether by means of the press, or of written papers, if made by the Cortes, or any of its members, was to be considered as an act of rebellion. Every three years the amount of the annual receipts and expenditure was to be fixed by law; which law was to be presented by orators of the Council of State for the deliberation and approbation of the Cortes. In like manner all alterations in the civil and penal codes, in the system of imposts, or of currency, were to be propounded; and projects of laws were to be proposed by the sections of the Council of State to the respective committees of the Cortes. Accounts were to be presented annually to the Cortes by the Minister of Finance, and to be printed; and the Cortes might make such representations as they deemed convenient upon any abuses in the administration. If they had any grave charges to prefer against a minister, the accusation and the proofs were to be laid before the throne by a deputation; and the King was to refer it to a commission composed of six counsellors of state and six members of the Royal Council.

♦The colonies.♦

The Spanish kingdoms and provinces in America and Asia were to enjoy the same rights as the mother country, and to trade freely with her; every kind of cultivation and industry was to be free there, and no monopoly of export or importation to be granted. Every kingdom and province should always have deputies at the seat of government, to promote their interests and to be their representatives in the Cortes. Two deputies each were to be sent by New Spain, Peru, the Nuevo Reyno de Granada, Buenos Ayres, and the Philippines; one each by the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, by Venezuela, Charcas, Quito, Chile, Cuzco, Guatemala, Yucatan, Guadalaxara, the western internal provinces of New Spain and the eastern. These deputies were to be chosen by the Ayuntamientos of such places as the Viceroys or Captains-general should appoint in their respective territories; they must be natives of the respective provinces, and proprietors of land; they were to hold their places for a term of eight years, and after the expiration of that term, till their successors should arrive. Six of these deputies, chosen by the King, should be added to the Council of State and section of the Indies, to have a consultive voice in all matters relating to the colonies.

♦Judicature.♦

The Spains and the Indies were to be governed by one code of laws civil and criminal. The judicial order was to be independent, justice administered in the King’s name by the courts and tribunals which he should appoint, and all corporate or private jurisdictions, such as the Justicias de abadengo, ordenes y señorio, were abolished. The King was to appoint all the judges, and no one could be removed from his office, unless in consequence of charges against him made by the president or Procurador General of the Royal Council, at the Council’s instance, and with the King’s approbation. There were to be Conciliatory Judges forming a Tribunal of Pacification, Courts of the first instance, Audiences or Tribunals of Appeal, a Tribunal of Reposition or Cassation for the whole kingdom, and a High Court Royal. The courts of first instance were to be as many as the country required; the tribunals of appeal for Spain and the adjacent islands, not fewer than nine nor more than fifteen. The Royal Council was to be the Tribunal of Reposition, and should also take cognizance of appeals in ecclesiastical cases. Criminal processes were to be public, and it was to be discussed in the first Cortes whether or not trial by jury should be established. Appeal might be made to the Tribunal of Reposition against a criminal sentence. The High Court Royal was to take cognizance of personal offences committed by individuals of the Royal Family, ministers, senators, and counsellors of state; there might be no appeal against its sentences, but they were not to be executed till the King should have signed them. It was to consist of the eight senior senators, the six presidents of the sections of the Council of State, the president and two vice presidents of the Royal Council. The right of pardoning should belong to the King alone. There should be one commercial code for Spain and the Indies; and in every great commercial town a Tribunal and a Junta of commerce.

♦Finance.♦

The Vales Reales, Juros, and whatever loans the government had contracted, were acknowledged as the national debt. Custom-houses between different jurisdictions and provinces were abolished both in Spain and the Indies, and were only to exist upon the frontiers. Taxes were to be equalized throughout the kingdom, and all privileges, whether granted to corporations or individuals, were suppressed; but for those which had been purchased, an indemnification should be awarded. The public treasure was to be distinct from that of the crown, and under a director general appointed by the King; the accounts were to be rendered yearly, and examined and closed by a tribunal of general accounts, composed of persons whom the King should nominate. All nominations for all employments belonged to the King, or to the authorities to whom the laws confided them.