In 1795 Spain ceded to France the entire Spanish part of Santo Domingo, and in evacuating the island the Spanish authorities determined to carry with them the remains of the great Discoverer. It is to be assumed that there were still persons connected with the cathedral who could point out the location of the vault accidentally discovered twelve years before and that as tradition referred to only one vault on that side of the altar, the remains contained therein were extracted without further investigation. The description of the vault opened tallies with that of the vault found in 1783. The document attesting the embarking of these remains reads as follows: "I, the undersigned clerk of the King, our Lord, in charge of the office of the chamber of this Royal Audiencia, do certify that on the twentieth day of December of the current year, there being in this holy cathedral the Commissioner Gregorio Saviñon, perpetual member and dean of the very illustrious municipal council of this city, and in the presence of the most illustrious and reverend friar Fernando Portillo y Torres, most worthy Archbishop of this metropolitan see; of His Excellency Gabriel de Aristizabal, Lieutenant-General of the royal navy of His Majesty; of Antonio Cansi, Brigadier in charge of the fort of this city; of Antonio Barba, Field-marshal and Commander of Engineers; of Ignacio de la Rocha, Lieutenant-colonel and Sergeant-major of this city, and of other persons of rank and distinction, a vault was opened which is in the sanctuary on the side of the gospel (between) the main wall and the pedestal of the main altar, which is one cubic yard in size, and in the same there were found several plates of lead, about one tercio in length, indicating that there had been a box of the said metal, and pieces of bone as of the tibia or other parts of some deceased person, and they were collected in a salver that was filled with the earth, which by the fragments of small bone it contained and its color could be seen to belong to that dead body; and everything was placed in an ark of gilded lead with iron lock, which being closed its key was delivered to the said illustrious Archbishop, and which box is about half a yard long and wide and in height something more than a quarter of a yard, whereupon it was transferred to a small coffin lined with black velvet, and adorned with gold trimmings, and was placed on a decent catafalque.
"On the following day with the presence of the same illustrious Archbishop, His Excellency Aristizabal, the communities of Dominicans, Franciscans and Mercenarians, military and naval officers, and a concourse of distinguished persons, and people of the lower classes, mass was solemnly said and fasting enjoined, whereupon the same illustrious Archbishop preached.
"On this day, about half past four o'clock in the afternoon there came to the holy cathedral the gentlemen of the Royal Order, to wit, Joaquin Garcia, Fieldmarshal, President-Governor and Captain-General of this Island of Española; José Antonio de Vrisar, knight of the royal and distinguished order of Charles the Third, Minister of the royal and supreme council of the Indies and at present Regent of the Royal Audiencia; Justices Pedro Catani, dean; Manuel Bravo, likewise knight of the royal and distinguished order of Charles the Third, and with honors and seniority in the Royal Audiencia of Mexico; Melchor Joseph de Foncerrada and Andres Alvarez Calderon, state's attorney; there being in the cathedral the most illustrious and reverend Archbishop, His Excellency Gabriel de Aristizabal, the municipal council and religious communities, and a complete picket with draped banner, and taking the wooden box covered with plush and gold trimmings, in the interior of which was the box of gilded lead, which contained the remains exhumed on the preceding day, the President Joaquin Garcia, the Regent Joseph Antonio de Vrisar and the Justices, Dean Pedro Catani and Manuel Bravo conducted it to a little before the exit through the door of the said holy church, where the President and Regent separated, passed to their respective places and were substituted by Justice Foncerrada and Calderon, state's attorney, and upon leaving the church it was saluted by the said picket with a discharge of musketry, and there followed the Fieldmarshal and Commander of Engineers Antonio Barba, the Brigadier and Commander of militia Joaquin Cabrera, the Brigadier and Commander of the fort Antonio Cansi, and the colonel of the regiment 'Cantabria,' Gaspar de Casasola, and thereafter the military officers alternated according to their grade and seniority until reaching the city gate which leads to the harbor, where their places were taken by the members of the very illustrious municipal council of this city, dean Gregorio Saviñon, Miguel Martinez Santalices, Francisco de Tapia and Francisco de Arredondo, judge of the rural court, and upon emerging from the gate it was placed upon a table prepared therefor; a response was chanted and during the same the forts saluted it with fifteen minute guns, as for an admiral, and one after another took the key of the ark and through the said illustrious Archbishop placed it in the hands of His Excellency Aristizabal, stating that they delivered the ark into his possession subject to the orders of the Governor of Havana as a deposit until His Majesty should determine what may be his royal pleasure, to which His Excellency acceded, accepting the ark in the manner stated and transferring it aboard the brigantine 'Descubridor,' which, with the other war-vessels waiting with insignia of mourning, also saluted it with fifteen guns, whereupon this certificate was concluded and signed by the parties.
"Santo Domingo, December 21, 1795. Joaquin Garcia. Friar Fernando,Archbishop of Santo Domingo. Gabriel de Aristizabal. Gregorio Saviñon.José Francisco Hidalgo."
The brief account of the remains when everything else was related with such detail leads to the logical conclusion that there was no epitaph on the vault and no inscription on the leaden plates found within. The Spanish judicial chronicler's habit of minute description would not have permitted the omission of such important particulars, if they had existed.
The remains were transferred to Havana where their reception was even more solemn than their embarkation in Santo Domingo. On January 19, 1796, they were landed amid the booming of guns, conducted in state by the civil and military authorities and a large concourse to the plaza, and deposited on a magnificent bier in the shadow of the column erected where, according to tradition, the first mass was said in Havana and the first municipal council met. Here the ark was formally delivered to the Governor of Havana, who had it opened and its contents inspected, whereupon it was again closed and transferred with great pomp to the cathedral. The key was there delivered to the bishop and the remains deposited in a sepulchre with suitable bas-reliefs and inscriptions. The notarial narrative of the event goes into the most minute particulars, but the contents of the ark are merely described as "several leaden plates nearly a tercio in length, several small pieces of bone as of some deceased person, and some earth which seemed to be of that body."
For over eighty years it was generally accepted in Santo Domingo, as throughout the world, that the bones of Columbus rested in the cathedral of Havana. There were, indeed, persons who handed down a tradition that the remains taken away by the Spaniards were not those of the great navigator and that these still remained under the altar platform in the Santo Domingo cathedral, but such persons were very few and no attention was paid to their allegations. Some Dominicans even called on the Spanish government to return the remains and let them be laid to rest in Dominican soil in accordance with the Discoverer's dying wish. In the meantime no one thought of the tombs of Diego Columbus or Louis Columbus, nor was it remembered that they were buried in the cathedral.
In the year 1877 extensive repairs were undertaken in the cathedral of Santo Domingo. The worn brick flooring was to be replaced with marble squares, the old choir was to be torn down and a choir established elsewhere in the church, and the altar platform was to be extended into the church proper and reduced in height. Shortly after the work had begun, a heavy bronze image kept in the vestry—which adjoined the sanctuary on the side opposite that where the remains were exhumed in 1795—was, on May 14, 1877, placed in a doorway long closed leading to the sanctuary. In doing so it was noticed that a hollow sound came from the wall adjoining and in order to ascertain the cause a small opening was made in the wall about a yard above the floor. It was then seen that there was a small vault under the altar platform of the church, and that the vault contained a metal box with human remains. Canon Billini, in charge of the cathedral, immediately ordered that the opening be closed until the return of the bishop from a pastoral visit to the Cibao. The hole was hidden behind a curtain and no immediate attention given to it. Towards the end of June Mr. Carlos Nouel, a friend of Canon Billini, obtained permission to look in at the box and deciphered a rude inscription reading, "El Almirante D. Luis Colon, Duque de Veragua, Marques de—" "The Admiral Don Louis Columbus, Duke of Veragua, Marquis of—." The last word was missing because of a hole in the corroded leaden plate, but was supposed to be "Jamaica." At this time the box was broken, because several days before in placing a scaffold in the church one of the posts had been located over the box and had broken through. The persons who afterwards sought to draw out the box pulled to overcome the obstacle and tore the weak plates apart entirely.
The bishop returned on August 18, 1877, and being informed of what had happened, on September 1 invited the Cabinet officers, the consular corps and a number of civil and military authorities and private persons to witness the removal of the remains of Louis Columbus. To the chagrin of the bishop and canon, it was found that the plate with the inscription had been stolen. Probably shamed by ever increasing popular indignation, the grave-robber anonymously returned it on December 14, 1879, by leaving it in the cathedral door in a package addressed to the archbishop. The other plates with the earth and pieces of bone were carefully collected.
[Illustration: SANCTUARY OF CATHEDRAL IN SEPTEMBER, 1877(Scale; 1 centimeter = 1 meter)
1. Vault containing remains of Christopher Colombus. 2. Vault opened by Spaniards in 1795. 3. Vault containing remains of Louis Columbus. 4. Pedestal of main altar. 5. Door leading to vestry. 6. Door leading to capitular room. 7. Location of containing wall of old altar platform, as it existed in 1540. 8. Location of stairs which in 1540 led up to altar platform. 9. Tribune of the Gospels. 10. Tribune of the Epistles. 11. Steps of altar platform. 12. Grave of Juan Sanchez Ramirez. Isidore Peralta had also been buried at this spot.]
The unexpected finding of the long forgotten remains of the grandson of the Admiral recalled the tradition that the Discoverer's body still remained in Santo Domingo, and several gentlemen, among them the Italian consul, requested the bishop to take advantage of the repairing of the church for a thorough investigation of the altar platform in order to ascertain whether it contained any other notable graves. The bishop gave his consent, and the investigation commenced on September 8, under the direction of Canon Billini. Digging was begun near the door of the capitular room and in a short time an unmarked grave was found containing human remains and military insignia. It was proven by witnesses that they were the remains of Juan Sanchez Ramirez, Captain-General of Santo Domingo, who died on February 12, 1811, and was buried in the same place where had been the grave of General Isidore Peralta. A narrow wall was then encountered which was afterwards found to be the containing wall of the ancient altar platform. On the ninth, a Sunday, the work went on during the morning with the permission of the bishop. An excavation was made at the place where, according to tradition, the remains taken to Havana had lain and soon a small vault was discovered quite empty. It was evidently the vault opened by the Spaniards in 1795. The examination was continued between this vault and the main altar, but nothing new was encountered, whereupon the work was left to be resumed on the following day, rather with the hope of finding something of Diego Columbus, for the empty vault seemed to show that the remains of Christopher Columbus were really removed in 1795.
The excavations continued on September 10, 1877, between the empty vault and the wall. A large stone was found, and a piece broken off, disclosing another vault containing what appeared to be a square box. The bishop and the Italian consul were sent for immediately and upon their arrival the orifice was slightly enlarged and a metal box became clearly visible. It was covered with the dust of centuries, but an inscription was seen, in which abbreviations of the words "First Admiral" could faintly be distinguished. The work was stopped at once, the doors of the cathedral were locked and all the principal persons of the city invited to attend the further investigation of the vault's contents. The report of the find rapidly spread through the city, though distorted in some quarters, for one of the workmen hearing the bishop's joyful exclamation, "Oh, what a treasure!" conceived the idea that the box was full of gold pieces and so informed the people that gathered outside.
The formal opening of the vault on the afternoon of that day and the examination of its contents are minutely described in the notarial document drawn up on the occasion:
"In the City of Santo Domingo on the tenth of September of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-seven. At four o'clock in the afternoon upon invitation of the most illustrious and reverend Doctor Friar Roque Cocchia, Bishop of Orope, Vicar and Apostolic Delegate of the Holy See in the Republics of Santo Domingo, Venezuela and Haiti, assisted by presbyter Friar Bernardino d'Emilia, secretary of the bishopric, by the honorary penitentiary canon, presbyter Francisco Javier Billini, rector and founder of the College of San Luis Gonzaga and of the charity asylum, apostolic missionary and acting curate of the holy cathedral, and by presbyter Eliseo J'Andoli, assistant curate of the same, there met in the holy cathedral General Marcos A. Cabral, Minister of the Interior and Police; Licentiate Felipe Davila Fernandez de Castro, Minister of Foreign Relations; Joaquin Montolio, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction; General Manuel A. Caceres, Minister of Finance and Commerce; and General Valentin Ramirez Baez, Minister of War and the Navy; and the citizens General Braulio Alvarez, Civil and Military Governor of the Province of the Capital, assisted by his secretary Pedro Maria Gautier; the honorable members of the illustrious municipal council of this capital, citizen Juan de la C. Alfonseca, president, and citizens Felix Baez, Juan Bautista Paradas, Pedro Mota, Manuel Maria Cabral and José Maria Bonetti, members; General Francisco Ungria Chala, military commandant of this city; citizens Felix Mariano Lluveres, president of the legislative chamber and Francisco Javier Machado, deputy to the same chamber; the members of the consular corps accredited to the Republic, Messrs. Miguel Pou, Consul of H.M. the Emperor of Germany, Luis Cambiaso, Consul of H.M. the King of Italy, Jose Manuel Echeverri, Consul of H. Catholic M. the King of Spain, Aubin Defougerais, Consul of the French Republic, Paul Jones, Consul of the United States of North America, José Martin Leyba, Consul of H.M. the King of the Netherlands, and David Coen, Consul of H.M. the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain; the citizens licentiates in medicine and surgery Marcos Antonio Gomez and Jose de Jesus Brenes; the civil engineer Jesus Maria Castillo, director of the work in this cathedral; the chief sexton of the same, Jesus Maria Troncoso, and the undersigned notaries public, Pedro Nolasco Polanco, Mariano Montolio and Leonardo Delmonte i Aponte, the first also being the acting notary of the curacy and the second the titular notary of the municipal council of this capital.
"The most illustrious Bishop, in the presence of the gentlemen above designated and of a numerous concourse, declares: that the holy cathedral being undergoing repairs under the direction of the reverend Canon Francisco Javier Billini, and it having come to his notice that according to tradition and notwithstanding what appears from public documents with reference to the transfer of the remains of the Admiral Christopher Columbus to the city of Havana in the year seventeen hundred and ninety-five the said remains might still be in the place where they had been deposited and as such place the right side of the sanctuary was designated, under the spot occupied by the archbishop's chair; with the desire of clearing up the matters which tradition had carried to him, he authorized the reverend Canon Billini, upon his request, to make the necessary explorations; and as the latter was doing so with two workmen on the morning of this day, he discovered at a depth of two palms, more or less, the beginning of a vault which permitted part of a metal box to be seen; that immediately the said Canon Billini ordered the chief sexton, Jesus Maria Troncoso, to go to the archiepiscopal palace and inform His Grace of the result of the investigations, also informing the Minister of the Interior, requesting their presence without loss of time; that immediately His Grace proceeded to the holy cathedral where he found Jesus Maria Castillo, civil engineer, in charge of the repairs to this temple and two workmen who, in company with Canon Billini, guarded the small excavation which had been made, and at the same time Luis Cambiaso arrived, called by the said Canon Billini; that having personally made certain of the existence of the vault as well as that it contained the box to which Canon Billini made reference and an inscription being discovered on the upper part of what appeared to be the lid, he ordered that things be left as they were and that the doors of the temple be closed, the keys being confided to the reverend Canon Billini; proposing to invite, as he did invite, His Excellency the great citizen, President of the Republic, General Buenaventura Baez, his Cabinet, the consular corps and the other civil and military authorities named in the beginning of this certificate, in order to proceed with all due solemnity to the extraction of the box and give all required authenticity to the result of the investigation; and having advised the authorities, by their order municipal policemen were stationed at each one of the closed doors of the temple.
"His Grace, stationed in the sanctuary, near the started excavation and surrounded by the authorities above mentioned and a very numerous concourse, all the doors of the temple having been opened, had the excavation continued, and a slab was removed, permitting the raising of the box, which was taken and shown by His Grace and found to be of lead. The said box was exhibited to all the authorities convoked, and thereupon was carried in procession through the interior of the temple and shown to the people.
"The pulpit of the left nave of the temple being occupied by His Grace, by the reverend Canon Billini, who carried the box, the Minister of the Interior, the president of the municipal council and two of the notaries public who sign this document: His Grace opened the box and exhibited to the people a part of the remains it encloses; he also read the several inscriptions on the box, which prove beyond controversy that the remains are really and in fact those of the illustrious Genovese, the great Admiral Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of America. The truth of the matter being irrefutably ascertained, a salute of twenty-one guns, fired by the artillery of the fort, a general ringing of bells and strains of music from the military band, announced the happy and memorable event to the city.
"Immediately the authorities convoked met in the vestry of the temple and proceeded in the presence of the undersigned notaries public, who certify thereto, to an examination and expert investigation of the box and its contents; the result of the examination being that the said box is of lead, has hinges and measures forty-two centimeters in length, twenty-one centimeters in depth and twenty and a half in width; containing the following inscriptions: on the upper side of the lid 'D. de la A, Per. Ate.'—On the left headboard 'C.' On the front side 'C'—On the right headboard 'A.' On raising the lid the following inscription was found on the inner side of the same carved in German Gothic characters: 'Illtre. y Esdo. Varon Dn. Cristobal Colon,' and in the said box human remains which on examination by the licentiate of equal class Jose de Jesus Brenes are found to be: A femur deteriorated in the upper part of the neck, between the great trochanter and its head. A fibula in its natural state. A radius also complete. The os sacrum in bad condition. The coccyx. Two lumbar vertabrae. One cervical and two dorsal vertabrae. Two calcanea. One bone of the metacarpus. Another of the metatarsus. A fragment of the frontal or coronal bone, containing half of an orbital cavity. A middle third of the tibia. Two more fragments of tibia. Two astragoli. One upper portion of shoulder-blade. One fragment of the lower jawbone. One half of an os humeri, the whole constituting thirteen small and twenty-eight large fragments, there being others reduced to dust.
"In addition a leaden ball weighing about an ounce, more or less, was found and two small screws belonging to the box.
"The examination mentioned having been terminated, the ecclesiastical and civil authorities and the illustrious municipal council resolved to close and seal the box with their respective seals and deposit it in the sanctuary of the church of Regina Angelorum, under the responsibility of the aforesaid penitentiary canon Francisco Javier Billini, until otherwise determined; His Grace, the Ministers, the consuls and the undersigned notaries immediately proceeding to affix their seals; and finally they determined to transfer the box in triumph to the said church of Regina Angelorum, accompanied by the veteran troops of the capital, batteries of artillery, music, and whatever else might give impressiveness and splendor to so solemn an act, for which the town was prepared as was noted from the great multitude which filled the temple and the cathedral plaza, to which we certify, as we do also that the present was signed by the gentlemen above named and other distinguished persons.
"Friar Roque Cocchia, of the Order of Capuchins, Bishop of Orope,Apostolic Delegate to Santo Domingo, Haiti and Venezuela, ApostolicVicar in Santo Domingo—Friar Bernardino d'Emilia, Capuchin, Secretaryof His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate and Vicar—Francisco X.Billini—Eliseo J'Andoli, assistant curate of the cathedral—Marcos A.Cabral, Minister of the Interior and Police—Felipe Davila Fernandezde Castro, Minister of Foreign Relations—Joaquin Montolio, Ministerof Justice and Public Instruction—M. A. Caceres, Minister of Financeand Commerce—Valentin Ramirez Baez, Minister of War and theNavy—Braulio Alvarez, Governor of the Province—Pedro Ma. Gautier,Secretary—Juan de la C. Alfonseca, President of the Municipalcouncil—Members, Felix Baez—Juan Bautista Paradas—Manuel Ma. CabralB.—P. Mota—Jose M. Bonetti—Francisco Ungria Chala, Commandant ofArms—Felix Mariano Lluveres, President of the LegislativeChamber—Francisco Javier Machado, Deputy of the LegislativeChamber—The Consul of Spain, Jose Manuel Echeverri—Luigi Cambiaso,R. Consul of H. M. the King of Italy—Miguel Pou, Consul of the GermanEmpire—Paul Jones, United States Consul—D. Coen, BritishVice-Consul—J. M. Leyba, Consul of the Netherlands—A. AubinDefougerais, Vice-Consul of France—Jesus Ma. Castillo, CivilEngineer—M. A. Gomez, Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery—J. J.Brenes, Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery—The chief sexton, JesusMa. Troncoso—A. Licairac—M. M. Santamaria—Domingo Rodriguez—Manuelde Jesus Garcia—Enrique Peinado—Federico Polanco—Lugardis Olivo—P.Mr. Consuegra—Eujenio de Marchena—Valentin Ramirez, Jr.—F.Perdomo—Joaquin Ramirez Morales—Amable Damiron—Jaime Ratto—PedroN. Polanco, Notary Public—Leonardo Delmonte I Aponte, NotaryPublic—Mariano Montolio, Notary Public."
[Illustration: Inscription on lid of lead box. (2/5 actual size)]
[Illustration: Inscription on inner side of lid. (2/5 actual size)]
The vault so opened was a little larger than that opened in 1795, and separated therefrom by a six-inch wall. The leaden box was of rude construction, dented and much oxydized, the plates being a little thicker than those of the casket of Louis Columbus. The inscription on the outside of the lid "D. de la A. Per, Ate." was taken to mean "Descubridor de la América, Primer Almirante"—"Discoverer of America, First Admiral." The inscription on the inner side of the lid, without contractions, was: "Ilustre y Esclarecido Varon Don Cristobal Colon"—"Illustrious and noble man, Christopher Columbus." The letters "C C A" were interpreted as signifying "Cristobal Colón, Almirante"—"Christopher Columbus, Admiral." On January 3, 1878, a more minute examination of the remains was made at the request of the Spanish Academy of History and in the dust at the bottom of the box was found a small silver plate with two holes by which it had evidently been screwed with the two screws found at the first examination to some wooden board or receptacle. All vestige of wood had disappeared, either through decay or perhaps through destruction by insects, for on the walls of the vault are faint traces of ancient tracks made by the comejen or wood-eating ant. On one side of the plate was engraved in rude letters: "Ua. pte. de los rtos. del pmer. Alte. D. Cristoval Colon Des.," which is read as meaning "Ultima parte de los restos del primer Almirante, Don Cristoval Colon, Descubridor"—"Last part of the remains of the first Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, Discoverer." On the reverse side are the words "Cristoval Colon" and several letters which indicate that the inscription "Ua. pte." etc., was begun here but was stopped, perhaps because there was not sufficient room.
[Illustration: Obverse side of silver plate (Enlarged 1/20)]
[Illustration: Reverse side of silver plate. (Enlarged 1/20)]
The small lead ball, similar to a musket-ball, found in the box, has been the subject of much comment. It is not known that Columbus was ever wounded, though it is true that of many years of his life we have little information. Some writers make deductions from an equivocal sentence contained in a letter written by him to the rulers of Spain on his fourth voyage, in which he refers to his difficulties off the coast of Central America and says: "There the wound of my trouble opened." Others refer to an obscure sentence of Las Casas, but others believe that the ball was dropped in the box by accident, either when the box was prepared for the vault or at some time when in the course of the centuries the vault may have been casually opened as was the adjoining vault in 1783. At what time the remains were enclosed in this box and the inscriptions placed on the same it is impossible to determine; it may have been in Seville, or in the early days in Santo Domingo, or at a later date, perhaps when the epitaphs were removed from the vault.
The remainder of the old altar platform was carefully examined but no other vaults or remains were discovered. With reference to the bones "of a deceased person" transferred in 1795 a logical conclusion can be reached: Christopher Columbus, his son Diego, and his grandson Louis were all buried in the Santo Domingo cathedral; the caskets, with inscriptions, of the first and third were found in 1877 and there are no other vaults under the old altar platform; therefore the remains taken away in 1795 with pieces of a casket without inscription, or the inscription of which had become illegible, were most probably those of Diego Columbus.
Santo Domingo went wild with joy over the discovery. It was determined to erect a suitable monument for the remains with funds raised by private subscription and by a half per cent, surtax on imports. A beautiful marble memorial costing $40,000, guarded by bronze lions and adorned with bronze relief work depicting scenes from the life of Columbus, was designed by two Spanish sculptors. The first intention was to place the same in a mausoleum specially built for the purpose, but it was finally erected in the nave of the cathedral near the main door. A richly ornamented bronze box placed in the monument contains the leaden casket and the remains. Once a year on the anniversary of the find, the box is opened and the public permitted to gaze on its contents.
The Spanish authorities would never admit the authenticity of the remains found in 1877, and the Spanish consul in Santo Domingo was bitterly criticized for affixing his signature to the notarial document relating the discovery. The Spaniards continue to claim that the true remains of the Discoverer are those which were transferred to Havana. Upon the evacuation of Cuba by Spain in 1898 these remains were solemnly removed and taken to Spain, where they now rest in the cathedral of Seville. Many investigations have been made from different sources and the majority of investigators report in favor of the Dominican contention, especially when they have personally visited Santo Domingo. The Spanish writers present no proof that the remains taken to Havana in 1795 were those of Christopher Columbus, but limit themselves to attacking the find of 1877. The insinuations and accusations, without corroborating facts, prove nothing but the temper of their authors. All criticisms have been refuted by showing that even supposing the box to date from the year 1540, other and indubitable inscriptions of that year have the same style of letters, abbreviations, spelling and words as those criticized. Further the appearance of the box and vault of 1877, the circumstances attending their discovery, and the irreproachable character of the Apostolic Delegate, of Canon Billini and of others connected with that event preclude all suspicion of fraud.
On the whole, the weight of evidence is strongly in favor of the Dominican contention. It seems that, in spite of the acts of men, fate has permitted the remains of the Discoverer of America to repose in the principal cathedral of the island he loved.
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.
Political parties.—Elections.—Relation between politics and revolutions.—Conduct of revolutions.—Casualties.—Number of revolutions.—Effect of revolutions.
The characteristic features of Dominican politics are the violence of political antagonism and the absence of differences of principle between the political parties. None of the three parties existing to-day has a platform, and the distinction between them is entirely a matter of the personality of the leaders. Each party alleges that it has the best people and the purest motives and views with alarm the government of the country by any other party. In practice therefore, politics follows the rule only too common in the Spanish-American countries, of resolving itself into a personal struggle between the "ins" and the "outs."
In the early days of the Republic different policies were occasionally seriously considered. It was then held by some that independence should be preserved at any cost while others contended that in view of the constant, civil wars the country should seek peace and progress under the protection of some foreign power. Although the annexationists were at first called conservatives and their opponents liberals, these divergent views were not the exclusive property of any designated group of men, but the annexation idea was generally espoused by the party that happened to be in power, which thus hoped both to save the country and perpetuate its own rule, while independence was invariably supported by the opposition, which bristled with patriotic indignation and the fear that it might be permanently excluded from the banquet-table. Thus Santana obtained a return to Spanish rule in 1861 and Cabral a few years later agitated the question of American annexation and their action was denounced by Baez; yet shortly after Baez almost succeeded in securing annexation to the United States and was stigmatized as a traitor by Cabral.
Another issue which existed for a few years after the separation from Haiti in 1844 was the division between clericals on the one hand and liberals on the other, a party division that has created havoc in other parts of Spanish America. The very indefinite claims on each side and the practical unanimity of the country in its attitude towards the church caused this issue to disappear.
The real parties that kept see-sawing in and out of power from the early days of the Republic down to the time of Heureaux were those founded by General Pedro Santana and General Buenaventura Baez. Intimate friends in the struggles with Haiti which followed Santo Domingo's declaration of independence, their ambitious and domineering natures soon clashed, and each collected a group of friends and incessantly conspired against the other. The partisans of Baez, or Baecistas, adopted red for the color of the cockades and ribbons which distinguished them in the civil wars, and came to be known as the "Reds," while the followers of Santana, or Santanistas, adopted blue and were known as the "Blues."
On the death of Santana in 1863, Luperon and Cabral became the leaders of the Blue party, and for several years after the expulsion of the Spaniards in 1865 the Reds and Blues took turns in setting up governments and having them overthrown. In 1873 General Ignacio Maria Gonzalez, a former adherent of Baez, assembled a following from both factions and formed a Green party with which he ousted the Reds who were then in power. In the next six years the Reds and Greens alternated in control, but in 1879 the Greens were driven out and definitely scattered by the Blues, who thereby gained a foothold which they did not lose for years. The death of Baez in 1884 threw the Reds into confusion and their constant persecution by the "blue" President Ulises Heureaux effectually crushed them. Ulises Heureaux with Blues, Reds and Greens built up his own party of "Lilicistas" which remained in power until his death in 1899. In the later years of Heureaux's rule the distinguishing color used by his troops was white.
On the death of Heureaux, Juan Isidro Jimenez, as president, and Horacio Vasquez, as vice-president, came into power. The rivalry between Jimenez and Vasquez caused a division between their respective followers, who called themselves Jimenistas and Horacistas, thus forming the principal parties which continue to the present time. The old Reds and Blues had disappeared and their survivors aligned themselves with Jimenez and Vasquez indiscriminately; members of the Baez family joined old Blues to follow Jimenez, while other old Reds and Blues as well as the Lilicistas seemed to prefer Vasquez. In 1901 an attempt was made to form a party known as the Republican Party, which it was intended to endow with a platform, but being composed largely of Jimenez' friends, it was viewed with suspicion and fell with him.
In 1902 the Horacistas revolted and obtained the government, only to be overthrown in 1903 by followers of Jimenez. The new administration proving odious to both parties they combined to drive it out in the fall of 1903. The Horacistas gained the upper hand in the succeeding government and remained in power until 1912, though a serious division developed in the party, to the extent that the nominal leader, Horacio Vasquez, himself joined in conspiracies and uprisings against the administration. His efforts, combined with those of the Jimenistas, led to the choice of Archbishop Nouel as compromise candidate for president in 1912. Monsignor Nouel unsuccessfully attempted to govern with both parties and on his resignation in 1913 another Horacista became president. Again there was opposition from Horacistas as well as Jimenistas and in 1914 a Jimenista became provisional president.
At about this time a small third party appeared, led by Federico Velazquez, a former Horacista. His followers are known as Velazquistas, though the party has adopted the official name of Progresista. In the elections of 1914 he joined forces with Jimenez, who thus secured the presidency. The government, or what remains of it under the present military occupation, is still constituted largely by followers of Jimenez and Velazquez.
Though both Jimenistas and Horacistas claim to have the larger following in the country in general, it is probable that they are about equally matched, the Velazquistas holding the balance of power.
The Jimenistas are often vulgarly called "bolos" or bob-tailed cocks, and the Horacistas "rabudos" or "coludos," meaning bushy-tailed or long-tailed cocks. In the fighting on the Monte Cristi plains the Jimenistas would often attack, but retire as soon as their opponents showed fight, and as such tactics reminded the Dominicans of the habits of bob-tailed fighting cocks, the nicknames were imposed.
The men who attain prominence in politics range all the way from rude ignorant military chiefs to polished members of the aristocracy. In looking over the annals of Dominican history the same family names constantly recur and it may be affirmed that the government of the country has during the time of independence been in the hands of some twenty families, the members of which have swayed its councils and led its revolutions. They have tasted the sweets of power but also the bitterness of defeat, alternately occupying high positions in the government and pining in prison or exile. Almost all the chiefs of state since 1899 would have done honor to any country, but all have been obliged by the exigencies of politics to give places in their entourage to men of low standing, whose deeds or misdeeds when in power and whose unbridled ambition, have been a factor in the civil wars. At the present moment perhaps the most prominent political figure is Federico Velazquez, a man of unusual force of character, who as minister of finance under Caceres, enforced the settlement of the Dominican debt and gave what was probably the most honest administration of public revenues in the Republic's history. He is one of the few men having the moral courage openly to advocate American cooperation in the government of the country. He is about forty-seven years old, was born in Tamboril, near Santiago, and advanced through the stages of schoolmaster, shopkeeper, secretary to Vasquez and Caceres, and cabinet minister, to the position of a political leader.
The ill-feeling akin to hatred between many members of the political parties is incredible to one not accustomed to Latin-American politics. They will have nothing in common, neither will acknowledge the existence of any good in the other, they endeavor to keep apart in the clubs, they do not care to buy in each other's stores. Even the women enter into this bitterness and engagements have been broken because the bridegroom was discovered to favor one party while the bride or her family sympathized with the other.
The parties are not unalterably composed of the same individuals. On the contrary a great number of the leaders and of the rank and file are continually drifting from one party to another, evincing particular anxiety to "get on the band-wagon." These changelings, while they belong to any one party, affect to be its most ardent supporters in order to avert any suspicion of insincerity. Much of the disorder which has sapped the life-blood of the Republic has been due to disappointed office-seekers who suddenly veered about and joined the opposing party.
Not only to personal ambitions and corruption of the persons in power, but also to the perfunctory mode in which elections have been conducted the many revolutions are to be ascribed. The municipal councils in the communes and the justices of the peace and two residents in the cantons form the election board before which the voters of the respective commune or canton are supposed to appear to deposit their votes. It is evident that if anything more than a small proportion of the qualified voters appeared, such election boards would be swamped, yet no difficulty has ever been registered. The election of the presidential candidate supported by the government was generally so certain that all other aspirants realized the futility of launching their candidacy, and their followers either voted for the official candidate or refrained from voting. In this connection I am reminded of the convincing political speeches attributed to one of the foremost men of La Vega during the farcical campaigns preceding the elections of Heureaux. He is quoted as saying: "My friends, this Republic is founded on the free and unrestricted suffrage of its citizens. It is the proud boast of the Dominican that under the constitution he may vote as he pleases. You are therefore free to cast your vote for whomsoever you prefer. I would not be your friend, however, if I did not advise you that whoever does not vote for Heureaux might as well leave the country." In elections for municipal councilmen and members of Congress there was occasionally an exception to the rule of having a cut and dried program and contests sometimes arose for a seat.
The real campaigns and expressions of the people's will have therefore been the revolutions, and politics and revolutions have thus come to be regarded as going hand in hand. In a town of the Cibao an expression of the garrulous landlady of the inn attracted my attention. The old lady, after regaling me with the local gossip, started with her own troubles. "Two revolutions ago," she said—and her mode of measuring time struck me as peculiar—"my eldest son took a gun and went into politics." "Cojió un fusil y se metió en la politica"—"took a gun and went into politics," the phrase is sadly expressive.
Such campaigns were only too easily begun. When a new president entered upon office on the crest of a successful revolution, apparently with the whole country behind him and his adversaries silenced or scattered, his popularity generally lasted until the spoils were distributed. ("To the victors belong the spoils" was the policy of the past; the American military authorities are making an important innovation by the introduction of civil service principles for selecting public employees.) The disappointed spirits immediately entered into the plots which the vanquished opponents were not slow in fomenting. The leader of the adverse party or one of his trusted lieutenants raised the standard of revolt and issued manifestoes which echoed with patriotic sentiments and decried the faults of the administration. He was joined by a number of disgruntled "generals" and their followers. The telegraph wires were cut and the revolution had begun.