Affairs in the Dominican Republic.

As promised in my last, I now proceed to give a sketch of the constitution of the Dominican Republic, embracing an occasional reference to laws subsequently enacted to carry out some of its provisions. This instrument, the essential features of which seem to have been derived in part from the constitution of the United States, and in part from the French charter of 1830, declares, in the first place, that the Dominicans erect themselves into a free, independent, and sovereign nation, under a government essentially civil, republican, popular, representative and responsible; and defines the extent of the national territory, which, it states, embraces the Spanish part of the island of St. Domingo and its adjacent isles—to be identical with those which in 1793 divided it on the west from the French part. That is, embracing about seventy-five-hundredths (75-100) of the whole area of the island.

All persons are declared to be citizens who were born in the territory, and were residents at the time of the drafting of the constitution; so also the children of all Spanish Dominican absentees and their descendants, who, not having borne arms against the new State, return to reside within its limits. These are declared capable of becoming citizens—first, who acquire in the republic real estate of the value of six thousand dollars; and secondly, those who, by their personal labor, form in the republic agricultural establishments, under the title of proprietors, or owners. But foreigners commissioned in these last two classes cannot enjoy political rights until after a residence of six years in the territory. This period, however, is reduced to three years—first, in favor of those foreigners who marry a Dominican wife; and secondly, of those who form agricultural establishments, the value of which amounts to at least twelve thousand dollars. All foreigners not belonging to a hostile nation are declared to be admissible into the territory of the republic, if they profess any art, science, or useful industry, or possess any capital; and they are, from the time of being declared to be under the safeguard of the nation, to enjoy all civil rights from the moment they step upon the soil of the republic.

The Dominicans are declared to be free, and to remain free, and equal in right, slavery being forever abolished; and all are eligible to public offices and employments. Individual liberty is secured. No one can be prosecuted except in conformity with a pre-existing law, and in the manner it prescribes. Nor can any one be imprisoned, unless taken in the criminal act, except by the order of a judge, setting forth the cause of the arrest; and this must be made known to the party arrested at once, or at latest within the space of forty-eight hours. The confiscation of property can never be imposed as a punishment for, or consequence of, crime; nor can private property be taken from its owner, except where the public good requires it, in which case he is to be indemnified its value, to be ascertained by a just appraisement.

The residence or dwelling-house of every citizen is declared to be sacred and inviolable asylum, and no domiciliary visits are to be allowed, except in cases provided for by law, and with the formalities it prescribes. No censorship of the press is to be allowed. All Dominicans are permitted to print and publish freely whatever they think proper, being responsible solely for the abuse of the right to the laws.

A subsequent law has defined what shall constitute such an abuse, and limits it to five classes of cases, namely—publishing maxims or doctrines that tend directly to destroy or subvert the religion of the State, or the constitution of the republic; publishing maxims or doctrines intended to excite rebellion, or cause any disturbance of the public tranquility; making an insult to the character of any law or legitimate authority, or instigating to this violation by invective or satire; publishing obscene writings, or such as are contrary to good morals; injuring any individual or individuals by infamous libels, stigmatising his or their private character, or wounding their honor or reputation. The author or editor of such impure matter is allowed, in exculpation, to offer in evidence the truth of his charges. Allegations against public functionaries are embraced within the same provision.

The constitution proceeds to declare that no person can be compelled to do what the law does not command, nor prevented from doing what it does not forbid. Public instruction is to be established, common to all the citizens, and gratuitous in all the elementary branches. Schools for this purpose are to be established throughout the territory of the republic. The details in regard to those elementary branches, as well as the higher ones, are to be regulated by law. To carry out this provision of the constitution, the Congress passed a law the following year, establishing one elementary school in each of the communes (or parishes) of the republic, and two in each provincial capital. These last can be transformed into higher schools, if expediency suggests it. In these elementary schools are to be taught the principles of religion, the Castilian grammar, and the other usual branches of a common school education. The law places the general supervision of education under the Minister of Public Instruction.

The Dominicans are declared to possess the right of forming associations—of peaceably assembling, without arms—and of petition to the President, or to the National Congress, as individuals, one or many, but not in the name of a collective or corporate body. No law can be made to have a retroactive effect; nor can any be enacted that is contrary to the spirit or letter of this constitution. In cases of doubt the latter is to prevail.

The Apostolic Roman Catholic religion is declared to be religion of the State; its ministers, in whatever pertains to the exercise of the ecclesiastical ministry, are dependent solely on the properly constituted authority. The article stops here, nor does the constitution say anything whatever on the subject of religious toleration, or make any allusion to other forms or doctrine of religious faith. I shall again advert to this subject in the latter part of this letter.

The sovereignty is declared to reside in the universal body of the citizens, and is to be exercised by three delegated powers, corresponding to the three co-ordinate branches of our own government. The members of both houses of the national congress are chosen for six years. The upper house, or as it is called the conservative council, consists of five members, one for each province of the republic, and is renewed integrally every six years. The lower house, or tribunate, is composed of fifteen members, apportioned by law according to the population of each province. Both bodies are again chosen by vote of the people in their primary assemblies. The qualifications of a voter are citizenship and the possession in fee of real estate, or in place of the last, the exercise of some public office or employment, the profession of some science, art, or useful industry, or the proprietorship of land for years of an agricultural establishment in active cultivation. In these primary assemblies are likewise chosen the members of the Ayuntamientos (or town councils) of each commune. Each of these last mentioned bodies is presided over by the alcalde, who is chosen by the body from among its members.

The national mercantile colors designated, and now used, are blue and red, placed in diagonal squares, separated from each other by a white cross. The military colors bear besides, in their centre, the arms of the republic, which are a cross, at the foot of which is an open volume of the gospels, and both of these rising from amidst a trophy of arms, with the emblem of liberty on winged with a laurel, and under the following device, Dios, Patria y Libertad, Republica Dominicana. (God, our country and liberty, Dominican Republic.)

There are four national festivals, one commemorating the separation; two, important victories; and the fourth, the publication of the present constitution.

Under the article on religion, I remarked that I should again allude to that subject.

The assembly who framed the constitution were divided in opinion in regard to religious toleration; some being in favor of it, but the majority opposed to such a concession, and in favor of inserting in the article on religion a clause prohibiting the public exercise of any other religion than that adopted as the state religion. The former, on the other hand, wished to have inserted an express declaration of religious freedom. Now this question deeply interested a portion—though a very small one—of the citizens, namely, the naturalized people of color, of whom I shall speak in a subsequent communication. These were Protestants, and had never failed to see, that in the Haitian supremacy, under an express guaranty, thus far sacredly kept, of toleration they possessed a right to fear for their faith and its public exercise. The discussion of the question of toleration in the assembly awakened their apprehensions, and many, if not most of them, were about making up their minds to fly to the other part of the island—as many of their fellow-countrymen had already done on the breaking out of the revolution—from a conviction that fear, later, the same cause being applied, their own rights of person and property derived from them, would no longer be respected. On more sober consideration, however, better assurances were given them that the old guaranties, given to them favor by the late government, would be religiously respected by the new one. Soon after, therefore, an assuring that the article on religion had been inserted in its present shape—which I mentioned in giving the sketch of the constitution to acquiesce in—they again took the alarm; but their apprehensions were now finally allayed by their being referred to a previous article, which declared, as has been seen, that no person could be compelled to do what the law did not command, nor prevented from doing what it did not forbid; although the article certainly does not cover, in terms, the whole ground, since the word "law," which might be legitimately interpreted to mean any future as well as present enactment, is used in it, and not the term "constitution." But though this circumstance might be thought to afford advantage ground, and justify the alarm in the enemies of toleration, if any such now exist in any number, it is too late to take any advantage of it, it being but justice to state that it is well understood and acknowledged on all hands that religious toleration is a fundamental law of the republic, though nowhere expressed so to be, within the writer's knowledge, in written terms; and no guaranty of the kind can anywhere be relied upon as more sacred and irrevocable than this.

In regard to this matter, I might have entered much further into minute, and, in some respects, instructive as well as curious details, having at my command well-accredited materials for this purpose; for the peculiar facility and faculty of getting into the secrets of cabinets, councils, and conclaves, not apparent to the uninitiated, is not confined to your home correspondents; though it certainly is to be hoped that it is there only they are used to get impressions for it. His sole reason for not doing so is, that his motives might be brought in to question by persons of whom he does not entertain.

The writer would further and finally remark on this topic, that so far as he has been able to observe and judge, a tone of sentiment and a degree of liberality exist, both throughout the different branches of the government and among the better informed portions of the community at least, such as we are not accustomed to look for, or suppose to exist in American governments and communities south of our own country.

CELERES.