mitted, and which fully vindicates the purity of the motives and action of those who represented the United States in the negotiation.

And now my task is finished, and with it ends all personal solicitude upon the subject. My duty being done, yours begins; and I gladly hand over the whole matter to the judgment of the American people, and of their representatives in Congress assembled. The facts will now be spread before the country, and a decision rendered by that tribunal whose convictions so seldem err, and against whose will I have no policy to enforce. My opinion remains unchanged; indeed, it is confirmed by the report that the interests of our country and of San Domingo alike invite the annexation of that republic.

In view of the difference of opinion upon this subject, I suggest that no action be taken at the present session beyond the printing and general dissemination of the report. Before the next session of Congress the people will have considered the subject and formed an intelligent opinion concerning it; to which opinion, deliberately made up, it will be the duty of every Department of the Government to give heed, and no one will more cheerfully conform to it than myself. It is not only the theory of our Constitution that the will of the people, constitutionally expressed, is the supreme law, but I have ever believed that all men are wiser than any one man;" and if the people, upon a full presentation of the facts, shall decide that the annexation of the republic is not desirable, every Department of the Government ought to acquiesce in that decision.

In again submitting to Congress a subject upon which public sentiment has been divided, and which has been made the occasion of acrimonious debates in Congress, as well as of unjust aspersions elsewhere, I may, I trust, be indulged in a single remark.

No man could hope to perform duties so delicate and responsible as pertain to the presidential office without sometimes incurring the hos tility of those who deem their opinions and wishes treated with insuf ficient consideration; and he who undertakes to conduct the affairs of a great government as a faithful public servant, if sustained by the approval of his own conscience, may rely with confidence upon the candor and intelligence of a free people, whose best interests he has striven to subserve, and can bear with patience the censure of disappointed men. U. S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 5, 1871.

REPORT

OF

THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO SANTO DOMINGO.

*

SIR: The commissioners appointed pursuant to the resolution of Congress, approved January 12, 1871, to inquire into the condition of the Dominican Republic, have the honor to submit the following report, answering in a summary way the successive inquiries propounded in the resolution, referring to the accompanying testimony and documents, and to the series of scientific reports for more full information on special subjects of inquiry.

In accordance with the said resolution the commissioners proceeded to the island of Santo Domingo, leaving New York on the 17th and arriving at Samana Bay on the 24th of January, 1871, and forthwith began their inquiries. They were aided in their researches by a corps of scientific observers. They traversed the Dominican Republic from end to end in several directions, either by their agents or in person-one of the commissioners crossing it from south to north, and another from east to west. They spent several weeks at the capital,

* Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint three commissioners, and also a secretary, the latter to be versed in the English and Spanish languages, to proceed to the island of San Domingo, and to such other places, if any, as such commissioners may deem necessary, and there to inquire into, ascertain, and report the political state and condition of the republic of Dominica, the probable number of inhabitants, and the desire and disposition of the people of the said republic to become annexed to, and to form part of the people of, the United States; the physical, mental, and moral condition of the said people, and their general condition as to material wealth and industrial capacity; the resources of the country; its mineral and agricultural products; the products of its waters and forests; the general character of the soil; the extent and proportion thereof capable of cultivation; the climate and health of the country; its bays, harbors, and rivers; its general meteorological character, and the existence and frequency of remarkable meteorological phenomena; the debt of the government and its obligations, whether funded, and ascertained and admitted, or unadjusted and under discussion; treaties or engagements with other powers; extent of boundaries and territory-what proportion is covered by foreign claimants or by grants or concessions, and generally what concessions or franchises have been granted, with the names of the respective grantees; the terms and conditions on which the Dominican government may desire to be annexed to and become part of the United States as one of the Territories thereof; such other information with respect to the said government or its territories as to the said commissioners shall seem desirable or important with reference to the future incorporation of the said Dominican Republic into the United States as one of its Territories.

SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That the said commissioners shall, as soon as conveniently may be, report to the President of the United States, who shall lay the report before Congress.

SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That the said commissioners shall serve without compensation, except the payment of expenses; and the compensation of the secretary shall be determined by the Secretary of State, with the approval of the President: Provided, That nothing in these resolutions contained shall be held, understood, or construed as committing Congress to the policy of annexing the territory of said republic of Dominica.

in daily conferences with the President and chief officers of the government, in examining the official records, and, as at all other places, in constant intercourse with the people and taking testimony of witnesses. They visited the vicinity of the western border country, where it was reported that there were disturbances; and remained a week at the capital of the neighboring Republic of Hayti, where some supplementary investigations were made. They were detained a few days. by the necessity of coaling the ship, at Kingston, Jamaica, where some opportunity was afforded to examine the questions of white labor, management of agriculture, and general administration in the West Indies, and the progress free colored men are there making. Returning to the United States by way of Key West, they landed at Charleston, March 26, having been absent seventy days.

POLITICAL STATE AND CONDITION-FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

The present government of the Dominican Republic is in theory a constitutional republic. According to its constitution the government is divided into three branches, the executive, legislative and judicial. The first consists of a president and vice-president elected by an electoral college for a term of six years, with a difference of three years in the time of their election. Both the president and vice-president are ineligible to the presidency during the following term. The president appoints a council of state, consisting of a minister of public instruction; of the interior, police and agriculture; of public works and commerce; and of war and marine; on one of these four ministers the duties of minister of foreign relations devolve at the will of the president.

The legislative branch of the government consists of a senate, (Senado Consultor,) elected by the primary assemblies, and has two members for the city of Santo Domingo, two for Santiago, and one for each of the other provinces and districts-nine members in all. These hold office six years, and may be reëlected.

Each province and district has a governor, and each parish and military post has a commandant nominated by the executive, and responsible to him. The towns are governed by ayuntamientos, or councils elected by the primary assemblies for three years.

The judiciary consists of a supreme court, whose seat is at the capital, with a president, four ministers, and an attorney general, who are chosen by the senate from nominations made by the electoral college, and who hold office five years.

In every province and district there is a court of first instance sitting in the respective capitals, consisting of a judge, prosecutor, and attorney general, all nominated by the executive, and holding office five years. It was found that this court had in many parts of the republic fallen into disuse.

Finally, each town and commune or parish has an alcalde appointed by the executive, holding office at his pleasure, and corresponding to our justice of the peace. In this latter case the practice is certainly far better than the theory. In all parts of the republic it was found that the alcaldes held office virtually during good behavior, and not one was found whose character did not inspire respect.

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.

This country has for a long period been subjected to a series of revolts led by ambitious leaders, who frequently spring up, and stir the popu

lation of one or more districts into petty civil wars which sometimes ripen into revolution. In consequence of this condition of things there has grown up under various administrations a penal code much more severe, especially in regard to political offenses, than prevails in our country. Infested as that country has been by jealous, aspiring, and seditious leaders, whose importance depends on commotion, there is no doubt that a rigorous execution of this code has been necessary, from time to time, to preserve the tranquillity of the republic.

The commissioners found the government organized and in complete operation in all its departments, exercising every function of legitimate government, with General Buenaventura Baez as the chief magistrate, in the full and peaceable possession of all parts of the republic, except on the Haytian border, which is disturbed by insurrectionary leaders, aided by Haytians, and political intriguers and emissaries who have congregated at various points in the neighboring islands. These are incited to extraordinary activity, at this time, by the fear of annexation to the United States.

From all that the commissioners could ascertain, President Baez has the respect of a great majority of the Dominican people for his administrative abilities, and the strong attachment of many of the leading men, who regard him as the only statesman among them who can hold the nation against domestic factions and foreign foes.

In the year 1849, after five years of anarchy consequent upon the expulsion of the Haytian power, General Baez was regularly elected President of the republic. It appears that he was chosen as a man who by his education, fortune, and public services would be most likely to secure general confidence and heal the wounds inflicted by civil and foreign wars. Five years before this he had been elected to the national congress, and he had been made president of that body at a most critical period of the national history-the period of the creation of new insti tutions after the casting off of the Haytian yoke.

His first administration appears to have been successful. It stands unique in one respect, for it is the only one in the annals of the Dominican Republic which has lasted during the entire constitutional period. In 1853 he was regularly and peaceably succeeded by General Pedro Santana. A period of anarchy soon ensued, which lasted until the year 1861, when the island was brought again under the power of Spain by General Santana. After the expulsion of the Spaniards anarchy again followed. During the periods before and after the Spanish domination, General Baez was several times called in from abroad to save the country from this anarchy, by provisional authority-the only authority existing at such times in the republic. In one of the delegations of leading citizens who tendered to him the chief magistracy was General Cabral. Presi dent Baez has now entered upon the third year of his present adminis tration. There is ample testimony to the fact that under him, despite the difficulties that have beset him, the republic has enjoyed as much liberty as any of his predecessors dared allow, and more tranquillity than they knew how to give. Nor do the commissioners find that there is any opponent of the present administration of that republic who has now or who ever has had any claim to the chief magistracy by a title superior to that of the present incumbent. Whatever technical defects there might have been in his original title to the office, it was confirmed by the national convention, and ratified by the assent and support of the people.

The frequency of civil commotions during a long period, and the consequent insecurity of property, have paralyzed industry, discouraged

accumulation, and so impoverished the country that for the last two years the financial resources of the government, as its officers informed us, have been inadequate to pay its expenses. Meanwhile, it has been constantly harassed with incursions and attempts at revolution. Only the ability of the administration, and the large share of confidence reposed in it by a strong majority of the people, could have maintained it in existence through so many difficulties.

EXISTING INSURRECTIONS.

The insurrections which still exist are headed by Cabral and Luperon. The former of these is universally conceded to be the more important; but neither has a distinct flag or a regularly organized army; neither is the exponent of a clearly defined policy. Both seem animated by interests, attachments, and resentments purely personal. Their opposition has assumed the character of an annoying guerrilla warfare, involving a heavy expenditure on the part of the government at the capital, but possessing no power which gives it any hold on public opinion beyond the territory it may temporarily occupy. As to their leaders, the commission obtained in all parts of the country substantially the same information, namely, that General Cabral once had elements of personal popularity; that in times past he earned the respect of many by public services; but that in an administrative capacity he has proved incompetent, and has lost the confidence of the country. Many, even, who still entertain more kindly personal feelings toward him than toward General Baez confess that he falls far short of the latter in administrative abilities. That General Cabral does not claim to be the legal head of the republic; that he does not claim to represent the prin ciple of constitutional or legal authority and order, is shown by the fact that, in his proclamation, and in a communication to the commission, he styles himself "Chief of the Revolution ;" and the journal pretending to emanate from him at San Juan, but well understood to be printed at the Haytian capital, is styled "Bulletin of the Revolution."

As to Luperon, the testimony both in the Cibao and on the coast is that he is simply a bandit stained with crime. He has not, so far as could be learned, distinguished himself in any regular manner, his main exploits being in sundry robberies and piratical operations on the coast, the latter by means of a steamer furnished him by insurrection brokers on a neighboring island.

The disturbance of which Cabral is the head has its seat in the western part of the republic on the Haytian frontier. It is claimed that the districts of San Juan and Neyba, in which his operations are conducted, embrace a large population devoted to him; but the testimony of several refugees and heads of families from that district, as well as considerable corroborative evidence, shows that the region named, between the incursions of the Haytians and the prevalence of insurrection, is nearly depopulated, and that the force immediately at Cabral's command does not exceed a few hundred men, who, in case of emergency, force into their service all the male population upon whom they can lay their hands. It has also been claimed that he has controlled the Dominican port of Barahona, and received supplies through it; but this is certainly no longer the case. other hand, it is charged by the present Dominican government that he has received supplies through Hayti, and that Haytian soldiers and arms have been at his disposal. The commissioners obtained evidence of this fact from many sources. They also examined Haytian prisoners,

On the