SANTO DOMINGO 



5201 



SANTO DOMINGO 



In the Spanish-American War (which see) 

 hostilities centered at Santiago, because the 

 Spanish fleet was stationed in the harbor (see 

 SANTIAGO, BATTLE OF). The city was attacked 

 by American land forces under General Shafter, 

 and it capitulated on July 14, 1898, eleven days 

 after the destruction of the fleet outside the 

 harbor. 



SANTO DOMINGO, sahn 1 toh doh ming'go, 

 or SAN DOMINGO (more correctly the DO- 

 MI MCA N REPUBLIC), is the eastern and larger 

 of the two republics on the island of Haiti (see 

 map, page 2662). Its neighbor, the republic 

 of Haiti, occupies but one-third of the island. 

 Santo Domingo has an area of 18,045 square 

 miles, which is a little greater than the com- 

 bined area of Massachusetts and Vermont, and 

 it has an estimated population of 708,000 

 (1913). The people are mainly a mixed race of 

 European, African and Indian blood, but there 

 are in addition a number of Spanish Creoles, 

 and in the capital city are found many Turkish 

 and Syrian dry-goods traders. Spanish is the 

 prevailing language, but in most of the towns 

 English is understood. The capital and largest 

 city, Santo Domingo (described under its title), 

 lies on the southern coast at the mouth of the 

 Ozama River. It has an estimated population 

 of 25,000; other municipalities having 10,000 

 or more inhabitants are Santiago (12,000), 

 Puerta Plata (10,000) and San Pedro de Ma- 

 coris (10,000). The island was one of the first 

 to be claimed by Spain, following its discovery 

 by Columbus. 



Santo Domingo is governed under a constitu- 

 tion adopted in 1844, which has been several 

 times revised. The legislative power is vested 

 in a Congress of two houses. The upper cham- 

 ber, or Senate, has twelve members, and the 

 lower, or Chamber of Deputies, twenty-four 

 members, one Senator and two Deputies being 

 elected from each province. Senators arc 

 chosen for six-year terms and Deputies > 

 for four years. The executive department con- 

 sists of a President chosen by an 1 col- 

 lege for six years, and a Cabinet composed of 

 the President and seven Ministers, each one of 

 \\hoin heads a department. There is no Vice- 

 President, Congress selecting a successor to the 

 Pre? case of his death. Each of the 

 provinces is administered by a governor who 

 is appointed by the President, and the govern- 

 ors in turn appoint various local officials. The 

 state recognizes the Roman Catholic as the 

 official religion, but religious liberty prevails. 

 Primary instruction is free and is nominally 

 326 



compulsory, and the state also maintains sev- 

 eral technical, normal and high schools. There 

 are in the republic approximately 600 schools. 

 In 1912 the National Bank of Santo Domingo 

 was founded, and there are branches of the 

 Royal Bank of Canada at Santo Domingo city 

 and at Pedro de Macoris. 



Customs duties are the chief source of reve- 

 nue. The United States gold dollar is the 

 monetary standard. Over three-fifths of the 

 trade is with the United States, but in normal 

 years Germany and the United Kingdom are 



, 



HOUSE OF COLUMBUS 



Ruins of a house built in 1509 by Diego Colum- 

 bus, son of Christopher Columbus, in Santo Do- 

 mingo. It is the oldest structure in the western 

 hemisphere erected by white men. 



important buyers and sellers. The chief ex- 

 ports are sugar and cacao, with leaf tobacco, 

 bananas, coffee, hides and skins, woods and 

 beeswax next in order. Cotton goods, iron and 

 steel manufactures, foodstuffs, chemicals and 

 drugs, agricultural machinery and other manu- 

 factured products are imported. The prin- 

 cipal ports are Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata 

 and Sanchez. Interior facilities for communi- 

 cation and transportation are as yet inadequate, 

 but the construction of roads and of railway 

 lines is being pushed as rapidly as possible. 

 In the republic there are in operation about 

 175 miles of railroad, besides 250 miles of plan- 

 tation lines; there are over 700 miles of tele- 

 graph. 



The Dominican Republic was proclaimed in 

 1844, and in 1865 its independence was recog- 

 nized by Spain. The progress of the state has 

 been hindered by political unrest, and because 

 of the enormous debts and obligations to sub- 

 jects of foreign nations incurred by the little 

 nation, the United States assumed charge of 

 financial affairs in 1005, according to the pro- 

 visions of a friendly treaty. A serious revolt 

 was quelled by United States intervention in 

 1013, and another uprising, in 1015, made neces- 

 sary the dispatch of American war vessels to 

 Dominican waters. 



