No. 415.] ECUADOR. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN ECUADOR. Minister Sampson to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, a Quito, May 30, 1905. SIR: In answer to your instruction of April 5, 1905, inclosing copy of letter from Rev. John Lee, who wishes to know what progress has been made in favor of religious liberty in Ecuador during the past sixteen months, I inclose a copy of the law passed by the last Congress, to which reference was made in the clipping taken from the Chicago Record-Herald of March 28, 1905. It is clear and explicit, showing the advance made in religious liberty in this country since November, 1903. I also inclose chapter 3 of the police code relating to the duty of the police with regard to religious services, etc., as published in the year ARTICLE 1. The state permits the exercise of every religion which is not contrary to its laws nor to morality. ART. 2. An attack on a religion or the persons of its ministers in the exercise of a worship permitted in the Republic shall be punished conformably to the provisions of the police law. ART. 3. The ministers of whatever religion shall be established in the country, in order to enter upon the enjoyment of the guaranties which the constitution and the present law authorize, shall be obliged to bring to the knowledge of the executive the regulations which are observed, or to be observed, in their religious practices. ART. 4. Religious beliefs shall be no obstacle to the exercise of civil and religious duties, but the ministers of a religion or those who partake of an ecclesiastical character, shall not be competent to exercise public charges which proceed directly from popular election. SECTION II.-Concerning religious communities. ART. 5. Conformably with the constitution of the Republic, the immigration of religious communities is prohibited. ART. 6. The foundation of new religious orders is also prohibited, as well as a continuous novitiate in a cloister of perpetual closure or of a contemplative life. ART. 7. In no city of the Republic shall there exist more than two monastic institutions of indefinite closure, except in the capital, in which four may subsist. The executive power, in conjunction with the ecclesiastical authority, shall consider the means of reducing the number of the monastic institutions. ART. 8. All of the convents and monasteries shall be subject to the examination and supervision of the boards of health and hygiene and of the police authorities, under the terms of the law on the subject, after the ecclesiastical authority has been previously advised. a Not printed. ART. 9. Only native Ecuadoreans entitled to the rights of citizenship may exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction or discharge the duties of archbishop, bishop, apostolic administrators and vicars, capitulary vicars, dignitaries, canons and prebends, as well as the provincials, rectors, priors, guardians, and in general superiors of the religious orders or congregations admitted in Ecuador. ART. 10. In the communities in which a novitiate is not prohibited ingress in the character of novices shall only be permitted to persons who have attained their majority of eighteen years. SECTION III.-Concerning ecclesiastical property. ART. 11. All the property situated in the territory of the nation shall be subject to the contributions and burdens imposed by the laws and shall be protected by the latter. ART. 12. Only the Congress shall have power to authorize the sequestration or sale of ecclesiastical property, but if a mortgage or other lien, either with or without a consideration, is to be placed upon it, then the executive authority with the consent of the cabinet shall grant the authority. The Congress, in order to grant such authority, shall require an inventory and appraisal of the thing to be alienated or encumbered, and the sale shall be made by public auction, in conformity with the code of civil procedure. ART. 13. Rural estates now owned by the ecclesiastical orders and communities shall be rented out at public auction and for a period of time not exceeding 8 years. ART. 14. In order to rent out real estate it is necessary to make an inventory and appraisal thereof, and the tenant can not enter into possession unless he gives a mortgage bond which shall insure the fulfillment of the contract. ART. 15. The property mentioned in the preceding article which is not or can not be rented out shall be administered by "procuradores.' These "procuradores" or administrators shall be appointed by the executive on the recommendation of the owner of the property, but if such recommendation is not made, or the person presented is not suitable, the appointment will be made by the executive himself. The administrators or tenants, as the case may be, shall cover directly the estimate approved by the executive and shall deliver the surplus to the collectors appointed by the latter. In order to enter on the administration of the property, the administrators shall give bond according to the financial law, and shall draw up an inventory of the property in accordance with the provisions of the code of civil procedure. ART. 16. When the present law is promulgated, bidders shall be invited for the administration or renting of the ecclesiastical property, through the press, in the province in which the property is situated, and, besides, in the "Official Register." ART. 17. The inventory and appraisal of the things which are to be administered or rented out shall be presented to the proper treasury board, by the holders of the property, and in default thereof by experts appointed by the treasury board. ART. 18. The decisions of the treasury board concerning appraisals, bids, acceptance of bonds, and other acts relating to the administration of ecclesiastical property, shall be approved by the executive, without which requisite they shall be of no effect. ART. 19. The proceeds of the administration or renting of the ecclesiastical property shall be employed each year, firstly, in covering the estimate of expenditures of the respective order or community owning the property, and, secondly, in the maintenance of the Catholic religions and clergy throughout the Republic. If there should be a deficit in the budget allotted to religion and the clergy, this shall be supplied from fiscal funds and charged to the item of extraordinary expenditures. The surplus in case there is such shall be employed in the work of charity or public works, as designated by the executive in the section of the country where the property is situated. ART. 20. The estimates referred to in the foregoing article shall be prepared by the respective orders, communities, and cathedral chapters, and submitted to the ministry of worship for its approval and order for payment. SECTION IV.-General provisions. ART. 21. The right to impose taxes or incumbrances on persons or things belongs solely to Congress or to the authorities designated by the law. Consequently the collection of tithes, first fruits, and mortuary or other similar dues is prohibited. ART. 22. Those who violate the provisions of the foregoing article shall be punished according to the penal and police codes. ART. 23. Foreigners who continue discharging prelacies or the offices of superiors in religious communities or orders, and foreigners who offer resistance to the execution of the present law, shall be punished in accordance with the law on foreigners of August 25, 1892. The executive shall grant a discretionary period to the religious communities and orders within which to comply with the provisions of this article. ART. 24. Alienations of real estate made without the permission of the government, as prescribed in Art. 19 of the concordat, or without the authorization of Congress, according to Art. 16 of the patronato, shall be null and void. Likewise void shall be incumbrances of all kinds placed on ecclesiastical property in violation of the provisions of par. 3 of art. 16 of the patronato law. ART. 25. The executive shall provide for the enforcement of the present law, and through the ministry of worship shall inform the next legislature regarding its observance and effects. ART. 26. The concordat ceases to exist and all laws contrary to the present law are hereby abrogated. Given in Quito, capital of the Republic, October 12, 1904. Let it be executed. CARLOS FREIle Z., President of the Senate Chamber. President of the Chamber of Deputies. Secretary of the Senate Chamber. Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies. SECTION III (OF THE POLICE CODE).-Associations. ARTICLE 23. The police shall be obliged to protect every class of civil and religious associations; but they shall prevent and dissolve those whose object is to disturb the public peace or commit an infraction thereof, or if it is presumed that the individuals who compose them will be armed or will cause a conflict. Likewise the police shall be obliged to see that the exercise of every form of worship and its ceremonies are respected, in conformity with the constitution of the Republic. ARTICLE 24. Those who ridicule any religious act or the outward manifestations of any worship shall be punished by a fine of from five to twenty-five sucres. ARTICLE 25. They shall be punished by a fine of from ten to one hundred sucres and imprisonment for from three to thirty days 1. Who in any way assail the ceremonies of a worship which shall not have been prohibited by the regulations of worship. 2. Who interfere with the work of a minister of religion in the exercise of his worship. 3. Who by violence, disorder, or scandal impede or disturb the exercise of a form of worship. 4. The ministers of a worship who, in their temples or religious places, streets, or plazas, shall speak against the constitution or laws of the Republic, or against an established political party, by instigating to rebellion or dissatisfaction with the constituted authorities. FRANCE. RECOVERY OF THE BODY OF ADMIRAL JOHN PAUL JONES IN PARIS AND ITS REMOVAL TO THE UNITED STATES. Message from the President of the United States, recommending an appropriation by Congress to be expended in searching for the remains of Admiral John Paul Jones in Paris, France, and transmitting the report of Ambassador Porter on the subject, and also urging that provision be made for the erection of monuments to the memories of John Paul Jones and John Barry. To the Senate and House of Representatives: For a number of years efforts have been made to confirm the historical statement that the remains of Admiral John Paul Jones were interred in a certain piece of ground in the city of Paris then owned by the Government and used at the time as a burial place for foreign Protestants. These efforts have at last resulted in documentary proof that John Paul Jones was buried on July 20, 1792, between 8 and 9 o'clock p. m., in the now abandoned cemetery of St. Louis, in the northeastern section of Paris. About 500 bodies were interred there, and the body of the admiral was probably among the last hundred buried. It was incased in a leaden coffin, calculated to withstand the ravages of time. The cemetery was about 130 feet long by 120 feet wide. Since its disuse as a burial place the soil has been filled to a level and covered almost completely by buildings, most of them of an inferior class. The American ambassador in Paris, being satisfied that it is practical to discover and identify the remains of John Paul Jones, has, after prolonged negotiations with the present holders of the property and the tenants thereof, secured from them options in writing which give him the right to dig in all parts of the property during a period of three months for the purpose of making the necessary excavations and searches, upon condition of a stated compensation for the damage and annoyance caused by the work. The actual search is to be conducted by the chief engineer of the municipal department of Paris having charge of subterranean works at a cost which has been carefully estimated. The ambassador gives the entire cost of the work, including the options, compensation, cost of excavating and caring for the remains as not exceeding 180,000 francs, or $35,000, on the supposition that the body may not be found until the whole area has been searched. If earlier discovered, the expense would be proportionately less. The great interest which our people feel in the story of Paul Jones's life, the national sense of gratitude for the great service done by him. toward the achievement of independence, and the sentiment of mingled distress and regret felt because the body of one of our greatest heroes lies forgotten and unmarked in foreign soil, lead me to approve FR 1905-27 417 the ambassador's suggestion that Congress should take advantage of this unexpected opportunity to do proper honor to the memory of Paul Jones, and appropriate the sum of $35,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purposes above described, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of State. The report of Ambassador Porter, with the plans and photograph of the property, is annexed hereto. " a In addition to the foregoing recommendation, I urge that Congress emphasize the value set by our people upon the achievements of the naval commanders in our war of independence by providing for the erection of appropriate monuments to the memory of two, at least, of those who now lie in undistinguished graves-John Paul Jones and John Barry. These two men hold unique positions in the history of the birth of our Navy. Their services were of the highest moment to the young Republic in the days when it remained to be determined. whether or not she should win out in her struggle for independence. It is eminently fitting that these services should now be commemorated in suitable manner. THE WHITE HOUSE, February 13, 1905. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. Ambassador Porter to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] PARIS (VIA FRENCH), My six years' search for remains Paul Jones has resulted in success. Having explored the old St. Louis cemetery, where admiral was buried in leaden coffin, and where I had verified the facts that all the dead remained entirely undisturbed, I found only four coffins of lead. The first three bore plates giving names and dates of burial, the fourth was in solidity of construction and workmanship much superior to the others. Like them was similar in shape to mummy coffins, widening from feet to shoulders with small round top to fix head, like all coffins of that period. No plate could be found; one may have been put on outer wooden coffin, few vestiges of which are left. Another corpse had been buried immediately on top. Appearances indicate that in digging that grave wooden coffin had been partly stripped off. Plate may then have been carried away. On opening coffin body fortunately found quite well preserved, coffin having been filled with alcohol, but which had evaporated, and body carefully packed in straw. As I predicted in a former report, coffin contained neither uniform, sword, nor decorations. It was discovered in one of the spots where I expected to find it. I took it to the School of Medicine, where Doctors Capitan and Papillault, the distinguished professors of the School of Anthropology, well known for their large experience in such matters. were charged with removing the body from the coffin and making minute examination for purposes of identification. They were furnished with medallions, portraits, Houdon's two busts, authentic measurements, description of color of hair, and all the mass of infor a Not printed. Final report printed, p. 420, |