ART. 7. En la elección de Diputados á la Asamblea Nacional regirán las disposiciones legales prescritas para que tengan representación las minorías. ART. 8. Si en el tiempo transcurrido desde la clausura de esta Asamblea hasta la próxima reunión ordinaria del Congreso en 1908, fuere necesario introducir nuevas reformas á la Constitución de acuerdo con lo dispuesto en esta Ley, la presente Asamblea será convocada por el Poder Ejecutivo para hacer tales reformas, sin necesidad de que haya previa solicitud de las Municipalidades. X. ACTO LEGISLATIVO DE 27 DE ABRIL DE 1905. La Asamblea Nacional Constituyente y Legislativa decreta: ARTÍCULO 1. Suprímese el Consejo de Estado. La ley determinará los empleados que deban cumplir los deberes ó funciones señalados á esta Corporación. ART. 2. Queda derogado el Título XIII de la Constitución Nacional. ART. 3. Esta Ley empezará á regir desde su publicación en el Diario Oficial. ART. 7. In the election of delegates to the National Assembly the general provisions relating to the representation of minorities shall be respected. ART. 8. If between the adjournment of the Assembly and the next ordinary meeting of Congress in 1908, it should become necessary to make new amendments to the Constitution in accordance with the provisions of the present law, the present Assembly shall be called by the executive power to convene and make the amendments without necessity of any application on the part of the municipalities. X. ACT OF APRIL 27, 1905. The National Constitutional and Legislative Assembly decrees: ARTICLE 1. The council of state is hereby abolished. The law shall determine the functionaries upon whom the duties of the said body shall devolve. ART. 2. Title XIII of the National Constitution is hereby abrogated. ART. 3. This law shall be in force from the date of its publication in the Diario Oficial. REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY. HISTORICAL NOTES. The invasion of Spain by the French, the abdication of CHARLES IV in favor of his son, FERDINAND VII, the captivity in France, of the latter King, and the accession of JOSEPH BONAPARTE to the throne of Spain, caused in Paraguay the same effect as in the rest of Spanish America, and paved the way to independence. On the 14th of May, 1811, Don PEDRO JUAN CABALLERO, accompanied by a few men, attacked the barracks at Asunción and took possession thereof without resistance of any kind on the part of the garrison. On the morning of the 15th he demanded of VELAZCO, the Spanish governor, not to make any opposition to his plans, and Governor VELAZCO finally yielded to his wishes. A condition imposed upon the governor, which he accepted, was that he should associate himself with two citizens and divide his authority with them. The people adhered to this movement, and the revolution for independence was thus consummated. The "Junta Gubernativa," or governing board, of Paraguay was organized as follows: Governor VELAZCO, chairman, and Don GASPAR RODRIGUEZ DE FRANCIA and Don JUAN VALERIANO ZEBALLOS, members. On the 9th of June, 1811, Governor VELAZCO was deposed by the troops, and RODRIGUEZ DE FRANCIA and ZEBALLOS remained, for the time being, in charge of the Government. An assembly of Paraguayan deputies, whose sessions were inaugurated two days afterwards, passed a resolution by which all allegiance to Spain was renounced, and a new "Junta Gubernativa," consisting of five members, namely: Don FRANCISCO YEGROS, Don GASPAR RODRIGUEZ DE FRANCIA, Don PEDRO JUAN CABALLERO, Don FRANCISCO JAVIER BOGARIN, and Don FERNANDO MORA, was created. YEGROS was made the chairman of this board and MORA the secretary. A subsequent Congress, whose first meeting was held on October 1, 1813, ratified the declaration of independence, resolved that Paraguay should thereafter be a Republic, devised and adopted for it a national flag, and vested the Government, or the executive branch thereof, in two consuls, to be elected annually. The first consuls, elected on October 12, 1813, were Dr. Don GASPAR RODRIGUEZ DE FRANCIA and Don FULGENCIO YEGROS. Difficulties having arisen between both functionaries, a new Congress decided (October, 1814) to make Doctor FRANCIA dictator for three years. Before the expiration of this term another Congress (1816) proclaimed, by a decree, that Doctor FRANCIA's dictatorship should be perpetual. Upon the death of Doctor FRANCIA, on September 20, 1840, a Provisional Government was created at Asunción, consisting of four military officers of high rank under the presidency of the mayor of Asunción, Don JOSÉ MANUEL ORTIZ; but shortly afterwards (January 23, 1841) this board, or junta, was superseded by a triumvirate, which in its turn was abolished by order of Congress (March 12, 1841) and replaced by the old consulate. The consuls chosen were Don CARLOS ANTONIO LOPEZ and Don MARIANO ROQUE ALONZO. The latter was a soldier of high rank. In 1844, at the expiration of the term of office of the two consuls, the form of government was modified by Congress and a law was passed vesting the executive authority in a chief magistrate under the title of "President of the Republic," who should serve for ten years. Don CARLOS ANTONIO LOPEZ, having been elected for this position, completed his term of office in 1854, was reelected for three years, and in 1857 for ten years more. U Upon his death, on the 10th of September, 1862, the government fell into the hands of his son, Don FRANCISCO SOLANO LOPEZ, as acting president at first, and almost immediately afterwards (October 16, 1862), under an act of Congress, as President of the Republic for ten years. Upon the refusal by the Argentine Republic to permit the passage through her territory of certain Paraguayan troops, which were intended to operate against Brazil, the Paraguayan Congress issued (March 18, 1865) a declaration of war against the former country, and this brought about an alliance between Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and Uruguay, by whose action Paraguay was almost annihilated. LOPEZ was killed in a battle on the 1st of March, 1870. A committee of twenty-one prominent citizens then undertook the reorganization of the country. The administration of the Government was temporarily entrusted to a triumvirate, consisting of Don CIRILO ANTONIO RIVAROLA, Don CARLOS LOIZAGA, and Don JosÉ DIAZ BEDOY. These gentlemen worked faithfully, and fulfilled their delicate mission to the satisfaction of all. The difficulties of their work were rendered graver by the fact that the enemy had not yet evacuated Paraguayan territory. The old electoral districts were reestablished so far as practicable, and a constitutional convention, consisting of fifty-six delegates elected by the people, was called to assemble. This convention met on the 15th of August, 1870, and the constitution it framed, which was promulgated on the 25th of the following November, is still in force. CONSTITUTION. (Promulgated November 25, 1870.) Nos, los representantes de la Nación paraguaya, reunidos en reunidos en Convención Nacional Constituyente por la libre y espontánea voluntad del pueblo paraguayo, con el objeto de establecer la justicia, asegurar la tranquilidad interior, proveer á la defensa común, promover el bienestar general y hacer duraderos los beneficios de la libertad para nosotros, para nuestra posteridad y para todos los hombres del mundo que lleguen á habitar el suelo paraguayo, invocando á Dios Todopoderoso, supremo legislador del universo, ordenamos, decretamos y establecemos esta Constitución para la República del Paraguay. PRIMERA PARTE. CAPÍTULO I. Declaraciones generales. ARTÍCULO 1. El Paraguay es y será siempre libre é independiente; se constituye en República una é indivisible, y adopta para su Gobierno la forma democrática representativa. ART. 2. La soberanía reside esencialmente en la Nación, que delega su ejercicio en las autoridades que establece la presente Constitución. ART. 3. La religión del Estado es la Católica, Apostólica Romana, debiendo ser paraguayo el Jefe de la Iglesia; sin embargo, el Con We, the representatives of the Paraguayan Nation, by the free and spontaneous will of the Paraguayan people in national constitutional convention assembled, for the purpose of establishing justice, securing domestic peace, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and causing the benefits of liberty to be lasting for ourselves, our descendants, and in general all men who may come and inhabit the Paraguayan soil-after having invoked Almighty God, the Supreme Legislator of the Universe-do hereby ordain, decree, and establish this Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay. PART FIRST. CHAPTER I. General declarations, ARTICLE 1. Paraguay is and shall be forever free and independent, constitutes itself in a Republic one and indivisible, and adopts for its government the democratic representative form. ART. 2. The sovereignty is vested essentially in the Nation, and the Nation delegates it to the authorities established by the present Constitution. ART. 3. The religion of the State is the Roman Catholic Apostolic, it being necessary for the chief prelate of the Paraguayan |