sejo, á otro lugar á su elección, regresando inmediatamente que cese el peligro. ART. 4. Ninguna orden, decreto ó reglamento que expidiere el Gobierno fuera de dicha capital y sus cinco leguas tendrá fuerza obligatoria. ANEXO NO. 3. Ley de 21 de octubre de 1831, explicativa del artículo 135. ARTÍCULO 1. Las personas que siendo nombradas para un destino civil ó eclesiástico de la 'naturaleza que fuere, no se posesionaren en los términos que prefija esta ley, perderán por el mismo hecho sus destinos, y el Gobierno podrá proveerlos como vacantes conforme á las leyes. ART. 2. Los que residieren en el lugar en que deba servirse el empleo se posesionarán á los veinte días de recibido el nombramiento; los que estuvieren ausentes, pero dentro del mismo departamento, á los cuarenta días; los que estuvieren en otro departamento, si éste fuere limítrofe, á los cincuenta días; y si no lo fuere, á los cien días. ART. 3. Sólo la incapacidad física, legalmente comprobada, ó la ocupación en servicio del Estado, servirán de excepción; pero luego que cese ese impedimiento, empezarán á correr los términos prescritos. ART. 4. El impedimiento deberá acreditarse ante las autoridades locales, quienes, bajo su más estricta responsabilidad, cuidarán de informar al Gobierno de esa circunstancia, quedando igual ferring temporarily the capital to some other place selected by him, provided that this is done with the advice of the council. When the danger ceases the Government shall return to the capital. ART. 4. No order, decree, or rule issued by the Government outside the said capital and five miles around it shall have binding force. ANNEX NO. 3. Law of October 21, 1831, explanatory of article 135. ARTICLE 1. Those who have been appointed to civil or ecclesiastical positions of whatever nature, and do not enter upon the discharge of their duties within the time established by this law shall thereby forfeit their positions, which the Government shall have the right to consider vacant, and fill them anew, according to law. ART. 2. Those who reside in the place where the office to be served by them is located shall enter upon the discharge of their duties twenty days after receiving their appointments. Those who are absent, but within the limits of the department, shall have forty days; those who are in a bordering department shall have fifty days; and those who are at a greater distance shall have one hundred days. ART. 3. Nothing else than physical inability, legally proved, or actual engagement in the service of the State shall serve as an excuse for the delay; but as soon as the impediment ceases the time established by law shall begin to run. ART. 4. The impediment shall be proved before the local authorities, who shall take care under their responsibility to furnish information thereof to the Government. They shall be bound in the mente obligados á hacerlo cuando el empleado se halle expedito para servir su destino. ART. 5. Se prohibe tomar posesión por apoderados, de las dignidades, canongías y prebendas de las Iglesias Catedrales, quedando derogado el decreto de veintinueve de marzo de mil ochocientos veinticinco. same way to inform the Government when the official becomes able to fill his position. ART. 5. Taking possession by proxy of the dignities and offices in the cathedral churches is hereby forbidden, and the decree of March twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, is hereby repealed. REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. HISTORICAL NOTES. Upon the disruption in 1830, of the Republic of Colombia (the Great Colombia), as constituted by BOLIVAR, the three Republics of Venezuela, New Granada (the present Colombia), and Ecuador, sprang into existence. As was natural, the first effort of each of the new nations was to frame the Constitution under which it should live. The first Constitution that Colombia (New Granada) adopted as an independent Republic, is the one known by the name of "Fundamental law of the State of New Granada" (Ley Fundamental del Estado de la Nueva Granada), promulgated on November 17, 1831. " Subsequent to this statute there have been (1) the Constitution of April 20, 1843; (2) the "Political Constitution of New Granada," promulgated on May 28, 1853, which marks the introduction of the Federal system into the State or Republic of Colombia; (3) the constitutional amendment of February 27, 1855, in a sense decidedly Federal; (4) the "Constitution of the Granadine Confederation," promulgated May 22, 1858, under which the States of Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panama, and Santander confederated themselves forever into a sovereign, free, and independent Nation under the name of "The Granadine Confederation;" (5) the Constitution of "The United States of Colombia," promulgated on the 8th of May, 1863, and (6) the Constitution of August 4, 1886, which is still in existence. a See Appendix 9. See Appendix 10. с c See Appendix 11. CONSTITUTION. (August 4, 1886.) En el nombre de Dios, fuente suprema de toda autoridad, los Delegatarios de los Estados colombianos de Antioquia, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panamá, Santander y Tolima, reunidos en Consejo Nacional Constituyente; vista la aprobación que impartieron las Municipalidades de Colombia á las bases de Constitución expedidas el día primero de diciembre de mil ochocientos ochenta y cinco, y con el fin de afianzar la unidad nacional y asegurar los bienes de la justicia, la libertad y la paz, hemos venido en decretar, como decretamos, la siguiente Constitución política de Colombia. TÍTULO I. DE LA NACIÓN Y EL TERRITORIO. ARTÍCULO 1. La Nación colombiana se reconstituye en forma de República unitaria. ART. 2. La soberanía reside esencial y exclusivamente en la Nación, y de ella emanan los poderes públicos, que se ejercerán en los términos que esta Constitución establece. ART. 3. Son límites de la República los mismos que en mil ochocientos diez separaban el Virreinato de Nueva Granada de las Capitanías generales de Vene In the name of God, supreme source of all authority, we, the delegates of the Colombian States of Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panamá, Santander, and Tolima, in national constitutional convention assembled, taking into consideration that the municipalities of Colombia bave given their approval to the bases for a Constitution framed on the first day of December, eighteen hundred and eightyfive, and animated by the desire of strengthening the national unity, establishing justice, and insuring the benefits of liberty and peace, have decided to decree, as we do hereby decree, the following political Constitution of Colombia: TITLE I. THE NATION AND ITS TERRITORY. ARTICLE 1. The Colombian Nation is reorganized as a unitary Republic. ART. 2. The sovereignty is essentially and exclusively vested in the nation, and from that source all the public powers, which shall be exercised within the limits prescribed by this constitution, emanate. ART. 3. The boundaries of the Republic are the same which in eighteen hundred and ten separated the viceroyalty of New Granada from the captaincies |