Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-02-05
SAN MARINO.
THE MOST DELIGHTFUL LITTLE RErCBLIC
OUTSIDE or FAIRY-LASD.
John Bigslow In Harpcr's fur February.

THE MOST DELIGHTFUL LITTLE REruBLIC
OUTSIDE or FAIRY.LASD.
John BgsIow In Harpcr's for February.
The Republic proper stretches over
n territory seventeen miles long and
about half that width, and has popu-
lation, all told, of about 5000 people,
the capital, where we were, having
about 900 of them. They are govern
cd by council of sixty, which is
close corporation, nominally composed
of twenty princes, twenty of the mid.
die class and twenty of the peasant
class but in point of fact, rs | after
ward learned-and, indeed, as might
be inferred from the fact that they
themselves filled all vacancies, and the
people had no more TO do with the
choice of the members of their Council
than of our members of Congress-all
were mobiles, and if you were to ad-
dress one otherwise than "nobilissimo,"
you had better not have addressed him
at all. / gathered that the real dis.
tinctien was that twenty were taken
from the landed gentry, twenty from
the town gentry and twenty promiscu-
ously from any part of the territory.
This Council, Independent of all
human control from above or below.
elects two executive officers, who are
called Captains-Regent it designates
all executive committees, imposes tax
es--in fact, conducts the Government.
When | asked if the people had no
elective franchise of any sort, the
Count B said, mo, none !"
but they may respectfully address the
Captain Regent by petition. If | had
known him better | should probably
have taken the liberty of saying to the
prince that the privileges of the people
of San Marino reminded me of those
which the Minister Calonne proposed
to yield to the Assembly of Notables
near the close of the last century, and
which were cunningly caricatured by
the picture of a ministerial orator ad-
dressing flock of turkeys as follows !;
Gentlemen, ] have called you to-
gether to ask you with what sauce you
would prefer to be eaten"
"But we do not wish to be eaten"
was the ungracious reply of the honor
able birds Of freedom in Congress
assembled.
"You dodge the question" was the
retort of the imperturbable minister.
The government of this so-called
republic, therefore, is simply close
corporation, vested with indetermina-
BILE power to fill all vacancies occasion
ed by death or otherwise. Their Coun-
Gil is even less popular in its compost
ton than hereditary legislature, be-
cause no third power, like that of
sovereign, TO which the people have
access, has anything TO do with filling
the vacancies that occasionally occur
in Its ranks. Two Executives or
Captains Regent, one for the town and
one for the rural districts, are chosen
by the Council every six months-in
April and in October-and may not
be reelected for two consecutive terms.
They may be, however, and frequently
are, reelected after an interval of
three years. Some of them have thus
been re-chosen four or five times.
Count B told me he had him.
self been Captain Regent three times.
1t must be remembered, however, that
San Marino Is small republic. The
Regents receive no pay-another evi-
dence that San Marino is not a repub-
lie, after cisatlantic ideas, at any rate.