Chile’s 1925 Constitution: Plebiscite and Secular Reforms
The Chairman’s draft, prepared by the subcommittee, advocated for a more accentuated presidential system. In contrast, Radical and Conservative parties advocated for a regulated parliamentary system.
As a compromise, to avoid disruption of the Advisory Committee, it was agreed to consult the people on these two projects: the red vote for the presidential system, and the blue vote for the dissident or parliamentary system. Those who disagreed with either of these formulas could vote blank. There was no parliamentary debate on the discussion of the Charter that governs us. The only source for knowing the debates are the minutes of the meetings held by the Advisory Committee.
It should be noted that the draft constitution drawn up in the subcommittee included a number of reform proposals made on June 2, 1890, by President José Manuel Balmaceda, which at that time found absolute rejection. Examples of these are the abolition of the Council of State and Conservative Committee, incompatibilities between the roles of minister and Parliament, and the election and duration of the President of the Republic.
Adoption of the Text
Don Arturo Alessandri believed that the referendum, not the Constituent Assembly, should be the formula to approve the text.
Fernando Alessandri invited the party leaders who disagreed with the project to draft an alternative plan known as the dissenting opinion or parliamentary project. The heads of the Conservatives (Bustos), Radicals (Hidalgo), and Don Fernando Alessandri participated in drafting it.
Following Radical, Conservative, and Liberal parties’ agreement to abstain, only the Communist Party voted for this plebiscite.
The vote was to be by red, blue, and white ballots. The secret ballot was discarded. These cards had special wording, Alessandri’s own work.
The consultation of the people was held on August 30, 1925, under the law decrees 461 and 462. On September 15, the ballot was made with the following results: 127,483 for the red vote, 5,448 for the blue vote, and 1,490 blank votes. A total of 134,421 voters participated, out of 296,259 registered throughout the country, meaning that 168,776 citizens had abstained, over 50%.
Theological Issues in the Liberal Period
Theological issues refer to conflicts arising between the Church and the State during the second half of the last century, concerning ecclesiastical jurisdiction, freedom of religion, secular cemeteries, civil marriage, and, in general, relations between the civil authorities and the clergy, a problem that had been ongoing since the time of O’Higgins.
Before the liberal reforms, the Church had direct interference in education, registration of births and marriages, and controlled authorized cemeteries.
The beginning of the crisis in relations between Church and State came during the late Montt government, which had to reassert civilian control over the Church in the “Question of the Sexton,” supporting the right of the Supreme Court to rule on the dismissal of a sexton’s servant, whose allocation had been unknown by the Archbishop.
Liberal governments, backed by radicals and nationals, managed to overcome the resistance of Catholic Bishops to comply with the laws of the State. The Penal Code, enacted in 1874, introduced provisions that empowered judges to issue orders against priests. The following year, the Organic Law on Courts abolished ecclesiastical courts. This measure, designed to weaken the power of the Church, was resisted by the clergy with drastic measures such as the excommunication of members of parliament who approved the law.
One of the first laws on freedom of religion was that of 1865. It allowed non-Catholics to exercise their worship in private places and to finance the education of their children in private schools. In 1873, it was decreed that the teaching of religion would not be compulsory in state schools. In 1883, the lay cemetery laws were delivered, resolutions that provoked a violent reaction from the Church. The government had to threaten the implementation of stringent measures to prevent Catholics from moving bodies from the cemetery to the courtyards of the churches. Since 1884, the government was the sole authority to issue death certificates.
In 1884, laws were enacted on Civil Marriage and Civil Registry, which deprived the clergy of their ancient right to legally constitute the Chilean family.
These measures would not have had much political impact if the Church and the Conservative Party had not taken a bigoted stance, which was expressed in many attitudes of religious fanaticism, encouraged by the church hierarchy.
The laws on freedom of worship, lay cemeteries, and civil marriage accrued not only to members of Chilean freemasonry but also to foreigners residing in the country, most of whom were Protestant at that time. It also aspired to guarantee freedom of worship to non-Catholic immigrants in the south. In summary, the aforementioned progressive measures partially violated the influence of the Catholic Church in Chilean society, strengthened the growing process of secularization of institutions, and reaffirmed the supremacy of civilian authority over the Church.