File No. 831.404/15.
Minister McGoodwin to the Secretary of State.
Caracas, June 26, 1914.
Sir: Referring to the Department’s telegram of April 16, instructing me to “express the interest of the Government of the United States in obtaining permission for American clergymen to exercise the ministry in the Republic of Venezuela and the introduction of this measure into the revised constitution,” and also referring to my despatch No. 136 of May 16, transmitting a letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I now have the honor to report that the Department’s suggestion was acted upon favorably by the National Constituent Assembly in framing the new Constitution of Venezuela by omitting therefrom any reference to the subject matter of what was article 23 in the Constitution of 1909 (under Chapter III, section 2) the text of which was as follows:
Article 23. The nation guarantees to Venezuelans:* * *
13. Religious liberty, but without in any way lessening the exercise of the Law of Patronage of the Republic, which will continue to be enforced in the manner prescribed by law, and the Federal Executive will exercise supreme inspection over every cult established or which may be established in the country.
The Law of Patronage remains in force, as it has for several generations, but it is clear as to its application, as affecting only those religious organizations which accept financial support from the Government. The reference to this law in nearly every constitution has been ambiguous and its omission from the new constitution obviate likelihood of misinterpretation in future.
I have [etc.]