Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/276

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256
OFFICIAL VISIT
[CH. XVIII.

sident, senators, ambassadors to foreign parts, secretaries of state and other high official characters. The federal republic is divided into five sovereign independent states, which are Guatemala, Honduras, Sonsonate, Nicaragua, and Costa-Rica. Each of these states contains:

1st. An assembly of deputies elected by the people, which dictates laws, ordinances, and regulations; determines the expense of its administration, decrees imposts, and fixes the military force in unison with the federal congress.

2d. A council of individuals named by the people, which gives or denies its sanction to the law, advises the executive power, and proposes for nomination the principal public officers.

3d. A chief elected by the people, who executes the laws, nominates the public servants, and disposes of the military force.

4th. A gefe politico, or vice-chief, nominated by the people, who acts in cases provided by the law.