In the year 1908 a controversy arose with reference to the ownership of the buildings and lands occupied by the church. The archbishop and church officials claimed that such buildings belong to the church absolutely; while the government officials alleged that they are the property of the state, possessed by the church with the state's consent. Previously few persons had ever given a thought to the matter, the church having as many buildings as it could properly care for, and more, while other former religious edifices were used by the state. Contributions for the erection and repair of churches were frequently made by Dominican towns without exciting discussion. The controversy of 1908 was precipitated by the determination of the church authorities to erect a mausoleum in the cathedral of Santo Domingo City for the remains of the late Archbishop Merino. The Executive of Santo Domingo demanded that the government's permission be first obtained, but the church officials refused to ask for such permission, holding it unnecessary. Neither side lacked historical grounds for its contention. In the old colonial days church and state were united and the questions of ownership of the church buildings never arose. When the Haitians assumed control in 1822 they considered the church edifices as the property of the state alone and religious services continued only by sufferance of the government. Upon the establishment of the independence of Santo Domingo, the new government, although friendly towards the Catholic Church, took a similar view of the ownership of church edifices and property. By law of June 7, 1845, of the Dominican Congress, all "censos" and other perpetual rents established in favor of the church were declared extinguished and by law of July 2, 1845, all property, real and personal, formerly belonging to convents and orders no longer in being in the country was formally proclaimed to pertain to the state. In 1853 burials in churches were prohibited by law of Congress as being dangerous to the public health, but in exceptional cases the Executive granted permission therefor on the payment of a fee which of late years has been $300. On the other hand, it was argued that the church has been in uninterrupted possession of its present buildings for centuries; that these buildings are not comprised in the laws of 1845; that a law of 1867 granting the gardens of the archbishop's residence to the municipality of Santo Domingo for the establishment of a market and cockpit was repealed in 1871 as being a despoilment of the church and unconstitutional; and that when the mausoleum of Columbus was erected in the cathedral the committee in charge, presided over by the vice-president of the Republic, applied for permission to the authorities of the church. The dispute regarding the mausoleum of Archbishop Merino came to an end when the government receded from its demand, but the main question is not regarded as settled.