relinquishment by Spain of a claim of sovereignty over Cuba which she was unable to enforce, would relieve a situation that had become unendurable.

"For years the Government of the United States, out of regard for the susceptibilities of Spain, had by the exercise of its power and the expenditure of its treasure preserved the obligations of neutrality. But a point was at length reached at which, as Spain had often been forewarned, this attitude could no longer be maintained. The spectacle at our very doors of a fertile territory wasted by fire and sword and given over to desolation and famine, was one to which our people could not be indifferent. Yielding therefore to the demands of humanity, they determined to remove the causes, in the effects of which they had become so deeply involved.

"To this end the President, with the authority of Congress, presented to Spain a demand for the withdrawal of her land and naval forces from Cuba, in order that the people of the island might be enabled to form a government of their own. To this demand Spain replied by severing diplomatic relations with the United States, and by declaring that she considered the action of this Government as creating a state of war between the two countries.

"The President could not but feel sincere regret that the local question as to the peace and good government of Cuba should thus have been transformed and enlarged into a general conflict of arms between two great peoples. Nevertheless, having accepted the issue with all the hazards which it involves, he has, in the exercise of his duty, and of the rights which the state of war confers, prosecuted hostilities by land and sea, in order to secure at the earliest possible moment an honorable peace. In so doing he has been compelled to avail himself unsparingly of the lives and fortunes which his countrymen have placed at his command, and untold burdens and sacrifices, far transcending any material estimation, have been imposed upon them.

"That, as the result of the patriotic exertions of the people of the United States, the strife has, as your excellency observes, proved unequal, inclines the President to offer a brave adversary generous terms of peace.

"The President, therefore, responding to your excellency's request, will state the terms of peace which will be accepted by him at the present time, subject to the approval of the Senate of the United States hereafter.

"Your excellency in discussing the question of Cuba, intimates that Spain has desired to spare the island the dangers of premature independence. The Government of the United States has not shared the apprehensions of Spain in this regard, but it recognizes the fact that in the distracted and prostrate condition of the island, aid and guidance will be necessary, and these it is prepared to give.

"The United States will require:

"First. The relinquishment by Spain of all claim of sovereignty over or title to Cuba, and her immediate evacuation of the island.

"Second. The President, desirous of exhibiting signal generosity will not now put forth any demand for pecuniary indemnity. Nevertheless, he can not be insensible to the losses and expenses of the United States incident to the war, or to the claims of our citizens for injuries to their persons and property during the late insurrection in Cuba. He must therefore require the cession to the United States, and the evacuation by Spain of the islands of Porto Rico and other islands now under the sovereignty of Spain in the West Indies, and also the cession of an island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States.

"Third. On similar grounds the United States is entitled to occupy, and will hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines.

"If the terms hereby offered are accepted in their entirety, commissioners will be named by the United States to meet similarly authorized commissioners on the part of Spain for the purpose of settling the details of the treaty of peace, and signing and delivering it under the terms above indicated."

Mr. Day, Sec. of State, to the Duke of Almodovar del Rio, Spanish Minister of State, July 30, 1898, For. Rel. 1898, 820.

"MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: The French ambassador at Washington, whose good offices have enabled the Spanish Government to address a message to the President of the United States, has forwarded by cable your excellency's reply to this document.

Spanish note of
Aug. 7, 1898.

"Inexamining the arguments used as a preamble to the specification of the terms upon which peace may be restored between Spain and the United States, it behooves the Spanish Government to deduct from the order of events that the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States had no other purpose than to decline the acceptance of an ultimatum which Spain could only consider as an attempt against her rightful sovereignty over Cuba.

"Spain did not declare war; she met it because it was the only means of defending her rights in the Greater Antilles. Thus did the Queen and the United States see fit to transform and enlarge the purely local question of Cuba.

"From this fact your excellency draws the conclusion that the question at stake is no longer only the one which relates to the territory of Cuba, but also that the losses of American lives and fortunes incident to the war should in some manner be compensated.

"As to the first condition, relating to the future of Cuba, the two Governments reach similar conclusions in regard to the natural inability of its people to establish an independent government. Be it by reason of inadequate development, as we believe, or on account of the present distracted and prostrate condition of the island, as your excellency states, the fact remains that Cuba needs guidance. The American people are willing to assume the responsibility of giving this guidance by substituting themselves to the Spanish nation, whose right to keep the island is indisputable; to this intimation we have nothing to oppose. The necessity of withdrawing from the territory of Cuba being imperative, the nation assuming Spain's place must, as long as this territory shall not have fully reached the conditions required to take rank among other sovereign powers, provide for rules which will insure order and protect against all risks the Spanish residents, as well as the Cuban natives still loyal to the mother country.

"In the name of the nation the Spanish Government hereby relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over or title to Cuba, and engages to the irremeable evacuation of the island, subject to the approval of the Cortes- a reserve which we likewise make with regard to the other proffered terms-just as these terms will have to be ultimately approved by the Senate of the United States.

"The United States require, as an indemnity for or an equivalent to the sacrifices they have borne during this short war, the cession of Porto Rico and of the other islands now under the sovereignty of Spain in the West Indies, and also the cession of an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the Federal Government.

"This demand strips us of the very last memory of a glorious past, and expels us at once from the prosperous island of Porto Rico and from the Western Hemisphere, which became peopled and civilized through the proud deeds of our ancestors. It might, perhaps, have been possible to compensate by some other cession for the injuries sustained by the United States. However, the inflexibility of the demand obliges us to cede, and we shall cede, the island of Porto Rico and the other islands belonging to the Crown of Spain in the West Indies, together with one of the islands of the archipelago of the Ladrones, to be selected by the American Government.

"The terms relating to the Philippines seem, to our understanding, to be quite indefinite. On the one hand, the ground on which the United States believe themselves entitled to occupy the bay, the harbor, and the city of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, can not be that of conquest, since in spite of the blockade maintained on sea by the American fleet, in spite of the siege established on land by a native supported and provided for by the American admiral, Manila still holds its own, and the Spanish standard still waves over the city. On the other hand, the whole archipelago of the Philippines is in the power

and under the sovereignty of Spain. Therefore the Government of Spain thinks that the temporary occupation of Manila should constitute a guaranty. It is stated that the treaty of peace shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines; but as the intentions of the Federal Government by regression remain veiled, therefore the Spanish Government must declare that, while accepting the third condition, they do not a priori renounce the sovereignty of Spain over the archipelago, leaving it to the negotiators to agree as to such reforms which the condition of these possessions and the level of culture of their natives may render desirable.

"The Government of Her Majesty accepts the third condition, with the above-mentioned declarations.

"Such are the statements and observations which the Spanish Government has the honor to submit in reply to your excellency's communication. They accept the proffered terms, subject to the approval of the Cortes of the Kingdom, as required by their constitutional duties.

"The agreement between the two Governments implies the irremeable suspension of hostilities and the designation of commissioners for the purpose of settling the details of the treaty of peace and of signing it, under the terms above indicated."

Protocol of August 12, 1898.

Message of the Duke of Almodovar del Rio, Spanish Minister of State, to Mr. Day, Sec. of State, dated Madrid, Aug. 7, 1898, and presented to Mr. Day by Mr. Cambon, French ambassador, Aug. 9, 1898. (For. Rel. 1898, 822.) "Although it is your understanding that the note of the Duke of Almodovar, which you left with the President on yesterday afternoon, is intended to convey an acceptance by the Spanish Government of the terms set forth in my note of the 30th ultimo as the basis on which the President would appoint commissioners to negotiate and conclude with commissioners on the part of Spain a treaty of peace, I understand that we concur in the opinion that the Duke's note, doubtless owing to the various transformations which it has undergone in the course of its circuitous transmission by telegraph and in cipher, is not, in the form in which it has reached the hands of the President, entirely explicit.

"Under these circumstances it is thought that the most direct and certain way of avoiding misunderstanding is to embody in a protocol, to be signed by us as the representatives, respectively, of the United States and Spain, the terms on which the negotiations for peace are to be undertaken.

"I therefore inclose herewith a draft of such a protocol, in which you will find that I have embodied the precise terms tendered to Spain in my note of the 30th ultimo, together with appropriate stipulations for the appointment of commissioners to arrange the details of the immediate evacuation of Cuba, Porto Rico, and other islands under

Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, as well as for the appointment of commissioners to treat of peace.'

Mr. Day, Sec. of State, to Mr. Cambon, French ambassador, Aug. 10, 1898,
For. Rel. 1898, 823.

Aug. 12, 1898, Mr. Day, Secretary of State, and Mr. Cambon, French ambas-
sador, signed, as the result of the foregoing correspondence, the following
protocol, in English and in French:

William R. Day, Secrétaire d'Etat des Etats-Unis, et Son Excellence M. Jules Cambon, Ambassadeur Extraordinaire et Plénipotentiaire de la Répub

William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and His Excellency Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France at Washing-lique Française à Washington, ayant ton, respectively possessing for this purpose full authority from the Government of the United States and the Government of Spain, have concluded and signed the following articles, embodying the terms on which the two Governments have agreed in respect to the matters hereinafter set forth, having in view the establishment of peace between the two countries, that, is to say:

ARTICLE I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba.

ARTICLE II. Spain will cede to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States.

ARTICLE III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition and government of the Philippines.

ARTICLE IV. Spain will immediately evacuate Cuba, Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies; and to this end each Government will, within ten days after the signing of this protocol, appoint Commissioners, and the Commissioners so appointed shall, within thirty days after the signing of this protocol, meet at Havana for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of the aforesaid evacuation of Cuba and the adjacent Spanish

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respectivement reçu à cet effet pleine autorisation du Gouvernement des Etats-Unis et du Gouvernement d'Espagne, ont conclu et signé les articles suivants qui précisent les termes sur lesquels les deux Gouvernements se sont mis d'accord en ce qui concerne les questions ci-après désignées et ayant pour objet l'établissement de la paix entre les deux pays, savior:

ARTICLE I. L'Espagne renoncera à toute prétention à sa souveraineté et à tout droit sur Cuba.

ARTICLE II. L'Espagne cédera aux Etats-Unis l'île de Porto-Rico et les autres îles actuellement sous la souveraineté Espagnole dans les Indes Occidentales, ainsi qu'une île dans les Ladrones qui sera choisie par les EtatsUnis.

ARTICLE III. Les Etats-Unis occuperont et tiendront la ville, la baie et le port de Manille en attendant la conclusion d'un traité de paix qui devra déterminer le contrôle, la disposition et le gouvernement des Philippines.

ARTICLE IV. L'Espagne évacuera immédiatement Cuba, Porto Rico et les autres îles actuellement sous la souveraineté Espagnole dans les Indes Occidentales; à cet effet chacun des deux Gouvernements nommera, dans les dix jours qui suivront la signature de ce protocole, des commissaires, et les commissaires ainsi nommés devront, dans les trente jours qui suivront la signature de ce protocole, se rencontrer à la Havane afin d'arranger et d'exécuter les détails de l'évacuation