Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain
The United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of
Spain, in the name of her august son Don Alfonso XIII, desiring to end
the state of war now existing between the two countries, have for that
purpose appointed as plenipotentiaries:
The President of the United States, William R. Day, Cushman K.
Davis, William P. Frye, George Gray, and Whitelaw Reid, citizens of
the United States;
And Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain,
Don Eugenio Montero Rios, president of the senate, Don Buenaventura
de Abarzuza, senator of the Kingdom and ex-minister of the Crown; Don
Jose de Garnica, deputy of the Cortes and associate justice of the
supreme court; Don Wenceslao Ramirez de Villa-Urrutia, envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Brussels, and Don Rafael
Cerero, general of division;
Who, having assembled in Paris, and having exchanged their full
powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have, after
discussion of the matters before them, agreed upon the following
articles:
Article I. Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over
and title to Cuba.And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain,
to be occupied by the United States, the United States will, so long
as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations
that may under international law result from the fact of its
occupation, for the protection of life and property.
Article II. Spain cedes to the United States the island of
Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones.
Article III. Spain cedes to the United States the
archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the
islands lying within the following line:
A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth
parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable
channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the
one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude
east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty seventh
(127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the parallel
of four degrees and forty five minutes (4 [degree symbol] 45']) north
latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and forty five
minutes (4 [degree symbol] 45') north latitude to its intersection
with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and
thirty five minutes (119 [degree symbol] 35') east of Greenwich,
thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen
degrees and thirty five minutes (119 [degree symbol] 35') east of
Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes
(7 [degree symbol] 40') north, thence along the parallel of latitude
of seven degrees and forty minutes (7 [degree symbol] 40') north to
its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth (116th) degree
meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to
the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel of north latitude
with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of
longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and
eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to
the point of beginning.The United States will pay to Spain the sum of
twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the
exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
Article IV. The United States will, for the term of ten
years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the
present treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of
the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of
the United States.
Article V. The United States will, upon the signature of the
present treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish
soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the
American forces. The arms of the soldiers in question shall be
restored to them.
Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present
treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the island of
Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Commissioners
appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other
islands in the West Indies, under the Protocol of August 12, 1898,
which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely
executed.
The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and
Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands
of colors, uncaptured war vessels, small arms, guns of all calibres,
with their carriages and accessories, powder, ammunition, livestock,
and materials and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the land and
naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the property
of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field artillery, in
the fortifications and coast defences, shall remain in their
emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from the
exchange of ratifications of the treaty; and the United States may, in
the meantime, purchase such material from Spain, if a satisfactory
agreement between the two Governments on the subject shall be reached.
Article VI. Spain will, upon the signature of the present
treaty, release all prisoners of war, and all persons detained or
imprisoned for political offences, in connection with the
insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and the war with the United
States.
Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons made
prisoners of war by the American forces, and will undertake to obtain
the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the insurgents in
Cuba and the Philippines.
The Government of the United States will at its own cost return to
Spain and the Government of Spain will at its own cost return to the
United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, according to the
situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or caused to
be released by them, respectively, under this article.
Article VII. The United States and Spain mutually relinquish
all claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of
either Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against the other
Government, that may have arisen since the beginning of the late
insurrection in Cuba and prior to the exchange of ratifications of the
present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost of the
war.
The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its
citizens against Spain relinquished in this article.
Article VIII. In conformity with the provisions of Articles
I, II, and III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes
in Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island of
Guam, and in the Philippine Archipelago, all the buildings, wharves,
barracks, forts, structures, public highways and other immovable
property which, in conformity with law, belong to the public domain,
and as such belong to the Crown of Spain.
And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or cession, as
the case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, can not in
any respect impair the property or rights which by law belong to the
peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of provinces,
municipalities, public or private establishments, ecclesiastical or
civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to
acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced or
ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality such
individuals may be.
The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be,
includes all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty
relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Peninsula.
Where any document in such archives only in part relates to said
sovereignty, a copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall
be requested. Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in favor of
Spain in respect of documents in the archives of the islands above
referred to.
In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are
also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authorities
possess in respect of the official archives and records, executive as
well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to
said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such
archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private persons
shall without distinction have the right to require, in accordance
with law, authenticated copies of the contracts, wills and other
instruments forming part of notorial protocols or files, or which may
be contained in the executive or judicial archives, be the latter in
Spain or in the islands aforesaid.
Article IX. Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula,
residing in the territory over which Spain by the present treaty
relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or
may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of
property, including the right to sell or dispose of such property or
of its proceeds; and they shall also have the right to carry on their
industry, commerce and professions, being subject in respect thereof
to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they
remain in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the
Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within a year from
the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a
declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance; in default
of which declaration they shall be held to have renounced it and to
have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may
reside.
The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of
the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined
by the Congress.
Article X. The inhabitants of the territories over which
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in the
free exercise of their religion.
Article XI. The Spaniards residing in the territories over
which Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty shall
be subject in matters civil as well as criminal to the jurisdiction of
the courts of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the
ordinary laws governing the same; and they shall have the right to
appear before such courts, and to pursue the same course as citizens
of the country to which the courts belong.
Article XII. Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the
exchange of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over which
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be determined
according to the following rules:
- Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private
individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date mentioned,
and with respect to which there is no recourse or right of review
under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to be final, and shall be
executed in due form by competent authority in the territory
within which such judgments should be carried out.
- Civil suits between private individuals which may on the date
mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted to judgment before
the court in which they may then be pending or in the court that
may be substituted therefor.
- Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the
Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of the territory which by
this treaty ceases to be Spanish shall continue under its
jurisdiction until final judgment; but, such judgment having been
rendered, the execution thereof shall be committed to the
competent authority of the place in which the case arose.
Article XIII. The rights of property secured by copyrights
and patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island of Cuba and in Porto
Rico, the Philippines and other ceded territories, at the time of the
exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to be
respected. Spanish scientific, literary and artistic works, not
subversive of public order in the territories in question, shall
continue to be admitted free of duty into such territories, for the
period of ten years, to be reckoned from the date of the exchange of
the ratifications of this treaty.
Article XIV. Spain will have the power to establish consular
officers in the ports and places of the territories, the sovereignty
over which has been either relinquished or ceded by the present
treaty.
Article XV. The Government of each country will, for the
term of ten years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country
the same treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance
and clearance dues, light dues, and tonnage duties, as it accords to
its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the coastwise trade.
Article XVI. It is understood that any obligations assumed
in this treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited
to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will upon termination of
such occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to
assume the same obligations.
Article XVII. The present treaty shall be ratified by the
President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain; and
the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington within six months
from the date hereof, or earlier if possible.
In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have
signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year
of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
[Seal] William R. Day
[Seal] Cushman K. Davis
[Seal] William P. Frye
[Seal] Geo. Gray[Seal] Whitelaw Reid
[Seal] Eugenio Montero Rios
[Seal] B. de Abarzuza
[Seal] J. de Garnica
[Seal] W. R. de Villa Urrutia
[Seal] Rafael Cerero
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