Mr. Day to Mr.
Cambon.
Department of State,
Washington, August 10,
1898.
Excellency: 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
[Page 824]
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.
Accept, excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest
consideration.
protocol.
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 Washington,
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 1. Spain will relinquish
all claim of sovereignty over or title to Cuba.
- Article 2. 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 3. 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 4. Spain will
immediately evacuate Cuba, Porto Rico, and other islands
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 islands; and
each Government will, within ten days after the signing of
this protocol, also appoint other commissioners, who shall,
within thirty days after the signing of this protocol, meet
at San Juan, in Porto Rico, for the purpose of arranging and
carrying out the details of the aforesaid evacuation of
Porto Rico and other islands under Spanish sovereignty in
the West Indies.
- Article 5. The United States and
Spain will each appoint not more than five commissioners to
treat of peace, and the commissioners so appointed shall
meet at Paris not later than October 1, 1898, and proceed to
the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, which
treaty shall be subject to ratification according to the
respective constitutional forms of the two countries.
- Article 6. Upon the conclusion
and signing of this protocol hostilities between the two
countries shall be suspended, and notice to that effect
shall be given as soon as possible by each Government to the
commanders of its military and naval forces.
