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:
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 (4º
45') north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and forty
five minutes (4º 45')
north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred
and nineteen
degrees and thirty five minutes (119º 35') east of Greenwich, thence
along the meridian of
longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty five minutes (119º
35') east of
Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7º
40') north,
thence along the parallel of latitude of seven degrees and forty minutes
(7º 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 until 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:
1.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.
2.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.
3.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] Eugenio Montero Rios
[Seal] Cushman K. Davis
[Seal] B. de Abarzuza
[Seal] William P. Frye
[Seal] J. de Garnica
[Seal] Geo. Gray
[Seal] W. R. de Villa Urrutia
[Seal] Whitelaw Reid
[Seal] Rafael Cerero