CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



183 



ceptcd, the only reply being to present as a vir- 

 tual ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying 

 the precise terms tendered to Spain in our note 

 of July 30, with added stipulations of detail as 

 to the appointment of commissioners to arrange 

 for the evacuation of the Spanish Antilles. On 

 Aug. 12 M. Cambon announced his receipt of full 

 powers to sign the protocol so submitted. Ac- 

 cordingly, on the afternoon of Aug. 12, M. Cam- 

 bon, as the plenipotentiary of Spain, and the 

 Secretary of State, as the plenipotentiary of the 

 United States, signed a protocol providing 



" ARTICLE I. Spain will relinquish all claim 

 of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. 



" ART. II. Spain will cede to the United States 

 the island of Puerto Rieo 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. 



" ART. 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 govern- 

 ment of the Philippines." 



The fourth article provided for the appointment 

 of joint commissions on the part of the United 

 States and Spain, to meet in Havana and San 

 Juan respectively, for the purpose of arranging 

 and carrying out the details of the stipulated 

 evacuation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Span- 

 ish islands in the West Indies. 



The fifth article provided for the appointment 

 of not more than five commissioners on each side, 

 to meet at Paris not later than Oct. 1, and to 

 proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a 

 treaty of peace, subject to ratification according 

 to the respective constitutional forms of the two 

 countries. 



The sixth and last article provided that upon 

 the signature of the protocol hostilities between 

 the two countries should be suspended, and that 

 notice to that effect should be given as soon as 

 possible by each Government to the commanders 

 of its military and naval forces. 



Immediately upon the conclusion of the pro- 

 tocol I issued a proc n amation of Aug. 12 suspend- 

 ing hostilities on the part of the United States. 

 The necessary orders to that end were at once 

 given by telegraph. The blockade of the ports 

 of Cuba and San Juan de Puerto Rico was in like 

 manner raised. On the 18th of August the mus- 

 ter out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that 

 number as was found to be practicable, was 

 ordered. 



On the 1st of December 101,165 officers and men 

 had been mustered out and discharged from the 

 service, and 9,002 more will be mustered out by 

 the 10th of this month. Also a corresponding 

 number of general and general staff officers have 

 been honorably discharged the service. 



The military commissions to superintend the 

 evacuation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the adjacent 

 islands were forthwith appointed: For Cuba, 

 Major-Gen. James F. Wade, Rear- Admiral Wil- 

 liam T. Sampson, Major-Gen. Matthew C. Butler; 

 for Puerto Rico, Major-Gen. John R.Brooke, Rear- 

 Admiral Win field S. Schley, Brig.-Gen. William 

 W. Gordon, who soon afterward met the Spanish 

 commissioners at Havana and San Juan respect- 

 ively. The Puerto Rican joint commission speed- 

 ily accomplished its task, and by the 18th of 

 October the evacuation of the island was com- 

 pleted. The United States flag was raised over 

 the island at noon on that day. The administra- 

 tion of its affairs has been provisionally intrusted 

 to a military governor until the Congress shall 

 otherwise provide. The Cuban joint commission 



has not yet terminated its labors. Owing to the 

 difficulties in the way of removing the large 

 numbers of Spanish troops still in Cuba, the 

 evacuation can not be completed before the 1st 

 of January next. 



Pursuant to the fifth article of the protocol, 

 I appointed William R. Day, lately Secretary of 

 State, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Fyre, and 

 George Gray, Senators of the United States, and 

 Whitelaw Reid, to be the peace commissioners 

 on the part of the United States. Proceeding in 

 due season to Paris, they there met on the 1st 

 of October five commissioners, similarly appointed 

 on the p,art of Spain. Their negotiations have 

 made hopeful progress, so that I trust soon to be 

 able to lay a definitive treaty of peace before the 

 Senate, with a review of the steps leading to its 

 signature. 



I do not discuss at this time the government or 

 the future of the new possessions which will come 

 to us as the result of the war with Spain. Such 

 discussion will be appropriate after the treaty of 

 peace shall be ratified. In the meantime and 

 until the Congress has legislated otherwise it will 

 be my duty to continue the military governments 

 which have existed since our occupation, and 

 give to the people security in life and property and 

 encouragement under a just and beneficent rule. 



As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and 

 have pacified the island it will be necessary to 

 give aid and direction to its people to form a 

 government for themselves. This should be un- 

 dertaken at the earliest moment consistent with 

 safety and assured success. It is important that 

 our relations with this people shall be of the 

 most friendly character and our commercial re- 

 lations close and reciprocal. It should be our 

 duty to assist in every proper way to build up 

 the \vaste places of the island, encourage the in- 

 dustry of the people, and assist them to form a 

 government which shall be free and independent, 

 thus realizing the best aspirations of the Cuban 

 people. 



Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevo- 

 lent, and humane government, created by the 

 people of Cuba, capable of performing all inter- 

 national obligations, and which shall encourage 

 thrift, industry, and prosperity, and promote 

 peace and good will among all of the inhabit- 

 ants, whatever may have been their relations in 

 the past. Neither revenge nor passion should 

 have a place in the new government. Until there 

 is complete tranquillity in the island and a stable 

 government inaugurated military occupation will 

 be continued. 



With the one exception of the rupture with 

 Spain the intercourse of the United States with 

 the great family of nations has been marked with 

 cordiality, and the close of the eventful year 

 finds most of the issues that necessarily arise 

 in the complex relations of sovereign states ad- 

 justed or presenting no serious obstacle to a just 

 and honorable solution by amicable agreement. 



A long unsettled dispute as to the extended 

 boundary between the Argentine Republic and 

 Chili, stretching along the Andean crests from 

 the southern border of the Atacama Desert to 

 Magellan Straits, nearly a third of the length of 

 the South American continent, assumed an acute 

 stage in the early part of the year, and afforded 

 to this Government occasion to express the hope 

 that the resort to arbitration, already contem- 

 plated by existing conventions between the par- 

 ties, might prevail despite the grave difficulties 

 arising in its application. I am happy to say 

 that arrangements to this end have been per- 

 fected, the questions of fact upon which the re- 



