Chapter III: Of Military Justice (2)

At the next conference of the Commission the demands of the Americans were reluctantly conceded, and the form in which the treaty was to be drafted was finally settled. The sitting of the Commission was terminated by the reading of a strongly-worded protest by Senor Montero Rios in which the Spanish Commissioner declared that they had been compelled to yield to brute force and abuse of international law against which they vehemently protested. The secretaries of the respective Commissions were then instructed to draw up the document of the Treaty of Peace, which was signed at 9 p.m. on Saturday, December 10, 1898, in the Grand Gallery of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. The expenses of the Spanish Commission amounted to L8,400. A delay of six months was agreed upon for the ratification by the two Governments of the treaty, the text of which is given at the end of this chapter. America undertook to establish equal duties on Spanish and American goods for a period of ten years; but it subsequently transpired that this was no special boon to Spain, seeing that America declared shortly after the signing of the treaty that there would be no preferential tariff, and that merchandise of all nations could enter the Islands at the same rate of duty and on equal terms with America. The clauses of the treaty relating to the Philippines met with determined opposition in the United States, where politicians were divided into three parties advocating respectively annexation, protection, and abandonment of the Islands to the natives.

At the closing conferences of the Commission several additional clauses to the treaty were proposed by the one party and the other and rejected. Among the most singular are the following:--The Spaniards proposed that America should pay annually to the descendants of Christopher Columbus $7,400 to be charged to the treasuries of Porto Rico and Manila. The Americans proposed that Spain should concede to them the right to land telegraph-cables in the Canary Islands, or on any territory owned by Spain on the coast of Africa, or in the Peninsula, in consideration of a cash payment of one million gold dollars.

We must now go back to September to follow the thread of events which intervened from that period and during the 71 days' sitting of the Peace Commission in Paris. My old acquaintance Felipe Agoncillo was sent to Washington in September by Emilio Aguinaldo to solicit permission from the American Government to represent the rebels' cause on the Paris Commission, or, failing this, to be allowed to state their case. The Government, however, refused to recognize him officially, so he proceeded to Paris. Having unsuccessfully endeavoured to be heard before the Commission, he drew up a protest in duplicate, handing a copy to the Spanish and another to the American Commissioners. The purport of this document was that whereas the Americans had supplied the Filipinos with war-material and arms to gain their independence and not to fight against Spain in the interests of America, and whereas America now insisted on claiming possession of the Archipelago, he protested, in the name of Emilio Aguinaldo, against what he considered a defraudment of his just rights. His mission led to nothing, so he returned to Washington to watch events for Aguinaldo. After the treaty was signed in Paris he was received at the White House, where an opportunity was afforded him of stating the Filipinos' views; but he did not take full advantage of it, and returned to Paris, where I met him in July, 1900, holding the position of "High Commissioner for the Philippine Republic." His policy was, then, "absolute independence, free of all foreign control." In 1904 we met again in Hong-Kong, where he was established as a lawyer.

In this interval, too, matters in Manila remained _in statu quo_ so far as the American occupation was concerned. General E. S. Otis was still in supreme command in succession to General Merritt, and reinforcements were arriving from America to strengthen the position. General Otis's able administration wrought a wonderful change in the city. The weary, forlorn look of those who had great interests at stake gradually wore off; business was as brisk as in the old times, and the Custom-house was being worked with a promptitude hitherto unknown in the Islands. There were no more sleepless nights, fearing an attack from the dreaded rebel or the volunteer. The large majority of foreign (including Spanish) and half-caste Manila merchants showed a higher appreciation of American protection than of the prospect of sovereign independence under a Philippine Republic. On the other hand, the drunken brawls of the American soldiers in the cafes, drinking-shops, and the open streets constituted a novelty in the Colony. Drinking "saloons" and bars monopolized quite a fifth of the stores in the principal shopping street, _La Escolta_, where such unruliness obtained, to the detriment of American prestige, that happily the Government decided to exclude those establishments altogether from that important thoroughfare, which has since entirely regained its respectable reputation. The innovation was all the more unfortunate because of the extremely bad impression it made on the natives and Spaniards, who are remarkably abstemious. It must also have been the cause of a large percentage of the sickness of the American troops (wrongly attributed to climate), for it is well known that inebriety in the Philippines is the road to death. With three distinct classes of soldiers in Manila--the Americans, the rebels, and the Spanish prisoners--each living in suspense, awaiting events with divergent interests, there were naturally frequent disputes and collisions, sometimes of a serious nature, which needed great vigilance to suppress.

The German trading community observed that, due to the strange conduct of the commanders of the German fleet, who showed such partiality towards the Spaniards up to the capitulation of Manila, the natives treated them with marked reticence. The Germans therefore addressed a more than ample letter of apology on the subject to the newspaper _La Independencia_ (October 17).

As revolutionary steamers were again cruising in Philippine waters, all vessels formerly flying the Spanish flag were hastily placed on the American register to secure the protection of the Stars and Stripes, and ex-Consul Oscar F. Williams was deputed to attend to these and other matters connected with the shipping trade of the port.

It was yet theoretically possible that the Archipelago might revert to Spain; hence pending the deliberations of the Peace Commission, no movement was made on the part of the Americans to overthrow the _de facto_ Spanish Government still subsisting in the southern islands. General Fermin Jaudenes, the vanquished Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish forces in Manila (Sub-Inspector until General Augusti left), was liberated on parole in the capital until the first week of October, when the American Government allowed him to return to Spain. He left in the s.s. _Esmeralda_ for Hong-Kong on October 15. Meanwhile, a month before, the Spanish Government appointed General Diego de los Rios Gov.-General of the Philippines, with residence at Yloilo. Spaniards of all classes were at least personally safe in Manila under American protection. All who could reach the capital did so, for Spanish sway in the provinces was practically at an end. Aguinaldo therefore directed his attention both to matters of government in Luzon and to the control of the southern islands.

Neither the Filipinos nor the Spaniards could foresee that the evacuation by the Spaniards of _all_ the Islands would be insisted upon by the American Commissioners in Paris. Moreover, it was no easy task for Aguinaldo to maintain his own personal prestige (an indispensable condition in all revolutions), carry out his own plans of government, and keep together, in inactivity, a large half-disciplined fighting force. Three weeks after the capitulation of Manila, Aguinaldo sent several small vessels to the Island of Panay, carrying Luzon rebels to effect a landing and stir up rebellion in Visayas. He was anxious to secure all the territory he could before the conditions of peace should be settled in Paris, in the hope that actual possession would influence the final issue. General Rios was therefore compelled to enter on a new campaign, assisted by the small gunboats which had remained south since hostilities commenced north in May. Spanish troops were sent to Singapore _en route_for Yloilo, and then a question arose between Madrid and Washington as to whether they could be allowed to proceed to their destination under the peace Protocol. The Tagalog rebels landed in the province of Antique (Panay Is.), and a few natives of the locality joined them. They were shortly met by the Spanish troops, and severe fighting took place in the neighbourhood of Bugason, where the rebels were ultimately routed with great loss of men and impedimenta.

The survivors fled to their vessels and landed elsewhere on the same coast. In several places on the Island the flag of rebellion had been unfurled, and General Rios' troops showed them no quarter. At the end of six weeks the rebels had been beaten in numerous encounters, without the least apparent chance of gaining their objective point--the seizure of Yloilo. In the Concepcion district (East Panay) the rebel chief Perfecto Poblado took the command, but gained no victory with his following of 4,000 men. So far, what was happening in the Islands, other than Luzon, did not officially concern the Americans.

About this time, in Manila, there was by no means that _entente cordiale_ which should have existed between the rebels and the Americans, supposing them to be real allies. In reality, it was only in the minds of the insurgents that there existed an alliance, which the Americans could not, with good grace, have frankly repudiated, seeing that General T. M. Anderson was frequently soliciting Aguinaldo's assistance and co-operation. [206] Aguinaldo was naturally uneasy about the possible prospect of a protracted struggle with the Spaniards, if the Islands should revert to them; he was none the less irritated because his repeated edicts and proclamations of independence received no recognition from the Americans. General Anderson had already stated, in his reply (July 22) to a letter from Aguinaldo, that he had no authority to recognize Aguinaldo's assumption of dictatorship. The native swaggering soldiery, with the air of conquerors, were ever ready to rush to arms on the most trivial pretext, and became a growing menace to the peaceful inhabitants. Therefore, on October 25, Aguinaldo was again ordered to withdraw his troops still farther, to distances varying from five to eight miles off Manila, and he reluctantly complied. When this order was sent to him his forces in the neighbourhood of Manila were estimated to be as follows:--At Coloocan, 3,000 men, with two guns trained on Binondo; Santa Mesa, 380; Pasig, 400; Paco, Santa Ana, Pandacan, and Pasay, 400 to 500 each; south of Malate, 1,200, and at Santolan waterworks (on which the supply of potable water to the capital depended), 380.

In Panay Island General Rios published an edict offering considerable reforms, but the flame of rebellion was too widespread for it to have any effect. The Island of Cebu also was in revolt; the harsh measures of General Montero effected nothing to Spain's advantage, whilst that miserable system of treating suspects as proved culprits created rebels. Neither did the _Moro_ raid on the Cebuanos, referred to at p. 406, serve to break their spirit; more than half the villages defied Spanish authority, refused to pay taxes, and forced the friars to take refuge in Cebu City, which was, so far, safe. Those who were able took passage to ports outside the Archipelago. In Leyte Island there were risings of minor importance, instigated by Tagalogs, and chiefly directed against the friars, who were everywhere obnoxious to the people. At Catbalogan (Samar Is.) an armed mob attacked the Spaniards, who fled to the house of an American. General Rios had not sufficient troops to dominate several islands covering such a large area. He was so hard pressed in Panay alone that, even if he had had ample means of transport, he could neither divide his forces nor afford to spend time in carrying them from one island to another. Towards the end of October he ran short of ammunition, but, opportunely, the Spanish mail-steamer _Buenos Aires_ brought him a supply with which he could continue the struggle. Fresh Tagalog expeditions were meanwhile sent south, and coerced or persuaded the Panay people to rise in greater force than ever, until, finally, General Rios had to fall back on Yloilo. By the middle of November practically the whole island, except the towns of Yloilo, Molo, Jaro and La Paz, was under rebel dominion. In December General Rios held only the town and port of Yloilo. He had ordered the bridge of Manduriao to be destroyed, so as to establish a dividing line between him and the rebels who were entrenched on the opposite bank of the river, neither party being willing to make a bold onslaught on the other, although frequent skirmishing took place. On receipt of the news of the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris, General Rios proposed to the rebels a mutual cessation of hostilities, on the ground that no advantage could accrue to either party by a further sacrifice of blood and munitions of war, seeing that within a few days he was going to evacuate the town and embark his troops, and that, so far as he was concerned, they could then take his place without opposition. But the rebels, presumably interpreting his humane suggestion as a sign of weakness, continued to fire on the Spanish troops.

The small detachments and garrisons in Negros Island had been unable to resist the tide of revolt; the west coast of that island was over-run by the rebels under the leadership of Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta (a much respected planter of Bago, personally known to me), and the local Spanish Governor, Don Isidro Castro, was forced to capitulate, in due written form, at Bacolod, on November 6, with his troops and all the Spanish civil and military employees. By December 1 it was evident that, although Spanish empire in Visayas had been definitely broken, there was absolute discord among the (southern) rebels themselves. They split up into rival factions, each one wanting to set up a government of its own. The American Peace Commissioners had made their formal demand for the cession of all the Islands, and it was clear to the Spanish Government that General Rios would sooner or later have to evacuate under the treaty. It was useless, therefore, to continue to shed European blood and waste treasure in those regions. In the first week of December the Madrid Government ordered General Rios to suspend hostilities and retire to Mindanao Island with his troops, pending arrangements for their return to the Peninsula. General Rios replied to this order, saying that he would make the necessary preparations. Meanwhile, on December 11, the rebels approached the fortifications around Yloilo town, and the Spaniards kept up an almost continuous fusillade. Before daybreak on December 14 the rebels, armed with bowie-knives, attacked the Spanish entrenchments in great force and drove the Spaniards back from their first to their second redoubt. The Spaniards rallied, turned their four field-pieces on the enemy, and opened a raking artillery and rifle fire which mowed down the rebels, who retired in great disorder, leaving about 500 dead and wounded. The Spaniards, who were well protected behind their stockades, had 6 dead and 17 wounded. Notwithstanding their severe repulse, the rebels again fired on the Spaniards until some female relations of their General Araneta and others went out to the rebel lines and harangued and expostulated with the leaders, and so put them to shame with their tongues that thenceforth the rebels ceased to molest the Spaniards. General Rios then took measures for evacution. On December 23, 1898, he formally handed over Yloilo to the mayor of the town in the presence of his staff, the naval commanders, and the foreign consuls, and requested the German Vice-Consul to look after Spanish interests. On the following day the Spanish troops, numbering between five and six hundred, and several civilians were embarked in perfect order, without any unfortunate incident occurring, on board the s.s. _Isla de Luzon,_ which sailed for Zamboanga, the rallying-place of the Spaniards, whilst some small steamers went to other places to bring the officials to the same centre.

Before leaving Yloilo, after many tedious delays respecting the conditions, an exchange of prisoners was effected with the rebels, who at the outset were inclined to be unduly exacting.

The rebels at once took possession of Yloilo, but a controlling American force arrived in the roadstead on December 27, under the command of General Miller, and was afterwards reinforced up to a total strength of about 3,000 troops.

The Caroline Islands (which were not ceded under the Treaty of Paris) were provisioned for three months, and the Spanish troops in Cebu Island and Yligan (Mindanao Is.) had been already ordered to concentrate and prepare for embarkation on the same day for Zamboanga (Mindanao Is.), where the bulk of them remained until they could be brought back to Spain on the terms of the treaty of peace. In a few days General Rios left Zamboanga in the s.s. _Leon XIII._ for Manila, and remained there until June 3, 1899, to endeavour to negotiate the liberation of the Spanish prisoners detained by Aguinaldo. They were kept under guard in the mountain districts, far away from the capital, in groups miles distant from each other. No one outside the rebel camp could ever ascertain the exact number of prisoners, which was kept secret. The strenuous efforts made by the Spaniards to secure their release are fully referred to in Chap. xxvi.

During this period of evacuation the natives in Balabac Island assassinated all the male Europeans resident there, the Spanish Governor, a lieutenant, and a doctor being among the victims. The European women were held in captivity for awhile, notwithstanding the peaceful endeavours to obtain their release, supported by the Datto Harun Narrasid, Sultan of Paragua and ex-Sultan of Sulu (_vide_ p. 142). The place was then attacked by an armed force, without result, but eventually the natives allowed the women to be taken away.

Some of the Spanish soldiers and the civil servants concentrated in Zamboanga were carried direct to the Peninsula, _via_ the Straits of Balabac, in the steamers _Buenos Aires, Isla de Luzon_, and _Cachemir_, and from Manila many of them returned to their country in the s.s. _Leon XIII_. In conformity with the Treaty of Paris (Art. 5), little by little all the Spanish troops, temporarily prisoners of the United States in Manila, were repatriated.

The Philippine Republican Congress at Malolos had now (December 26, 1898) adjourned in great confusion. The deputies could not agree upon the terms of a Republican Constitution. They were already divided into two distinct parties, the Pacificos and the Irreconcilables. The latter were headed by a certain Apolinario Mabini (_vide_ p. 546), a lawyer hitherto unknown, and a notorious opponent of Aguinaldo until he decided to take the field against the Americans. The Cabinet having resigned, Aguinaldo prudently left Malolos on a visit to Pedro A. Paterno, at Santa Ana, on the Pasig River.

At the end of the year 1898, after 327 years of sovereignty, all that remained to Spain of her once splendid Far Eastern colonial possessions were the Caroline, the Pelew, and the Ladrone Islands (_vide_ p. 39), minus the Island of Guam. Under the treaty of peace, signed in Paris, the Americans became nominal owners of the evacuated territories, but they were only in real possession, by force of arms, of Cavite and Manila. The rest of the Archipelago, excepting Mindanao and the Sulu Sultanate, was virtually and forcibly held by the natives in revolt. At the close of 1898 the Americans and the rebels had become rival parties, and the differences between them foreboded either frightful bloodshed or the humiliation of the one or the other.

Treaty of Peace

concluded between the United States of America and Spain, signed
in Paris on December 10, 1898, and ratified in Washington on
February 6, 1899. The original documents (in duplicate) are drawn
up in Spanish and in English respectively.

_The English Text_} [207]

_Article_ 1.--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_ 2.--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_ 3.--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 W. to
E. along or near the 20th parallel of N. latitude, and through
the middle of the navigable channel of Bachi, from the 118th to
the 127th degree meridian of longitude E. of Greenwich, thence
along the 127th degree meridian of longitude E. of Greenwich to
the parallel of 4 deg. 45' N. latitude, thence along the parallel
of 4 deg. 45' N. latitude to its intersection with the meridian of
longitude 119 deg. 35' E. of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of
longitude 119 deg. 35' E. of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude 7 deg.
40' N., thence along the parallel of latitude of 7 deg. 40' N. to its
intersection with the 116th degree meridian of longitude E. of
Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the 10th
degree parallel of N. latitude with the 118th degree meridian
of longitude E. of Greenwich, and thence along the 118th degree
meridian of longitude E. of Greenwich to the point of beginning.

The United States will pay to Spain the sum of $.20,000,000
within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of
the present treaty.

_Article_ 4.--The United States will, for the term of 10 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_ 5.--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 ratification of the present
treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the
Island of Guam, on terms similiar 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 colours, uncaptured war-vessels, small arms,
guns of all calibres, with their carriages and accessories, powder,
ammunition, live-stock, 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_ 6.--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_ 7.--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_ 8.--In conformity with the provisions of Articles 1,
2 and 3 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,
cannot 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 favour 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 the 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 notarial 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_ 9.--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_ 10.--The inhabitants of the territories over which
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in
the free exercise of their religion.

_Article_ 11.--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_ 12.--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) Judgements
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
judgements shall be carried out: (2) Civil suits between private
individuals which may on the date mentioned be undetermined shall
be prosecuted to judgement 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 judgement; but, such judgement having
been rendered, the execution thereof shall be committed to the
competent authority of the place in which the case arose.

_Article_ 13.--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_ 14.--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_ 15.--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. This article may at any time be terminated on
six months' notice given by either Government to the other.

_Article_ 16.--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 the termination of such occupancy, advise any Government
established in the Island to assume the same obligations.

_Article_ 17.--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 10th day of December, in the year
of our Lord 1898.

_William R. Day_.
_Cushman K. Davis_.
_William P. Frye_.
_Geo. Gray_.
_Whitelaw Reid_.
_Eugenio Montero Rios_.
_B. de Abarzuza_.
_J. de Garnica_.
_W. R. de Villa-Urrutia_.
_Rafael Cerero_.

Two years afterwards a supplementary treaty was made between the United States and Spain, whereby the Islands of Cagayan de Jolo, Sibutu, and other islets not comprised in the demarcation set forth in the Treaty of Paris, were ceded to the United States for the sum of $100,000 gold. These small islands had, apparently, been overlooked when the Treaty of Paris was concluded.