Staaten 28. Nov. 1898. Nr. 11981. last conference, was not received by me till the evening of the 24th. || I at Vereinigte once had it carefully translated, and, in compliance with your request, laid und Spanien. it before my associates. We maturely considered it, and, although our last proposition, which was submitted under instructions, was expressly declared to be final, we decided, in view of the importance of the subject, to communicate your proposals to our Government. Its answer has just been received; and, as we anticipated, it instructs us to adhere to the final proposition which we have already submitted. || It is proper to say that my associates and myself, during the long course of the negotiations, have, in accordance with the wishes of our Government, given the most deliberate attention to everything in the way of argument or of suggestion that has been brought to our notice, in the hope that some basis of mutual agreement might be found. But, unfortunately, our discussions seemed to divide us, rather than to bring us together, and no progress was made towards a common accord. || Under these circumstances the American Commissioners, acting upon explicit instructions, offered at once, for the sake of peace, all the concessions which their Government was able to make concerning the particular matters embraced in the proposition the acceptance of which was made a condition of further negotiations. As I stated in my letter of the 23rd instant, if that proposition should be accepted, the matters referred to in the concluding paragraph of the paper submitted by the American Commissioners at the last session, would become the subject of negotiations, and, in regard to them, I should hope for a mutually satisfactory arrangement. || The American Commissioners expect to be present at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday next for the purpose of receiving the answer to their final proposition. || I remain, with the highest consideration, your obedient servant. Signed: William R. Day. Nr. 11982. Staa ten Nr. 11982. VEREINIGTE STAATEN und SPANIEN. 30. November 1898. The President of the American Commission presented a draft of articles Vereinigte with reference to the conclusion of a definitive treaty, in the first part of und Spanien. which draft were included the articles agreed upon by the two Secretaries for 30.Nov. 1898. submission to the Joint Commission, in relation to, the matters comprised in the proposition accepted by the Spanish Commissioners at the last session. The Joint Commission then proceeded to the consideration of the draft, article by article, and, after discussing some of the articles, decided to adjourn the session, and to continue the discussion at the next conference, which was fixed for Thursday, the 1st of December, at three o'clock, p. m. Nr. 11983. VEREINIGTE STAATEN und SPANIEN. - 18. Sitzung. 2. Dezember 1898. Vereinigte 2. Dez. 1898. The session which was to have been held yesterday having been post- Nr. 11983. poned by mutual agreement, owing to a lack of time to examine the modifi- Staaten cations and additions proposed by the Spanish Commissioners to the draft of und Spanien. a treaty presented by the American Commissioners at the session of November 30, the two Commissions met to-day at two p. m., there being || Present On the part of the United States: Messrs: Day, Davis, Frye, Gray, Reid, Moore, Fergusson. On the part of Spain: Messrs: Montero Ríos, Abarzuza, Garnica, Villa-Urrutia, Cerero, Ojeda. || The President of the American Commission observed that at the last session he had presented a draft of articles for a final treaty, and asked the Spanish Commissioners if they had examined it, and were ready to give their reply. | The President of the Spanish Commission answered that he had consulted his Government, and that he could not reply until he had received its instructions; but that, in any case, the Spanish Commission was not inclined to treat of subsidiary points as the American Commission desired, without having first disposed of all the points essential to the treaty of peace. The President of the American Commission asked the President of the Spanish Commission whether he could state when he would receive the instructions; and the latter replied that he would probably receive them to-day or to-morrow. || The American Commissioners proposed that the Commission proceed to the reading and discussion of the articles presented by them that were not taken up at the last session. The President of the Spanish Commission observed that as those articles were divided into two parts, one comprising the first eight articles examined and approved at the last session with the exception of four points, three of which the Americans were to examine and the fourth of which was to be submitted by the Spaniards to their Government, and as the other part also was dependent upon instructions from that Government, he deemed it useless to examine and discuss the latter part. And, on the other hand, he stated that the Secretary General of the Spanish Commission had delivered to the Secretary General of the American Commission a draft of other articles which must necessarily form part of the treaty of peace and with respect to which the American Commissioners had not as yet given an answer; and further that the American Commission was to have consulted its Government and to give an answer to-day on the three points above mentioned as forming a part of some of the eight articles already approved, which answer was necessary in order that the agreement previously reached upon these articles might be enlarged; and that, therefore, with a view to preserve in the discussion the natural order, he considered it requisite that the articles that were indispensable to such treaty should be completed by the answer of the American Commissioners before passing on to the discussion of points of minor interest which did not affect Staaten Nr. 11988. the concluding of peace, though this did not imply that the Spanish CommisVereinigte sioners did not entertain the desire to take them up at the proper time. [ und Spanien. The American Commissioners insisted that these subsidiary points be taken 2. Dez. 1898. up, or all discussion be postponed until the Spanish Commissioners shall have received instructions to treat upon all the points which have been submitted to them. The President of the Spanish Commission held to his opinion, insisting that even after the instructions of his Government with respect to the subsidiary points were received, the Spanish Commission would not discuss them until after the termination of the discussion of the articles which it had presented, and which related to the treaty of peace proper. The American Commission having inquired as to what were the three points to which the President of the Spanish Commission had above referred, which the American Commissioners were to examine, he replied that they were as follows: The extending to Cuba and Porto Rico of the commercial treatment granted to Spain in the Philippines; the repatriation at the expense of both nations of the prisoners taken, and the return to Spain of the war material in Cuba and Porto Rico with respect to which the evacuation commissions had not come to a decision, since such material in the Philippines, he understood, belonged to Spain. He added that the Spanish Commission had promised to consult its Government regarding the maintenance of public order in the Philippines, and that if the American Commissioners were ready to enter upon the discussion to which they were invited, he would, without having received instructions, undertake to give a categorical answer upon this point, which answer he was confident his Government would ratify. || The discussion continued, the American Commission insisting on its proposal to discuss the whole of its draft, or to postpone all discussion until the Spanish Commission should have instructions upon all points. The Spanish Commission, holding to its opinion that it was duly authorized to treat upon everything essential to the treaty of peace, and therefore ready to sign its articles at once, but determined not first to treat of those points which are not essential to the treaty, asked that its readiness to discuss in the natural order whatever related directly to the treaty of peace, be spread upon the minutes. || The arguments on both sides having been repeated, the President of the American Commission stated that he as well as his colleagues hoped that the relations of the two countries might not be limited to the strict terms of a treaty of peace, but rather that an agreement might be reached for mutual concessions which would be beneficial to both Governments and promote the cordiality in their relations. The President of the Spanish Commission stated that this was also the desire of the Spanish Commissioners, but that to his mind it would be easier to reach an understanding upon the less important points if the decisions arrived at on the necessary articles of the treaty of peace were satisfactory. The American Commissioners proposed to adjourn the session in order that the instructions awaited by the Spanish Commissioners might arrive, and to examine the articles presented by the latter. || The Spanish Commis- Nr. 11983. Vereinigte sioners agreed to this, and the session was adjourned till Saturday, the 3rd instant, at two p. m. Staaten und Spanien. 2. Dez. 1898. Nr. 11984. VEREINIGTE STAATEN und SPANIEN. — 19. Sitzung. 5. Dezember 1898. At the request of the American Commissioners the session which was to Nr. 11984. Vereinigte have been held on Saturday the 3rd instant was postponed until today at Staaten three p. m., when there were || Present On the part of the United States: und Spanien. Messrs: Day, Davis, Frye, Gray, Reid, Moore, Fergusson. || On the part of 5. Dez. 1898. Spain: Messrs: Montero Ríos, Abarzuza, Garnica, Villa-Urrutia, Cerero, Ojeda. || The President of the American Commission asked the President of the Spanish Commission whether he had received instructions from his Government touching the points on which the American Commissioners desired to treat. || The President of the Spanish Commission replied that he had in fact received them; but he reiterated his purpose not to take up those points until the matters inherent in and essential to the treaty of peace proper should be discussed and finally approved. || It was agreed that the Commissions should communicate to each other the answers of their respective Governments to the questions. previously submitted to them. The President of the American Commission stated, in the first place, that his Government was not willing to grant and embody in the treaty of peace the extension to Porto Rico and Cuba of the commercial treatment offered to Spain in the Philippines for ten years; but that, recognizing the advisability of concluding a commercial agreement between the countries, the subject might be treated of in a general commercial convention. With respect to the return and transportation at the expense of each nation of the prisoners taken by it, it was agreed, as an addition to Article VIII, that Spain and the United States should transport them at their expense to the nearest port of their respective countries, but that the transportation of prisoners of war taken in the Philippines should not include native soldiers but only Peninsular Spaniards in the army. The SecretariesGeneral of the two Commissions were charged with the framing of this addition to Article VIII. || With regard to the return of the war material in Cuba and Porto Rico not disposed of by the evacuation commissions, the American Commissioners declared that they were not authorized to treat. || With respect to the war material in the Philippines, the American Commissioners stated that it should be governed by the same conditions as were agreed to by the evacuation commissions in the West Indies. || The President of the Spanish Commission and his colleagues maintained that the cession of the archipelago did not carry and could not carry with it anything except what was of a fixed nature; they explained the character of the siege artillery and heavy 5. Dez. 1898. Nr. 11984. ordnance which the Americans claimed for themselves, and after some discusVereinigte Staaten sion to the end of determining precisely what each Commission understood as und Spanien. portable and fixed material, it was agreed that stands of colors, 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 shall remain the property of Spain; that pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field artillery, in the fortifications, shall remain in their emplacements for the term of six months to be reckoned from the ratification of the treaty; and that the United States might, in the mean time, purchase such material from Spain, if a satisfactory agreement between the two Governments on the subject should be reached. It was agreed that the Secretaries-General of the two Commissions should be entrusted with the framing of such an article. || The President of the Spanish Commission, having agreed at the last session to consult his Government regarding the proposal of the American Commissioners that the United States should maintain public order over the whole Philippine Archipelago, pending the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace, stated that the answer of his Government was that the authorities of each of the two nations should be charged with the maintenance of order in the places where they might be established, those authorities agreeing among themselves to this end whenever they might deem it necessary. || In view of this reply the American Commissioners did not insist that their proposal should be incorporated in the treaty. The reading in English and Spanish of the articles of the treaty from the first to the eighth inclusive was then proceeded with, and they were approved by both Commissions, which declared them to be final save as to mere modifications of form, upon which the Secretaries-General might endeavor to agree. The President of the American Commission, desiring that the discussion of the matters presented by that Commission should next be taken up, the President of the Spanish Commission maintained the opinion which he had expressed at the last session, and at the beginning of this, to the effect that the examination of those matters should not be entered upon until the Commissions had discussed what was essential to the treaty of peace, and that therefore the articles proposed by the Spanish Commission as additional to the first eight, should be taken up. It was agreed that in view of the lateness of the hour the session should be adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, the 6th instant, at two, p. m. Nr. 11985. Nr. 11985. VEREINIGTE STAATEN und SPANIEN. -20. Sitzung. 6. Dezember 1898. The President of the American Commission, referring to the discussion Staaten that had taken place at the two preceding sessions on the subject of proce und Spanien. 6. Dǝz. 1898, dure, stated that he recognized the force of the position of the President of |