Senate Document No. 105, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session, compiled in the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, comprises:
First. All legislation enacted by the Congress of the United States during the period embraced between March 4, 1897, the beginning of the first session of the Fifty-fifth Congress, and March 3, 1903, the date of the adjournment of the Fifty-seventh Congress, concerning the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Samoan Islands, Guam, and Cuba, the late Spanish-American war, and the Army and Navy of the United States.
Second. All proclamations issued by the President, and treaties entered into by the United States during the said period, concerning any of the abovementioned islands, together with the treaty providing for "Lease to the United States by the Government of Cuba of certain areas of land and water for naval or coaling stations in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda," ratified October 6, 1903, and the proclamation of the President, dated December 17, 1903, of the "Commercial Convention between the United States and Cuba." The present work, in the nature of a supplement to the above, contains:
First. All legislation enacted by the Fifty-eighth Congress of the United States, March 4, 1903-March 3, 1905, pertaining to Alaska, Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, the Isthmian Canal Zone, the Midway Islands, the Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, and Samoa (Tutuila).
Second. All treaties and conventions entered into by the United States during the same period which affect any of the above territory.
Third. All proclamations issued by the President during the same period concerning any of the above territory.
Fourth. All claims originating during the Spanish-American war or in any of the territory mentioned, the payment of which was authorized by said Congress. Fifth. All legislation enacted by the Fifty-eighth Congress pertaining to the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission and to such claims as have been finally adjudicated by it.
Sixth. Certain legislation enacted by said Congress affecting the organization and discipline of the Army and Navy.
Seventh. A list of leading cases, with statements and syllabi, which arose in or relate to the insular and isthmian possessions of the United States, and Cuba, heard and decided in the Supreme Court of the United States between January 1, 1898, and December 3, 1906.
Separate headings have not been made in the body of this work for Samoa (Tutuila), Guam, and the Midway Islands, as all legislation herein contained relating to such territory is of a military nature and will be found under "Army and Navy."
The term "noncontiguous territory of the United States " has been substituted for "insular possessions" as being more appropriate to the scope of the present work.
To facilitate reference, notes in italics have been inserted under the several general headings.