Friedensverhandlungen zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika und Spanien 1898 und Dokumente über die Philippinen.*) Nr. 11962. SPANIEN. - Der Minister des Auswärtigen an den Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten durch Vermittlung des französ. Botschafters in Washington. Spanien ist zur Einstellung der Feindseligkeiten bereit. Madrid, July 22, 1898. Mr. President: Since three months the American people and the Spanish nation are at war because Spain did not consent to grant independence to Cuba and to withdraw her troops therefrom. || Spain faced with resignation such uneven strife, and only endeavored to defend her possessions with no other hope than to oppose, in the measure of her strength, the undertaking of the United States, and to protect her honor. || Neither the trials which adversity has made us endure nor the realization that but faint hope is left us could deter us from struggling till the exhaustion of our very last resources. This stout purpose, however, does not blind us, and we are fully aware of the responsibilities which would weigh upon both nations in the eyes of the civilized world were this war to be continued. || This war not only inflicts upon the two peoples who wage it the hardships inseparable from all armed conflict, but also dooms to useless suffering and unjust sacrifices the inhabitants of a territory to which Spain is bound by secular ties that can be forgotten by no nation either of the old or of the new world. || To end calamities already so great and to avert evils still greater, our countries might mutually endeavor to find upon which conditions the present struggle could be terminated otherwise than by force of arms. Spain believes this understanding possible, and hopes that this view is also harbored by the Government of the United States. All true friends of both nations share no doubt the same hope. || Spain wishes to show again that *) Die folgenden Aktenstücke bis Nr. 12005 sind entnommen der Botschaft des Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten an den Senat. Januar 1899. Staatsarchiv LXIII. 1 Nr. 11962. Spanien. 22. Juli 1898. 22. Juli 1898. Nr. 11962. in this war, as well as in the one she carried on against the Cuban insurgents, Spanien. she had but one object: the vindication of her prestige, her honor, her name. During the war of insurrection it was her desire to spare the great island from the dangers of premature independence; in the present war she has been actuated by sentiments inspired rather by ties of blood than by her interests and by the rights belonging to her as mother country. || Spain is prepared to spare Cuba from the continuation of the horrors of war if the United States are, on their part, likewise disposed. || The President of the United States and the American people may now learn from this message the true thought, desire, and intention of the Spanish nation. || And so do we wish to learn from the President of the United States upon which basis might be established a political status in Cuba and might be terminated a strife which would continue without reason should both Governments agree upon the means of pacifying the island. In the name of the Government of H. M. the Queen Regent I have the honor to address this message to your excellency, with the expression of my highest consideration. Duc d'Almodovar del Rio, Ministre d'Etat. Nr. 11963. Vereinigte Nr. 11963. VEREINIGTE STAATEN. Der Staatssekretär des wärtigen. Antwort auf das Vorige. Department of State, Washington, July, 30, 1898. Excellency: The President received on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 26th instant, from the hand of his excellency the ambassador of France, 30. Juli 1898. representing for this purpose the Government of Spain, the message signed by your excellency as minister of state in behalf of the Government of Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, and dated. the 22d instant, as to the possibility of terminating the war now existing between the United States and Spain. | The President received with satisfaction the suggestion that the two countries might mutually endeavor to ascertain the conditions on which the pending struggle may be brought to an end, as well as the expression of Spain's belief that an understanding on the subject is possible. || During the protracted negotiations that preceded the outbreak of hostilities the President earnestly labored to avert a conflict, in the hope that Spain, in consideration of her own interests, as well as those of the Spanish Antilles and the United States, would find a way of removing the conditions which had, for half a century, constantly disturbed the peace of the Western Hemisphere and on numerous occasions brought the two nations to the verge of war. || The President witnessed with profound disappointment the frustration of his peaceful efforts by events which forced upon the people of the United States the unalterable conviction that nothing short of the relinquishment by Spain of a claim of sovereignty over Cuba which she was unable to enforce would relieve a situation that had become unendurable. || For years the Government of the Nr. 11963. Vereinigte United States, out of regard for the susceptibilities of Spain, had by the Staaten. exercise of its power and the expenditure of its treasure preserved the obli- 30. Juli 1898. gations of neutrality. But a point was at length reached at which, as Spain had often been forewarned, this attitude could no longer be maintained. The spectacle at our very doors of a fertile territory wasted by fire and sword, and given over to desolation and famine, was one to which our people could not be indifferent. Yielding, therefore, to the demands of humanity, they determined to remove the causes in the effects of which they had become so deeply involved. || To this end the President, with the authority of Congress, presented to Spain a demand for the withdrawal of her land and naval forces from Cuba, in order that the people of the island might be enabled to form a government of their own. To this demand Spain replied by severing diplomatic relations with the United States, and by declaring that she considered the action of this Government as creating a state of war between the two countries. The President could not but feel sincere regret that the local question as to the peace and good government of Cuba should thus have been transformed and enlarged into a general conflict of arms between two great peoples. Nevertheless, having accepted the issue with all the hazards which it involved, he has, in the exercise of his duty, and of the rights which the state of war confers, prosecuted hostilities by land and sea, in order to secure at the earliest possible moment an honorable peace. In so doing he has been compelled to avail himself unsparingly of the lives and fortunes which his countrymen have placed at his command; and untold burdens and sacrifices, far transcending any material estimation, have been imposed upon them. || That as the result of the patriotic exertions of the people of the United States the strife has, as your excellency observes, proved unequal, inclines the President to offer a brave adversary generous terms of peace. || The President therefore responding to your excellency's request, will state the terms of peace which will be accepted by him at the present time, subject to the approval of the Senate of the United States hereafter. || Your excellency in discussing the question of Cuba intimates that Spain has desired to spare the island the dangers of premature independence. The Government of the United States has not shared the apprehensions of Spain in this regard, but it recognizes the fact that in the distracted and prostrate condition of the island, aid and guidance will be necessary, and these it is prepared to give. The United States will require: First. The relinquishment by Spain of all claim of sovereignty over or title to Cuba and her immediate evacuation of the island. | Second. The President, desirous of exhibiting signal generosity, will not now put forward any demand for pecuniary indemnity. Nevertheless he can not be insensible to the losses and expenses of the United States incident to the war or to the claims of our citizens for injuries to their persons and property during the late insurrection in Cuba. He must, Vereinigte Nr. 11963. therefore, require the cession to the United States and the immediate evacuation by Spain of the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under 30. Juli 1898, the sovereignty of Spain in the West Indies, and also the cession of an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States. Third. On similar grounds the United States is entitled to occupy and will hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. || If the terms hereby offered are accepted in their entirety commissioners will be named by the United States to meet similarly authorized commissioners on the part of Spain for the purpose of settling the details of the treaty of peace and signing and delivering it under the terms above indicated. Nr. 11964. 7. Aug. 1898. I avail myself of this occasion to offer to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. William R. Day. Nr. 11964. SPANIEN. Der Minister des Auswärtigen an den Mr. Secretary of State: || The French ambassador at Washington, whose good offices have enabled the Spanish Government to address a message to the President of the United States, has forwarded by cable your excellency's reply to this document. || In examining the arguments used as a preamble to the specification of the terms upon which peace may be restored between Spain and the United States, it behooves the Spanish Government to deduct from the order of events that the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States had no other purpose than to decline the acceptance of an ultimatum which Spain could only consider as an attempt against her rightful sovereignty over Cuba. || Spain did not declare war; she met it because it was the only means of defending her rights in the Greater Antilles. Thus did the Queen and the United States see fit to transform and enlarge the purely local question of Cuba. || From this fact your excellency draws the conclusion that the question at stake is no longer only the one which relates to the territory of Cuba, but also that the losses of American lives and fortunes incident to the war should in some manner be compensated. || As to the first condition, relating to the future of Cuba, the two Governments reach similar conclusions in regard to the natural inability of its people to establish an independent government; be it by reason of inadequate development, as we believe, or on account of the present distracted and prostrate condition of the island, as your excellency states, the fact remains that Cuba needs guidance. The American people are willing to assume the responsibility of giving this guidance by substituting themselves to the Spanish nation, whose right to keep the island is indisputable; to this intimation we have nothing to oppose. The Spanien. necessity of withdrawing from the territory of Cuba being imperative, the Nr. 11964. nation assuming Spain's place must, as long as this territory shall not have 7. Aug. 1898. fully reached the conditions required to take rank among other sovereign powers, provide for rules which will insure order and protect against all risks the Spanish residents, as well as the Cuban natives still loyal to the mother country. In the name of the nation the Spanish Government hereby relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over or title to Cuba, and engages to the irremeable evacuation of the island, subject to the approval of the Cortes a reserve which we likewise make with regard to the other proffered terms just as these terms will have to be ultimately approved by the Senate of the United States. | The United States require, as an indemnity for an equivalent to the sacrifices they have borne during this short war, the cession of Porto Rico and of the other islands now under the sovereignty of Spain in the West Indies, and also the cession of an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the Federal Government. || This demand strips us of the very last memory of a glorious past, and expels us at once from the prosperous Island of Porto Rico and from the Western Hemisphere, which became peopled and civilized through the proud deeds of our ancestors. It might, perhaps, have been possible to compensate by some other cession for the injuries sustained by the United States. However, the inflexibility of the demand obliges us to cede, and we shall cede, the Island of Porto Rico and the other islands belonging to the Crown of Spain in the West Indies, together with one of the islands of the archipelago of the Ladrones, to be selected by the American Government. The terms relating to the Philippines seem, to our understanding, to be quite indefinite. On the one hand, the ground on which the United States believe themselves entitled to occupy the bay, the harbor, and the city of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, can not be that of conquest, since in spite of the blockade maintained on sea by the American fleet, in spite of the siege established on land by a native supported and provided for by the American admiral, Manila still holds its own, and the Spanish standard still waves over the city. On the other hand, the whole archipelago of the Philippines is in the power and under the sovereignty of Spain. Therefore the Government of Spain thinks that the temporary occupation of Manila should constitute a guaranty. It is stated that the treaty of peace shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines; but as the intentions of the Federal Government by regression remain veiled, therefore the Spanish Government must declare that, while accepting the third condition, they do not a priori renounce the sovereignty of Spain over the archipelago, leaving it to the negotiators to agree as to such reforms which the condition of these possesssions and the level of culture of their natives may render desirable. || The Government of Her Majesty accepts the third condition, with the above-mentioned declaratious. || Such are the statements and observations which the Spanish Government has the honor to |