This article may at any time be terminated on six months' notice given by either Government to the other.
Article XVI.—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 XVII.—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 tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
WILLIAM R. DAY,
WILLIAM P. FRYE,
WHITELAW REID,
B. DE ABARZUZA,
W.R. DE VILLA URRUTIA,
CUSHMAN K. DAVIS,
GEORGE GRAY,
EUGENIO M. RIOS,
J. DE GARNICA,
RAFAEL CERERO.
The Queen Regent of Spain signed the ratification of the Treaty of Peace on March 17, 1899, and the final act took place on the afternoon of April 11th, when copies of the final protocol were exchanged at Washington by President McKinley and the French ambassador, M. Cambon, representing Spain. The President immediately issued a proclamation of peace, and thus the Spanish-American War came to an official end. A few weeks later the sum of $20,000,000 was paid to Spain, in accordance with the treaty, as partial compensation for the surrender of her rights in the Philippines, and diplomatic relations between the Latin kingdom and the United States were resumed.
MAJOR-GENERAL ELWELL S. OTIS