Note 1 — Treaty of Peace

On February 15, 1898, the U.S. man-of-war Maine, whilst lying in the harbour of Havana, was, accidentally or intentionally, blown up, causing the death of 266 of her crew. Public opinion in America attributed the disaster to Spanish malice. The Spaniards indignantly repudiated this charge and invited an official inquest. Again, at the Conference of December 6, 1898, the Spanish Commissioners of the Peace Commission at Paris proposed an additional article to the treaty “to appoint an International Commission to be entrusted with investigating the causes of, and responsibility for, the Maine catastrophe,” but the proposal was rejected by the American Commissioners.