Special Message

Note: The Spanish Treaty Claims Commission was created March 2, 1901, to investigate and settle claims by American citizens against Spain arising from injuries sustained during the insurrection and war, which claims the United States agreed in the treaty of 1898 to adjudicate and settle, while at the same time it relinquished all claim against Spain for indemnity. The Commission's Final Report, dated May 2, 1910, states that during the interval it considered and disposed of 542 claims aggregating $64,931,694.51, and made awards amounting, all told, to $1,387,845.74. The claims filed by enlisted officers and seamen of the battleship Maine or their representatives were ruled out on the ground that in international law the nation which employed the injured seamen and soldiers must present and prosecute their claims.