be entered into between commanders in chief, in order to neutralize temporarily and in a special manner the vessels intended for the removal of the sick and wounded.

ART. XI. Wounded or sick sailors and soldiers, when embarked, to whatever nation they may belong, shall be protected and taken care of by their captors.

Their return to their own country is subject to the provisions of Article VI of the convention, and of the additional Article V.

ART. XII. The distinctive flag to be used with the national flag, in order to indicate any vessel or boat which may claim the benefits of neutrality, in virtue of the principles of this convention, is a white flag with a red cross. The belligerents may exercise in this respect any mode of verification which they may deem necessary.

Military hospital ships shall be distinguished by being painted white outside, with green strake.

ART. XIII. The hospital ships which are equipped at the expense of the aid societies, recognized by the governments signing this convention, and which are furnished with a commission emanating from the sovereign, who shall have given express authority for their being fitted. out, and with a certificate from the proper naval authority that they have been placed under his control during their fitting out and on their final departure, and that they were then appropriated solely to the purpose of their mission, shall be considered neutral, as well as the whole of their staff. They shall be recognized and protected by the belligerents.

They shall make themselves known by hoisting, together with their national flag, the white flag with a red cross. The distinctive mark of their staff, while performing their duties, shall be an armlet of the same colors. The outer painting of these hospital ships shall be white, with red strake.

These ships shall bear aid and assistance to the wounded and wrecked belligerents without distinction of nationality.

They must take care not to interfere in any way with the movements of the combatants. During and after the battle they must do their duty at their own risk and peril.

The belligerents shall have the right of controlling and visiting them; they will be at liberty to refuse their assistance, to order them to depart, and to detain them if the exigencies of the case require such a step.

The wounded and wrecked picked up by these ships can not be reclaimed by either of the combatants, and they will be required not to serve during the continuance of the war.

ART. XIV. In naval wars any strong presumption that either belligerent takes advantage of the benefits of neutrality, with any other view

than the interest of the sick and wounded, gives to the other belligerent, until proof of the contrary, the right of suspending the convention, as regards such belligerent.

Should this presumption become a certainty, notice may be given to such belligerent that the convention is suspended with regard to him during the whole continuance of the war.

ART. XV. The present act shall be drawn up in a single original copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Swiss Confederation.

An authentic copy of this act shall be delivered, with an invitation to adhere to it, to each of the signatory powers of the convention of the 22d of August, 1864, as well as to those that have successively acceded to it.

In faith whereof, the undersigned commissaries have drawn up the present project of additional articles and have apposed thereunto the seals of their arms.

Done at Geneva, the twentieth day of the month of October, of the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

THE DECLARATION OF ST. PETERSBURG, 1868

DECLARATION relative to the prohibition of the use of explosive bullets in time of war; exchanged at St. Petersburg on the 11th of December, 1868, between Austria, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Prussia and the North German Federation, Russia, Norway and Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Würtemberg.

Upon the invitation of the Imperial Cabinet of Russia, an international military commission having been assembled at St. Petersburg in order to consider the desirability of forbidding the use of certain projectiles in time of war among civilized nations, and this commission having fixed by a common accord the technical limits within which the necessities of war ought to yield to the demands of humanity, the undersigned have been authorized by the orders of their Governments to declare as follows:

Considering that the progress of civilization should have the effect of alleviating, as much as possible, the calamities of war:

That the only legitimate object which states should endeavor to accomplish during war is to weaken the military force of the enemy;

That for this purpose, it is sufficient to disable the greatest possible number of men;

That this object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable;

That the employment of such arms would, therefore, be contrary to the laws of humanity;

The contracting parties engage, mutually, to renounce, in case of war among themselves, the employment, by their military or naval forces, of any projectile of less weight than four hundred grammes, which is explosive, or is charged with fulminating or inflammable substances.

They agree to invite all the states which have not taken part in the deliberations of the International Military Commission, assembled at St. Petersburg, by sending delegates thereto, to accede to the present engage

ment.

This engagement is obligatory only upon the contracting or acceding parties thereto, in case of war between two or more of themselves; it is not applicable with regard to noncontracting powers, or powers that shall not have acceded to it.

It will also cease to be obligatory from the moment when, in a war between contracting or acceding parties, a noncontracting party, or a nonacceding party, shall join one of the belligerents.

The contracting or acceding parties reserve to themselves the right to come to an understanding, hereafter, whenever a precise proposition shall be drawn up, in view of future improvements which may be effected in the armament of troops, in order to maintain the principles which they have established, and to reconcile the necessities of war with the laws of humanity. Done at St. Petersburg, November 29 (December 11), 1868.

PROJECT OF AN INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION CONCERNING THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR, ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE OF BRUSSELS, AUGUST 27, 1874

ARTICLE I. A territory is considered as occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army.

The occupation only extends to those territories where this authority is established, and can be exercised.

II. The authority of the legal power being suspended, and having actually passed into the hands of the occupier, he shall take every step in his power to reëstablish and secure, as far as possible, public safety and social order.

III. With this object he will maintain the laws which were in force in the country in time of peace, and he will only modify, suspend, or replace them by others if necessity obliges him to do so.

IV. The functionaries and officials of every class who, at the instance of the occupier, consent to continue to perform their duties, shall be under his protection. They shall not be dismissed or be liable to summary

punishment (punis disciplinairement) unless they fail in fulfilling the obligations they have undertaken, and shall be handed over to justice, only if they violate those obligations by unfaithfulness.

V. The army of occupation shall only levy such taxes, dues, duties, and tolls as are already established for the benefit of the state, or their equivalent, if it be impossible to collect them, and this shall be done as far as possible in the form of and according to existing practice. It shall devote them to defraying the expenses of the administration of the country to the same extent as was obligatory on the legal government.

VI. The army occupying a territory shall take possession only of the specie, the funds, and bills, etc. (valeurs exigibles), which are the property of the state in its own right, the depots of arms, means of transport, magazines and supplies, and, in general, all the personal property of the state which may be of service in carrying on the war.

Railway plant, land telegraphs, steam and other vessels, not included in cases regulated by maritime law, as well as depots of arms, and generally every kind of munitions of war, although belonging to companies or to private individuals, are to be considered equally as means of aid in carrying on a war, which can not be left at the disposal of the enemy. Railway plant, land telegraphs, as well as the steam and other vessels above mentioned shall be restored, and indemnities be regulated on the conclusion of peace.

VII. The occupying state shall only consider itself in the light of an administrator and usufructuary of the public buildings, real property, forests, and agricultural works belonging to the hostile state, and situated in the occupied territory. It is bound to protect these properties (fonds de ces propriétés) and to administer them according to the laws of usufruct.

VIII. The property of parishes (communes), or establishments devoted to religion, charity, education, arts, and sciences, although belonging to the state, shall be treated as private property.

Every seizure, destruction of, or willful damage to, such establishments, historical monuments, or works of art or of science, should be prosecuted by the competent authorities.

IX. The laws, rights, and duties of war are applicable not only to the army, but likewise to militia and corps of volunteers complying with the following conditions:

1. That they have at their head a person responsible for his subordinates; 2. That they wear some settled distinctive badge recognizable at a distance; 3. That they carry arms openly; and

4. That, in their operations, they conform to the laws and customs of war. In those countries where the militia forms the whole or part of the army, they shall be included under the denomination of “army."

X. The population of a nonoccupied territory, who, on the approach of the enemy, of their own accord take up arms to resist the invading troops, without having had time to organize themselves in conformity with Article IX, shall be considered as belligerents, if they respect the laws and customs of war.

XI. The armed forces of the belligerents may be composed of combatants and noncombatants. In the event of being captured by the enemy, both one and the other shall enjoy the rights of prisoners of war. XII. The laws of war do not allow to belligerents an unlimited power as to the choice of means of injuring the enemy.

XIII. According to this principle are strictly forbidden:

(a) The use of poison or poisoned weapons.

(b) Murder by treachery of individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army.

(c) Murder of an antagonist who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer the means of defending himself, has surrendered at discretion. (d) The declaration that no quarter will be given.

(e) The use of arms, projectiles, or substances (matières) which may cause unnecessary suffering, as well as the use of the projectiles prohibited by the Declaration of St. Petersburg in 1868.

(f) Abuse of the flag of truce, the national flag, or the military insignia or uniform of the enemy, as well as the distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention.

(g) All destruction or seizure of the property of the enemy which is not imperatively required by the necessity of war.

XIV. Stratagems (ruses de guerre), and the employment of means necessary to procure intelligence respecting the enemy or the country (terrain) (subject to the provisions of Article XXXVI), are considered as lawful means.

XV. Fortified places are alone liable to be seized. Towns, agglomerations of houses, or villages, which are open and undefended, can not be attacked or bombarded.

XVI. But if a town or fortress, agglomeration of houses, or villages be defended, the commander of the attacking forces should, before commencing a bombardment, and except in the case of surprise, do all in his power to warn the authorities.

XVII. In the like case all necessary steps should be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings devoted to religion, arts, sciences, and charity, hospitals and places where sick and wounded are collected, on condition that they are not used at the same time for military purposes.

It is the duty of the besieged to indicate these buildings by special visible signs to be notified beforehand by the besieged.