mitigate the horrors of War should be mentioned. I. In 1864, on behalf of the wounded, commonly called "The "Geneva Convention." II. In 1868, a Declaration against the use of certain Explosive Projectiles.

I.-Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Soldiers wounded in Armies in the Field.

"The Swiss Confederation, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Baden, His Majesty the King of the Belgians, His Majesty the King of Denmark, Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, His Majesty the Emperor of the French, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse, His Majesty the King of Italy, His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, His Majesty the King of Prussia, His Majesty the King of Wurtemberg, being equally animated by the desire to mitigate, as far as depends upon them, the evils inseparable from War, to suppress useless severities, and to ameliorate the condition of soldiers wounded on the field of battle, have resolved to conclude a Convention for that purpose, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:(Here follow their names).

Who, after having exchanged their powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles :

ARTICLE I.

"Ambulances and military hospitals shall be acknowledged to be neuter, and, as such, shall be protected and respected by belligerents so long as any sick or wounded may be therein.

"Such neutrality shall cease if the ambulances or hospitals should be held by a military force."

ARTICLE II.

"Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances, comprising the staff for superintendence, medical service, administra

tion, transport of wounded, as well as chaplains, shall participate in the benefit of neutrality whilst so employed, and so long as there remain any wounded to bring in or to succour."

ARTICLE III.

"The persons designated in the preceding Article may, even after occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfil their duties in the hospital or ambulance which they serve, or may withdraw in order to rejoin the corps to which they belong.

"Under such circumstances, when those persons shall cease from their functions, they shall be delivered by the occupying army to the outposts of the enemy."

ARTICLE IV.

"As the equipment of military hospitals remains subject to the laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, in withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private property.

"Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the contrary, retain its equipment."

ARTICLE V.

"Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the wounded shall be respected, and shall remain free. The Generals of the belligerent Powers shall make it their care to inform the inhabitants of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the neutrality which will be the consequence of it.

66

Any wounded man entertained and taken care of in a house shall be considered as a protection thereto. Any inhabitant who shall have entertained wounded men in his house shall be exempted from the quartering of troops, as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may be imposed."

"Wounded or sick soldiers shall be entertained and taken care of, to whatever nation they may belong.

"Commanders-in-chief shall have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement, when circumstances permit this to be done, and with the consent of both parties.

"Those who are recognised, after their wounds are healed, as incapable of serving, shall be sent back to their country.

"The others may also be sent back, on condition of not again bearing arms during the continuance of the war. "Evacuations, together with the persons under whose directions they take place, shall be protected by an absolute neutrality."

ARTICLE VII.

"A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for hospitals, ambulances, and evacuations. It must, on every occasion, be accompanied by the national flag. An armbadge (brassard) shall also be allowed for individuals neutralized, but the delivery thereof shall be left to military authority.

"The flag and the arm-badge shall bear a red cross on a white ground."

ARTICLE VIII.

"The details of execution of the present Convention shall be regulated by the Commanders-in-chief of belligerent armies, according to the instructions of their respective Governments, and in conformity with the general principles laid down in this Convention."

ARTICLE IX.

"The High Contracting Powers have agreed to communicate the present Convention to those Governments which have not found it convenient to send Plenipotentiaries

to the International Conference at Geneva, with an invitation to accede thereto; the Protocol is for that purpose left open."

ARTICLE X.

"The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Berne in four months, or sooner if possible.

"In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.

"Done at Geneva, the twenty-second day of August, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four."

(Here follow the Signatures).

"And the Swiss Confederation having, in virtue of Article IX. of the said Convention, invited the Government of Her Britannic Majesty to accede thereto;

"The undersigned, Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, duly authorised for that purpose, hereby declares that the Government of Her Britannic Majesty fully accedes to the Convention aforesaid.

"In witness whereof he has signed the present Act of Accession, and has affixed thereto the seal of his arms.

"Done at London, the eighteenth day of February, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.

II.-A Declaration renouncing the use, in time of War, of Explosive Projectiles under 400 grammes weight.

DECLARATION.

"On the proposition of the Imperial Cabinet of Russia, an International Military Commission having assembled at St. Petersburg in order to examine into the expediency of

forbidding the use of certain projectiles in times of War between civilised nations, and that Commission, having by common agreement, fixed the technical limits at which the necessities of War ought to yield to the requirements of humanity, the undersigned are authorised by the orders of their Governments to declare as follows:

66

Considering that the progress of civilisation should have the effect of alleviating as much as possible the calamities of

war;

“That the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during War is to weaken the military forces 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 troops of any projectile of a weight below 400 grammes, which is either explosive or charged with fulminating or inflammable substances.

"They will 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 engagement.

"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 non-Contracting Parties, or Parties who 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 non-Contracting Party or a non-Acceding Party shall join one of the belligerents.