To the President:
Sir: In accordance with the request made by you to the special committee appointed by the American National Red Cross Relief Committee, during its recent visit to you, the undersigned members of said special committee beg leave to submit the following statements for your consideration:
The American National Red Cross Relief Committee of New York, organized with an unlimited number of co-operating and auxiliary bodies throughout the country, for the purpose of providing financial and material sustenance to the work of the American National Red Cross, Miss Clara Barton, president, begs leave to represent to the Government of the United States as follows, viz:
First.—That the American National Red Cross is the duly incorporated committee representing the work of the Red Cross in its civil capacity, and is recognized as such by the Government of the United States, the governments of other countries and the International Committee at Geneva.
Second.—That we are informed that the said American National Red Cross has given formal notice to the Departments of State, War and Navy and the Surgeons-General of the army and navy of its readiness to respond to any calls for civil aid to supplement the hospital work of the army and navy, in accordance with the provisions of the resolutions of the Geneva Conference of 1863 and the Geneva Convention of 1864, and their amendments.
Third.—That, in order to guarantee the fullest effectiveness of the aid thus offered by the civil Red Cross, this committee hereby gives you official notice that it stands ready, together with other co-operating committees, to furnish all necessary money and material to support the work of the said American National Red Cross, as hereinbefore outlined.
We beg to request, Mr. President, that you take the necessary action to have the several departments of the government duly notified of this financial guarantee of the assistance tendered by the American National Red Cross, to the end that the fullest reliance may be placed upon its offer, should the extent of the present war over tax the preparations of the medical departments of the army and navy.
Please favor us with a prompt acknowledgment of this letter and information as to your action thereon.
Henry C. Potter, D.D., LL.D.,
William T. Wardwell,
George F. Shrady, M.D.,
A. Monae Lesser, M.D.
On May 24, the above communication was transmitted by the Secretary of State to the Department of War, in the following letter in which he explains the position of the American National Red Cross and its national and international status:
The Honorable the Secretary of War:
Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you copy of a letter addressed to the President under date of the twentieth inst., by Messrs. Levi P. Morton, Henry C. Potter, D.D., William T. Wardwell, George F. Shrady, M.D., and A. Monae Lesser, M.D., a special committee appointed by the American National Red Cross Relief Committee, in regard to the work proposed to be undertaken by that organization for the purpose of providing financial and material support to the work of the American National Red Cross, of which latter Miss Clara Barton is president.
The proposal has the President’s cordial approbation in view of the distinctive position of the American National Red Cross as the sole central organization in the United States in affiliation with the International Committee of Berne, and through it with the Central Red Cross Committees which have been formed in every country which has adhered to the Geneva Convention of 1864.
It is to be remembered that the Geneva Convention itself is largely the outgrowth of American initiative. The American Sanitary Commission, organized during the first years of the War of the Rebellion, proved the efficacy of uniform and concentrated effort to bring into play the benevolent influences of the people to aid the military authorities in caring for the sick and wounded in war, and its conspicuous success attracted attention abroad to such a degree that, in obedience to a very general desire in European countries, the Swiss Government, in 1863, invited an international conference to formulate and adopt a general plan for the amelioration of the suffering of the sick and wounded in war. As a result of that conference arrangements were perfected for the organization of central civil committees in the several countries to supplement the work done by the military service of the armies in the field, thus creating in nearly all the Continental States organizations similar to the American Sanitary Commission. The following year another conference was held at Geneva, under the auspices of the International Committee, which resulted in the signing of the Geneva Convention of 1864, to which the United States is a party. Still another conference in 1868 resulted in the additional articles extending the principles of the Geneva Convention to naval operations, which have been adopted by this government and Spain as a modus vivendi during the present war.
Besides these truly international conventions, conferences held at Geneva in 1867 and in 1869 still further perfected the organization and operation of the International Committee of Berne and its relations to the several civil central Red Cross Committees in the adhering States, to the end that the latter might not alone cooperate with the governments of their respective nations in time of war, but should perform analogous relief work in each State in time of pestilence, famine or other national calamity.
The American National Red Cross, incorporated under the laws of the United States for the District of Columbia, constitutes the sole legitimate and recognized local branch in this country of the great international association, of which the International Committee of Berne is the head. Of its conspicuous peaceful services in time of national suffering at home and abroad, it is superfluous to speak. Its relation to the military and naval hospital service in time of war is now under consideration. Under the terms of the Geneva conventions, its aid may be powerfully given to the military and naval armies, with the added prestige which belongs to it as the American branch of the International Red Cross. By the terms of the Geneva Convention of 1864, the participation of its agents in the active ambulance and hospital service of the armies and naval forces of the United States is effected through the express neutralization of its individual workers by the military and naval authorities and the issuance to them of the stipulated armlet bearing the sign of the Red Cross. Its assistance, however, is not limited to this individual employment of its agents in the field; it stands ready to co-operate in the equipment and supply of ambulances and medical stores, drawing for its resources on the benevolence of the community and systematizing effort and aid throughout the country by the various local committees it has organized.
By Article II of the protocol of the Geneva Conference of 1863, which created the International Committee of Berne and its associated national committees, each National Central Committee is to enter into relations with the government of its country so that its services may be accepted if occasion should present itself, and by Article III, on being called upon, or with the assent of the military authorities, the respective Central Committee is to send volunteer nurses to the field of battle, there to be placed under the orders of the commanding officer. These articles sufficiently show the character of the aid to be rendered in time of war by the widespread organization of which the International Committee of Berne is the head.
There is pending in Congress at the present time an act to legitimize the national status of the American National Red Cross and to protect its exclusive use of the insignia of the Red Cross for the work it was organized to perform, and its early passage is expected. Indeed, it would probably have become a law before now but for a need of a slight amendment which this Department has advised. The purpose of that act has the President’s cordial approval.
In referring to me the annexed letter from the special committee of the American National Red Cross Relief Committee the President has requested me to take such steps as may be necessary and effective to recognize the American National Red Cross as the proper and sole representative in the United States of the International Committee, and, as such, corresponding to the central committees which have been constituted in the several States which have adhered to the Geneva Convention. So far as international correspondence with the Swiss Government in relation to the deliberations of the Geneva Conference is concerned, this government has uniformly recognized the American National Red Cross as the only civil body in the United States which is regularly affiliated with the International Committee of Berne for the purpose of carrying out the arrangements elaborated by the various conferences held at Geneva, and the representatives of the American National Red Cross at those conferences have uniformly attended with the sanction of the United States Government. No additional recognition or sanction is needed in that quarter.
I have therefore the honor to inform you, by direction of the President, that this government recognizes, for any appropriate co-operative purposes, the American National Red Cross as the Civil Central American Committee in correspondence with the International Committee for the relief of the wounded in war and to invite similar recognition of its status by your department with a view to taking advantage of its proffered aid during the present war so far as may be available.
William R. Day,
Secretary of State.
The foregoing letter from the Secretary of State defines the position of the American National Red Cross, as uniformly recognized by the Government of the United States, and by the International Committee representing all the treaty nations. The treaty contemplates that there shall be in each country one national organization of the Red Cross, with power to organize an unlimited number of subordinate branches, or auxiliaries, all directly tributary to the national body. As the personnel and equipment of the Red Cross are expressly neutralized and protected by the treaty, it was essential to the security of all, that the civil power and responsibility should be concentrated. It was for this reason that the president of the International Committee, in his letter of March 24, 1882, urged that:
It is important that we be able to certify that your government is prepared to accept your services in case of war; that it will readily enter into co-operation with you and will encourage the centralization, under your direction, of all voluntary aid.
We have no doubt that you will readily obtain, from the competent authorities, an official declaration to that effect, and we believe this matter will be merely a formality; but we attach the greatest importance to the fact, in order to cover our responsibility, especially in view of the pretensions of rival societies which might claim to be acknowledged by us. It is your society and none other that we will recognize.
It will be seen that, in the opinion of the International Committee, not recognition alone, but cordial co-operation on the part of the government is of vital importance. In each country, the National Red Cross, or national committee as it is sometimes called, is the only civil medium contemplated by the treaty, through which the people of the respective countries may lawfully communicate with the armies in the field, for the purpose of rendering such auxiliary medical and hospital service, and other relief, as may be required. It must be constantly born in mind, in order to clearly understand the operations of the Red Cross, that our government and the people are bound, not only by the solemn provisions of the treaty, but also by the resolutions of the international conferences, composed of delegates authorized by their respective governments. Thus, the Secretary of State in his letter says:
The American National Red Cross constitutes the sole legitimate and recognized local branch, in this country, of the great International Association, of which the International Committee at Berne is the head. This government has uniformly recognized the American National Red Cross as the only civil body in the United States which is regularly affiliated with the International Committee of Berne, for the purpose of carrying out the arrangements elaborated by the various conferences held at Geneva, and the representatives of the American National Red Cross at those conferences have uniformly attended with the sanction of the United States Government. No additional recognition or sanction is needed in that quarter.
The American National Red Cross is, consequently, the recognized source from which is derived all civil authority to use the official insignia and to work under the Red Cross as auxiliary to the army and navy. The national Red Cross, in each country, is responsible to its own government and, through the International Committee, to all the nations of the treaty, for the integrity of its branches. Auxiliaries of the Red Cross must therefore receive their charters or certificates of authority from the parent organization, which, in turn, is held to a strict observance of all its treaty obligations. Hence the use of the name or of the insignia of the Red Cross by civil societies, in relief work, without the sanction of the national organization, is an imposition and a violation of the treaty. Without such official permission or charter, no auxiliary can have any rightful existence, as a branch of the American National Red Cross.
After having secured for the people by treaty the right, through their own national organizations of the Red Cross, to contribute to the relief of the sick and wounded in war, the delegates to the international conventions at Geneva continued their labors until there was added to the functions of the Red Cross, the power to administer relief, in times of peace, on fields of national disaster. Out of compliment to the president of the American National Red Cross, who advocated this extension, the addition to the treaty is known as “The American Amendment.” Referring to it, the Secretary of State in his letter continues:
Conferences held at Geneva in 1867 and 1869, still further perfected the organization and operation of the International Committee of Berne, and its relations to the several civil Central Red Cross Committees in the adhering States, to the end that the latter might not alone co-operate with the governments of their respective nations in time of war, but should perform analogous relief work in each State in time of pestilence, famine or other national calamity. Of the American National Red Cross, and its conspicuous peaceful services in time of national suffering at home and abroad, it is superfluous to speak.
Thus is clearly explained why, on such great fields of suffering and disaster as the Ohio Floods, the Russian Famine, the Sea Islands Hurricane, in Armenia and in Cuba, the American National Red Cross is found endeavoring to carry out the benign intentions of the Treaty of Geneva.
For the first time in the history of warfare, it was now proposed to fit out, and maintain at sea, hospital ships for the relief of sick and wounded. The Treaty of Geneva, however, only provided for the recognition and protection of the hospital service of the army in its operations upon the land. An amendment to the treaty was proposed by the convention which met at Geneva on October 20, 1868, extending the treaty to include hospital service at sea. This amendment, concerning naval hospital service, was known as the “Additional Articles,” and, although the Government of the United States in acceding to the Treaty of Geneva included the proposed amendment, President Arthur in his proclamation of August 9, 1882, reserved the promulgation of the Additional Articles until after the exchange of ratifications by the signatory Powers. The Additional Articles were never ratified by the other treaty nations, and, at the beginning of the Spanish-American war, they were not in force as a part of the treaty. Spain was therefore under no treaty obligation to respect the flag of the Red Cross upon the ocean.
Although the Additional Articles had not yet been formally ratified, the Swiss Government, acting as an intermediary, and with a view to securing their observance by both belligerents during the war, opened a diplomatic correspondence between the governments of the United States and Spain, proposing the adoption of a temporary agreement, or modus vivendi, during the continuance of hostilities. The official correspondence on the subject between the Secretary of State and the Swiss Minister will be of interest, as showing the method by which the temporary agreement between the two countries was secured, the modifications made and the interpretation placed upon some of the doubtful clauses:
Washington, April 23, 1898.
Mr. Secretary of State: War having been now unhappily declared between the United States and Spain, my government, in its capacity as the intermediary organ between the signatory states of the convention of Geneva, has decided to propose to the cabinets of Washington and Madrid to recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vivendi, during the whole duration of hostilities, the additional articles, proposed by the International Conference which met at Geneva on October 20, 1868, to the convention of Geneva of August 22, 1864, which (additional articles) extend the effects of that convention to naval wars. Although it has as yet been impossible to convert the said draft of additional articles into a treaty, still, in 1870, Germany and France, at the suggestion of the Swiss Federal Council, consented to apply the additional articles as a modus vivendi, during the whole duration of hostilities. The Federal Council proposes the additional articles as they have been amended at the request of France and construed by that power and Great Britain.
My government, while instructing me to make this proposition to Your Excellency, recalls the fact that, on March 1, 1882, the President of the United States declared that he acceded, not only to the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864, but also to the additional articles of October 20, 1868.
The Spanish Government, likewise, in 1872, declared itself ready to adhere to these articles. The Federal Council, therefore, hopes that the two governments will agree to adopt the measure, the object of which is to secure the application on the seas of the humane principles laid down in the Geneva Convention.
With the confident expectation of a favorable reply from the United States Government to this proposal, I avail myself, etc.,
Washington, April 25, 1898.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the twenty-third instant, whereby, in view of the condition of war existing between the United States and Spain, you communicate the purpose of your government to propose to the cabinets of Washington and Madrid that they recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vivendi, during the whole duration of hostilities, the additional articles proposed by the International Conference of Geneva, under date of October 20, 1868, for the purpose of extending to naval wars the effects of the convention of Geneva of August 22, 1864, for the succor of the wounded in armies in the field.
As you note in the communication to which I have the honor to reply, the United States, through the act of the President, did on the first day of March, 1882, accede to the said additional articles of October 20, 1868, at the same time that it acceded to the original convention of Geneva of August 22, 1864; but, as is recited in the President’s proclamation of July 26, 1882, a copy of which I enclose herewith, the exchange of the ratifications of the aforesaid additional articles of October 20, 1868, had not then (nor has since) taken place between the contracting parties, so that the promulgation of the accession of the United States to the said additional articles was (and still remains) reserved until the exchange of the ratifications thereof between the several contracting states shall have been effected and the said additional articles shall have acquired full force and effect as an international treaty.
I find, upon examination of the published correspondence which took place in 1870 at the time of the war between France and North Germany (British and Foreign State Papers, vol. 60, pp. 945-946), that upon the initiative of the Prussian minister at Berne, followed by the proposal made by the government of the Swiss confederation to the French and North German governments, the then belligerents severally notified to the government of Switzerland their willingness to accept provisionally and at once to establish as a modus vivendi applicable to the war then in progress, both by sea and land, all the additional articles to the convention of Geneva of October 20, 1868, together with the subsequent interpretations of the ninth and tenth articles thereof agreed upon and proposed by England and France. I understand from your note that, although those articles have not as yet become a matter of international convention, it is desired that the United States and Spain accede to the same, together with the same amendments and construction as above stated. I entertain no doubt that the United States will readily lend its support and approval to the general purpose of those articles and be in favor of adopting them as a modus vivendi; it has ever been in favor of proper regulations for the mitigation of the hardships of war. But before it can accede to them as a matter of fact, in the present instance, it must first fully understand the nature and text of the amendments and construction placed upon the articles by France and England as stated by you.
I would respectfully suggest, therefore, that there be furnished to this government either the text or a clear exposition of the articles, with the amendments and constructions referred to, in order that the understanding may be complete. A certain pamphlet, written by Lieutenant Colonel Poland in 1886, is said to contain these amendments and constructions, but there is not now accessible to the Department of State a copy of such pamphlet or other reliable means of information on the subject. I shall await with pleasure fuller and exact information from you of the terms to which we are asked to accede.
Accept, etc.
Washington, D.C., May 4, 1898.
Mr. Secretary of State: I have had the honor to receive the note which your honorable predecessor did me the favor of addressing to me under the date of the twenty-fifth of April, in reply to mine of the twenty-third of the same month, upon the subject of the proposition of my government to the cabinets of Washington and Madrid to adopt as a modus vivendi pending the entire duration of the war, the articles of the twentieth of October, 1868, additional to those of the convention of Geneva of the twenty-second of August, 1864.
The documents which, in the aforesaid note of your predecessor, were desired and which, as I have had the opportunity of telling you verbally, my government had sent at the same time that it instructed me by cable to make the overtures on the subject, have just arrived, and I enclose them herein in duplicate copies. They confirm the text of the additional articles, the modification of Article IX proposed by France and the notes exchanged between England and France concerning the import of Article X. The Spanish Government having, by note of its Legation of the seventh of September, 1872, also declared that it was ready to adhere to the articles in question, the Federal Council hopes that the governments of America and Spain, appreciating the sentiments which have guided it in its course, will be of accord in adopting as a modus vivendi a measure which has for its purpose the securing of the application upon the sea of the humanitarian principles consecrated by the Geneva Convention.
Awaiting your communication to me of the decision which the Government of the United States shall see fit to take in regard to this proposition, I offer you, Mr. Secretary of State, the expression of my very highest consideration.
Washington, May 9, 1898.
Sir: Upon receiving your note of the fourth instant, in reply to mine of the twenty-fifth of April, concerning the proposition of the Government of the Swiss Confederation that the United States and Spain adopt as a modus vivendi, pending the entire duration of the war, the articles of October 20, 1868, additional to those of the convention of Geneva on August 22, 1864, I communicated all the papers in the case to the Secretary of the Navy, calling his attention to the form of the modus vivendi adopted during the Franco-German war, which your government was pleased to suggest as a precedent to be followed during the existing war. The printed paper you enclose, besides giving the text of the original additional articles of October 20, 1868, contains the correspondence had in 1868 and 1869 concerning the interpretation of Articles IX and X of the said additional convention and thus establishes the precise nature of the understanding to which France and the North German States respectively acceded.
As so expressed, the Government of the United States finds no difficulty in acceding to the suggestion of the Government of Switzerland. It had, in fact, anticipated it, so far as concerns its own conduct of hostilities and its own purpose to observe the humane dictates of modern civilization in the prosecution of warfare upon the sea as well as upon land by fitting out and equipping a special ambulance ship, the “Solace,” in conformity with the terms of the additional convention aforesaid, thus confirming emphatically its adhesion to the principles of that beneficient arrangement without regard to the absence of its formal ratification by the various signatories.
I am happy, therefore, to advise you, and through you the Government of the Swiss Confederation, that the Government of the United States will for its part, and so long as the present war between this country and Spain shall last, treat as an effective modus vivendi the fourteen additional articles of October 20, 1868, with the interpretations of the ninth and tenth articles thereof appearing in the publication you communicate to me. While it is proper to adopt this course on its own account, and without reference to such action as Spain may take, this government would nevertheless be glad to hear that the representations made by your government to that of Spain had met with a favorable response in order that the two parties to the present contest may stand pledged to the same humane and enlightened conduct of naval operations as respects the sick and wounded as was recognized and adopted by the respective parties to the Franco-Prussian war.
Should the Government of Spain likewise accede to the Swiss proposition, I should be much gratified to be apprised of the fact, and also that the Spanish accession contemplates acceptance of the interpretations of Articles IX and X which were adopted by France and the North German States and which are embraced in the proposition of your government.
Accept, etc.
Washington, D.C., May 9, 1898.
Mr. Secretary of State: As I had the honor verbally to inform the Assistant Secretary of State this morning, my Government has charged me to bring to the knowledge of Your Excellency that the Spanish Government has accepted the proposition of the Federal Council concerning the additional articles of the Geneva Convention.
I doubt not that Your Excellency will be pleased very soon to enable me to announce to the Federal Council that the Government of the Union also adheres for its part to the proposed modus vivendi, and in this expectation I offer to Your Excellency the expression of my very high consideration.
Washington, May 10, 1898.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of May 9, formally notifying me that the Spanish Government has accepted the proposition of the Federal Council concerning the additional articles of the Geneva Convention, and expressing the hope that you would be soon enabled to inform your government that the United States Government adheres for its part to the proposed modus vivendi.
As you were advised in the verbal interview with the Second Assistant Secretary of State, to which you refer in your note of the ninth, I have already had the pleasure of informing you, by my official note of that date, that the United States Government would for its part treat as an effective modus vivendi the additional articles of 1868, with the amendments and interpretations of Articles IX and X thereof appearing in the publication communicated to me by you. I trust that that note, which apparently had not reached your hands at the time of your note to me of the same date, has now been received by you and its contents transmitted to the Federal Council.
William R. Day.
The additional articles concerning the Maritime Hospital Service in war, as modified by the modus vivendi, forming Articles VI to XV of the Treaty of Geneva when formally ratified, are:
Art. VI. The boats which, at their own risk and peril, during and after an engagement pick up the shipwrecked or wounded, or which, having picked them up, convey them on board a neutral or hospital ship, shall enjoy, until the accomplishment of their mission, the character of neutrality, as far as the circumstances of the engagement and the position of the ships engaged will permit.
The appreciation of these circumstances is entrusted to the humanity of all the combatants. The wrecked and wounded thus picked up and saved must not serve again during the continuance of the war.
Art. VII. The religious, medical and hospital staff of any captured vessel are declared neutral, and, on leaving the ship, may remove the articles and surgical instruments which are their private property.
Art. VIII. The staff designated in the preceding article must continue to fulfill their functions in the captured ship, assisting in the removal of the wounded made by the victorious party; they will then be at liberty to return to their country, in conformity with the second paragraph of the first additional article.[C]
The stipulations of the second additional article[D] are applicable to the pay and allowance of the staff.
Art. IX. The military hospital ships remain under martial law in all that concerns their stores; they become the property of the captor, but the latter must not divert them from their special appropriation during the continuance of the war.
[The vessels not equipped for fighting, which during peace, the government shall have officially declared to be intended to serve as floating hospital ships, shall however, enjoy during the war complete neutrality, both as regards stores, and also as regards their staff, provided their equipment is exclusively appropriated to the special service on which they are employed.]
Art. X. Any merchantman, to whatever nation she may belong, charged exclusively with removal of sick and wounded, is protected by neutrality, but the mere fact, noted on the ship’s books, of the vessel having been visited by an enemy’s cruiser, renders the sick and wounded incapable of serving during the continuance of the war. The cruiser shall even have the right of putting on board an officer in order to accompany the convoy, and thus verify the good faith of the operation.
If the merchant ship also carries a cargo, her neutrality will still protect it, provided that such cargo is not of a nature to be confiscated by the belligerent.
The belligerents retain the right to interdict neutralized vessels from all communication, and from any course which they might deem prejudicial to the secrecy of their operations. In urgent cases special conventions may 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.[E]
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 cannot 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 to 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 twenty-second 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 following note shows the special amendment and the interpretation of certain clauses of the articles, as agreed by the Governments of the United States and Spain:
NOTE.
(a) The amendment proposed by France is contained in brackets after Article IX.
(b) The interpretation placed upon Article X by England and France is to the following effect:
The question being raised as to whether under Article X a vessel might not avail herself of the carrying of sick or wounded to engage with impunity in traffic otherwise hazardous under the rules of war, it was agreed that there was no purpose in the articles to modify in any particular the generally admitted principles concerning the rights of belligerents; that the performance of such services of humanity could not be used as a cover either for contraband of war or for enemy merchandise; and that every boat which or whose cargo would, under ordinary circumstances, be subject to confiscation, can not be relieved therefrom by the sole fact of carrying sick and wounded.
Question being raised as to whether, under Article X an absolute right was afforded to a blockaded party to freely remove its sick and wounded from the blockaded town, it was agreed that such removal or evacuation of sick and wounded was entirely subject to the consent of the blockading party. It should be permitted for humanity’s sake where the superior exigencies of war may not intervene to prevent, but the besieging party might refuse permission entirely.
The full text of the French interpretation of Article X is subjoined.
The second paragraph of the additional Article X reads thus: “If the merchant ship also carries a cargo, her neutrality will still protect it, provided that such cargo is not of a nature to be confiscated by the belligerent.”
The words “of a nature to be confiscated by the belligerent” apply equally to the nationality of the merchandise and to its quality.
Thus, according to the latest international conventions, merchandise of a nature to be confiscated by a cruiser are:
First. Contraband of war, under whatever flag.
Second. Enemy merchandise under enemy flag.
The cruiser need not recognize the neutrality of the vessel carrying wounded if any part of its cargo shall, under international law, be comprised in either of these two categories of goods.
The faculty given by the paragraph in question to leave on board of vessels carrying wounded a portion of the cargo is to be considered as a facility for the carriage of freight, as well as a valuable privilege in favor of the navigability of merchant vessels if they be bad sailors when only in ballast; but this faculty can in no wise prejudice the right of confiscation of the cargo within the limits fixed by international law.
Every ship the cargo of which would be subject to confiscation by the cruiser under ordinary circumstances is not susceptible of being covered by neutrality by the sole fact of carrying in addition sick or wounded men. The ship and the cargo would then come under the common law of war, which has not been modified by the convention except in favor of the vessel exclusively laden with wounded men, or the cargo of which would not be subject to confiscation in any case. Thus, for example, the merchant ship of a belligerent laden with neutral merchandise and at the same time carrying sick and wounded is covered by neutrality.
The merchant ship of a belligerent carrying, besides wounded and sick men, goods of the enemy of the cruiser’s nation or contraband of war is not neutral, and the ship, as well as the cargo, comes under the common law of war.
A neutral ship carrying, in addition to wounded and sick men of the belligerent, contraband of war also is subject to the common law of war.
A neutral ship carrying goods of any nationality, but not contraband of war, lends its own neutrality to the wounded and sick which it may carry.
In so far as concerns the usage which expressly prohibits a cartel ship from engaging in any commerce whatsoever at the point of arrival, it is deemed that there is no occasion to specially subject to that inhibition vessels carrying wounded men, because the second paragraph of Article X imposes upon the belligerents, equally as upon neutrals, the exclusion of the transportation of merchandise subject to confiscation.
Moreover, if one of the belligerents should abuse the privilege which is accorded to him, and under the pretext of transporting the wounded should neutralize under its flag an important commercial intercourse which might in a notorious manner influence the chances or the duration of the war, Article XIV of the convention could justly be invoked by the other belligerent.
As for the second point of the note of the British Government, relative to the privilege of effectively removing from a city, besieged and blockaded by sea, under the cover of neutrality, vessels bearing wounded and sick men, in such a way as to prolong the resistance of the besieged, the convention does not authorize this privilege. In according the benefits of a neutral status of a specifically limited neutrality to vessels carrying wounded, the convention could not give them rights superior to those of other neutrals who can not pass an effective blockade without special authorization. Humanity, however, in such a case, does not lose all its rights, and, if circumstances permit the besieging party to relax the rigorous rights of the blockade, the besieged party may make propositions to that end in virtue of the fourth paragraph of Article X.
It was under this modus vivendi that the steam launch “Moynier” received from the Government of the United States her commission as a little hospital ship of the Red Cross. For this little vessel, presented by Mr. William B. Howland, the editor of the Outlook, as the gift of the readers of that popular periodical, the Red Cross is gratefully indebted.
On June 6, 1898, the tender of the services of the American National Red Cross to act as an auxiliary to the Medical and Hospital Service of the Army and Navy, in accordance with the treaty, was formally accepted by the Departments of War and Navy:
Washington, June 6, 1898.
Clara Barton,
President of the American National Red Cross, Washington, D.C.:
The tender of the services of the American National Red Cross, made to this department through the Department of State under date of May 25, 1898, for medical and hospital work as auxiliary to the hospital service of the Army of the United States, is accepted; all representatives and employes of said organization to be subject to orders according to the rules and discipline of war, as provided by the 63d Article of War.
R.A. Alger,
Secretary of War.