ARTICLE 21. The distinctive flag of the convention can only be displayed over the sanitary formations and establishments which the convention provides shall be respected, and with the consent of the military authorities. It shall be accompanied by the national flag of the belligerent to whose service the formation or establishment is attached. Sanitary formations which have fallen into the power of the enemy, however, shall fly no other flag than that of the Red Cross so long as they continue in that situation. ARTICLE 22. The sanitary formations of neutral countries which, under the conditions set forth in Article II, have been authorized to render their services, shall fly, with the flag of the convention, the national flag of the belligerent to which they are attached. The provisions of the second paragraph of the preceding article are applicable to them. ARTICLE 23. The emblem of the red cross on a white ground and the words Red Cross or Geneva Cross may only be used, whether in time of peace or war, to protect or designate military formations and establishments, the personnel and matériel protected by the convention. Objections have been made by certain non-Christian states to the use of the Cross on the flag of the Convention because of its supposed religious significance, but the statement contained in Article 18, which is true as a matter of history, was accepted as satisfactory by the delegates of several nonChristian states present. The Red Cross flag is firmly fixed in the minds of the whole world as the emblem of mercy and it was felt that any change would be detrimental to the interests of humanity. The restrictions placed upon the issue and use of the Red Cross flag and brassard in the field are obviously necessary to prevent abuse by individuals and also to establish responsibility for the display of the flag in improper places, or in undue numbers, in a besieged town; a procedure certain to involve irritating charges of bad faith. The Convention of 1864 provided that the national flag should always be displayed together with the Red Cross, but left undecided what national flag should be displayed over a neutral formation in the service of a belligerent, an uncertainty which led to considerable ill-feeling in South Africa. Formations in the power of the enemy fly only the Red Cross flag since to hoist the enemy's flag would be humiliating and the display of the flag of the opposing belligerent might lead to dangerous confusion. CHAPTER VII. Application and Execution of the Convention. ARTICLE 24. The provisions of the present convention are obligatory only on the contracting powers, in case of war between two or more of them. The said provisions shall cease to be obligatory if one of the belligerent powers should not be signatory to the convention. ARTICLE 25. It shall be the duty of the commanders-in-chief of the belligerent armies to provide for the details of execution of the foregoing articles, as well as for unforeseen cases, in accordance with the instructions of their respective governments, and conformably to the general principles of this convention. ARTICLE 26. The signatory governments shall take the necessary steps to acquaint their troops, and particularly the protected personnel, with the provisions of this convention and to make them known to the people at large. Article 25 is an important safeguard against arbitrary decisions in unforeseen cases. The education of the troops, and of the people at large in the provisions of the Convention is a matter of the gravest importance, too often neglected, and should be thoroughly and systematically accomplished in time of peace. The protected personnel, military and voluntary, are as impulsively patriotic as their brothers in arms, and since they may at any time be called upon to continue the performance of their duties under direction of the enemy, they must be educated to instinctively avoid any action which could be held to be an abuse of the immunity extended to them in the cause of humanity. The education of the people can probably be best effected through the wide and benevolent activities of the Red Cross. It is not safe to rely upon their uninstructed instinct of humanity. A translation of the Convention is appended to this paper, and the remaining articles require no comment. There was entire unanimity of sentiment from first to last in the extension of the humane provisions of the Convention of 1864, no proposition of that kind being voted down and questions of detail were settled speedily and satisfactorily. War is, and must remain, the ultimate safeguard of the nation's life and honor, but the occasions for war may be limited by providing ready and honorable facilities for arbitration, and by treaty definitions of neutral and belligerent rights and duties, so clearly drawn, and so practicable, that they do not raise more contentions than they allay; always remembering, too, that agreements which unduly restrict the legitimate operations of war are not humane but only serve to prolong the sacrifice. CONVENTION FOR THE AMELIORATION OF THE RATIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY 2, 1907. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; His Excellency the President of the Argentine Republic; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; His Royal Highness the Prince of Bulgaria; His Excellency the President of the Republic of Chile; His Majesty the Emperor of China; His Majesty the King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Congo Free State; His Majesty the Emperor of Corea; His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of Spain; the President of the United States of America; the President of the United States of Brazil; the President of the United Mexican States; the President of the French Republic; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India; His Majesty the King of the Hellenes; the President of the Republic of Guatemala; the President of the Republic of Honduras; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan; His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, Duke of Nassau; His Highness the Prince of Montenegro; His Majesty the King of Norway; Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands; the President of the Republic of Peru; His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Persia; His Majesty. the King of Portugal and of the Algarves, etc.; His Majesty the King of Roumania; His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias; His Majesty the King of Servia; His Majesty the King of Siam; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; the President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Being equally animated by the desire to lessen the inherent evils of warfare as far as is within their power, and wishing for this purpose to improve and supplement the provisions agreed upon at Geneva on August 22, 1864, for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded in armies in the field, Have decided to conclude a new convention to that effect, and have appointed as their plenipotentiaries, to wit: His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia: General of Brigade Baron de Manteuffel, Medical Inspector and Surgeon-General Dr. Villaret (with rank of general of brigade), Dr. Zorn, Privy Councilor of Justice, ordinary professor at law at the University of Bonn, Solicitor of the Crown; His Excellency the President of the Argentine Republic: His Excellency Mr. Enrique B. Moreno, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Berne, Mr. Molina Salas, Consul-General in Switzerland; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary: His Excellency Baron Heidler de Egeregg et Syrgenstein, Actual Privy Councilor, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Berne; His Majesty the King of the Belgians: Colonel of Staff Count de T'Serclaes, Chief of Staff of the Fourth Military District; His Royal Highness the Prince of Bulgaria: Dr. Marin Rousseff, Chief Medical Officer, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Chile: Mr. Augustin Edwards, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; His Majesty the Emperor of China: His Excellency Mr. Lou Tseng Tsiang, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to The Hague; His Majesty the King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Congo Free State: Colonel of Staff Count de T'Serclaes, Chief of Staff of the Fourth Military District of Belgium; His Majesty the Emperor of Corea: His Excellency Mr. Tsunetada Kato, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Japan to Brussels; His Majesty the King of Denmark: Mr. Laub, Surgeon-General, Chief of the Medical Corps of the Army; His Majesty the King of Spain: His Excellency Mr. Silverio de Baguer y Corsi, Count of Baguer, Minister Resident; The President of the United States of America: Mr. William Cary Sanger, former Assistant Secretary of War of the United States of America, Rear-Admiral Charles S. Sperry, President of the Naval War College, Brigadier-General George B. Davis, Judge-Advocate-General of the Army, Brigadier-General Robert M. O'Reilly, Surgeon-General of the Army; The President of the United States of Brazil: Dr. Carlos Lemgruber-Kropf, Chargé d'Affaires at Berne, Colonel of Engineers Roberto Trompowski, Leitao d'Almeida, Military Attaché to the Brazilian Legation at Berne; The President of the United Mexican States: General of Brigade José Maria Perez; The President of the French Republic: His Excellency Mr. Révoil, Ambassador to Berne, Mr. Louis Renault, Member of the Institute of France, Minister Plenipotentiary, Jurisconsult of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Professor in the Faculty of Law at Paris, Colonel Olivier of Reserve Artillery, Chief Surgeon Pauzat of the Second Class; |