more than five miles from his registered place of residence without a permit, which was limited to twenty-four hours, except in special circumstances. No enemy alien, without the written permission of the registration officer, was allowed to have in his possession any firearms, ammunition, petroleum, signaling apparatus, motor cars, cycles, or boats, air craft, cipher code, telephone installation, military or naval charts, and various other articles. Likewise, the circulation among enemy aliens of any newspapers printed wholly or mainly in the language of an enemy state was forbidden, except with the written permission of a secretary of state. The Secretary of State for Home Affairs was empowered to order any chief officer of police to close any premises used for the purposes of a club and habitually frequented by enemy aliens. Enemy aliens were prohibited from engaging in the business of banking, except with the written permission of a secretary of state, who was authorized to prescribe such conditions and restrictions as he deemed advisable, and no enemy alien who was at the time or had been engaged in such business was allowed to part with any money or securities of such bank.18 For the purpose of enforcing such orders, constables were authorized to enter, search, or occupy any premises in which the business of banking had been carried on by an enemy alien.

By an Order in Council of January 7, 1915, registration officers were authorized to grant to Turkish subjects belonging to the Greek, Armenian, or Syrian races, or members of any other community well known to be opposed to the Turkish régime, certificates of exemption from any or all of the provisions of the Aliens Restriction Order, except those which applied to alien friends.

To prevent evasion of the restrictions thus imposed by concealing their real identity, enemy aliens were prohibited from changing their names or the names of partnerships or companies of which they were members.

regularly to the police. Solicitors Journal and Weekly Reporter, Vol. 61, p. 732. By an Order in Council of Aug. 27, 1916, the Secretary of State was authorized to grant exemptions in special cases. Ibid., Vol. 61, p. 741.

18 Licenses were granted to certain German banks from time to time in accordance with the provisions of this order.

At the outbreak of the war, the British Government accorded to German subjects a period of seven days during which they might leave, but it does not appear that any considerable number actually got away. Neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary, however, allowed any period of grace, and all male British subjects, regardless of their age or condition, were refused permission to return to their native country.19 Soon after the outbreak of the war the German Government informed the British Government through the American Ambassador at Berlin that it was prepared to allow British subjects then in Germany to leave, provided the British Government would accord reciprocal treatment to German subjects in Great Britain. In short, the German Government proposed that the British Government should exchange more than 50,000 Germans in England for some 5000 British subjects in Germany. The German population in England was classified as: (a) reservists, who were under duty to render military or naval service; (b) persons detained for military or naval reasons; and (c) noncombatants "not specially detained." Many reports having reached England that British subjects detained in Germany were being badly treated, the British Government gave serious consideration to the German proposal, and on August 31 replied expressing its willingness to permit all German women and children,20 all males under sixteen years of age and over forty-four years, and all persons between those ages who were not under liability for military service in Germany and who would give an undertaking not to take part, directly or indirectly, in the operations of the war, to leave, provided the German Government would reciprocate. On September 15, the German Government replied to the British counter-proposal, offering to accept it in the main, except that it refused to allow the departure of British males of military age who were not under duty of military service in England, even though they were willing to give an undertaking not to take part in the operations of the war. It having in the meantime come to the

19 Sir Ernest Satow, in an article entitled "The Treatment of Enemy Aliens," published in the Publications of the Grotius Society, Vol. II, p. 8.

20 The British Government stated that in fact it had from the first allowed women and children to leave England, although the German Government had not accorded reciprocity of treatment in respect to women of British nationality.

attention of the British Government that the liability to military service in Germany had been extended to include males up to the fifty-fifth year, the British offer was modified so as to withhold the privilege of departure to males between the ages of sixteen and fiftyfive years. The German Government denied that compulsory military service existed for men over forty-four years of age, although it admitted that such persons were serving in the army as volunteers. The British Government took the position, however, that the fact that men up to fifty-five years of age were actually serving in the German army must be taken into consideration in reaching an agreement.

According to a telegram of October 22, 1914, from the American Ambassador at Berlin to the American Ambassador at London, Germany was allowing all British civilians, except men between the ages of seventeen and fifty-five, and also clergymen and physicians of all ages, to leave Germany, and Sir Edward Grey, in a communication to Mr. Page of October 28, informed him that the British Government was according reciprocity of treatment to German civilians belonging to these classes. 21 But apparently the German Government still refused to allow the departure of males between the ages of seventeen and fifty-five who were willing to give a pledge not to take part in the war, and therefore the British Government was not prepared to release German subjects of this class. In reply to an inquiry from Berlin of November 3, 1914, received through the American Embassy, as to whether the British Government was arresting "wholesale" German subjects over forty-five years of age, Sir Edward Grey stated that no Germans over that age had been arrested. At the same time he asked the American Ambassador to call the attention of the German Government to the fact that there were upwards of 50,000 Germans residing in England, the presence of whom must necessarily be a cause of anxiety to the military authorities, who were charged with taking suitable measures for the defense of the realm. The German Government, on the other hand, he said, had not the same excuse for proceeding

21 Correspondence between His Majesty's Government and the United States Ambassador respecting the Release of Interned Civilians, etc., Misc. No. 8 (1915), [Cd. 7857], p. 13.

to a wholesale arrest of British subjects in Germany, since, owing to the small number of them, the scattered condition in which they live, and the different character of the classes to which they belong, they could not, under any circumstances, be regarded as constituting the same danger to Germany that the masses of German subjects in Great Britain constituted to that country.22

On November 9, 1914, the American Ambassador at London received a telegram from Berlin, announcing that British subjects between seventeen and fifty-five had been interned, except clericals, doctors, and women, and British subjects from colonies or protectorates where Germans were not interned. Germany renewed its offer to release men over forty-five if England would do so. Sir Edward Grey, on November 12, replied, denying that there had been any general arrest of Germans over forty-five years of age, but that only individual suspects had been subjected to such treatment. Steps, he said, were being taken to release and send back to Germany all persons detained who were over fifty-five years of age, except a few suspects. Of the 27,500 male Germans above the age of seventeen in England, only 8,600 had been interned, leaving 18,900 at liberty, and of those interned 600 had been released within the last two or three weeks.23

The correspondence between the two governments regarding the matter continued throughout the years 1915 and 1916. 24 The German Government desired first of all a general release by each belligerent of all civilians without exception held by the other. The British Government took the position that it could not afford to exchange the entire German population resident in Great Britain for the British population in Germany, owing to the very great disproportion in their numbers.

Finally, all hope of reaching an agreement on the basis of the British proposal having passed, the British Government, "from motives of humanity," yielded and agreed to release all German male civilians over forty-five years of age, provided Germany would release all British

p. 16.

23 Ibid., p. 24.

22 Ibid., 24 The additional correspondence is found in two British White Papers, Misc. No. 35 (1916) and No. 1 (1917) — issued in continuation of the White Papers already cited.

male civilians then held as prisoners. The British Government, however, insisted on a stipulation to the effect that each party to the agreement must have the right to detain for military reasons at least twenty persons who would otherwise be eligible for release. The German Government expressed regret that the British Government could not see its way clear to accept its proposal for the reciprocal release of all civilian prisoners, but nevertheless it agreed to accept the proposal for the release of all males over forty-five years of age as the only means of preventing the failure of the agreement. This agreement was definitely concluded in January, 1917.

According to the London press dispatches, Germany obtained under this agreement the release of about 7000 of her subjects held as interned civilian prisoners in England and the Dominions, whereas Great Britain on her part secured the repatriation of some 600 or 700 British subjects held in Germany.

It is unfortunate that an agreement for the release and repatriation of all interned civilians on both sides was never reached, but the very unequal numbers held by both belligerents made the problem a very difficult one. The British Government was quite aware that in case it released the entire German civilian population in return for the release of the comparatively small number of British subjects held in Germany, the effect would be to strengthen the military power of Germany out of all proportion to the military benefit which Great Britain herself would have derived from the repatriation of her own civilians held in Germany. The British Government can hardly be reproached, therefore, for insisting on a system of exchange on a man for man basis. It would seem, however, that the difficulty might have been obviated by a system of parole under which all civilians held by each belligerent could have been released under a pledge not to reënlist in the army or take part in military operations upon their return home. It was quite apparent, however, that the British Government was not prepared to trust so much to German honor.

An arrangement was early reached providing for the exchange of invalids and other persons who were incapable of performing military service, but Germany hesitated whether it should refuse to release retired military and naval officers who were at German health resorts