ARMISTICES.

155. An armistice is a suspension of military operations by agreement between the belligerents.

Armistices may be:

(a) Definite or indefinite.

(b) General or local.

(a) A definite armistice prescribes the time at which it will become operative and its duration. An indefinite armistice makes it possible for a belligerent to resume hostilities at any time, subject to the conditions agreed upon in the terms.

(b) A general armistice suspends all military operations between the belligerents. A local armistice suspends hostilities within a given area or between specified forces.*

The terms "suspension of arms" and "truce" are also used to describe such agreements.

The armistice signed by the Russian and Japanese plenipotentiaries preliminary to the coming into operation of the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 was as follows:

"1. A certain distance (zone of demarcation) shall be fixed between the fronts of the armies of the two powers in Manchuria, as well as in the region of the Tomanko.

"2. The naval forces of one of the belligerents shall no bombard territory belonging to or occupied by the other. "3. Maritime captures will not be suspended by the armistice.

"4. During the term of the armistice reinforcements shall not be dispatched to the theater of war. Those which are en route shall not be dispatched to the north of Moukden on the part of Japan and to the south of Harbin on the part of Russia.

"5. The commanders of the armies and fleets of the two powers shall determine on common accord the conditions of the armistice in conformity with the provisions above enumerated.

"6. The two governments shall give orders to their commanders immediately after the signature of the Treaty of Peace in order to put this protocol into execution." "

4 Laws and Customs of War on Land, c. V, Appendix, p. 542.

5 Takahashi, Russo-Japanese War, p. 219.

OPERATION OF ARMISTICES.

156. The suspension of hostilities commences on notification of the existence of the armistice, or at the time fixed in the agreement, and continues in accord with its terms for the time specified, unless denounced for good cause.

In case of an armistice or truce, hostilities are suspended immediately on notification, or at a fixed time.

When the armistice or truce is general, and extends over a large area of hostile operations, the custom is to fix different dates for the different localities, so as to permit time for receipt of the news at these places.

A subordinate officer is bound only in case of notification from a superior authority, not by a statement of the enemy.

In the protocol of August 12, 1898, preliminary to the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, it was stipulated that:

"Article VI. Upon the conclusion and signing of this protocol, hostilities between the two countries shall be suspended, and notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of its military and naval forces."

In a proclamation of President McKinley of the same date he said:

"Whereas, it is in said protocol agreed that upon its conclusion and signature hostilities between the two countries shall be suspended, and that notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of its military and naval forces:

"Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, do, in accordance with the stipulations of the protocol, declare and proclaim on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, and do hereby command that orders be immediately given through the proper channels to the commanders of the military and naval forces of the United States to abstain from all acts inconsistent with this proclamation." •

• 30 Stat. 1780.

6

The usual effect of an armistice or truce is to suspend all hostile operations of an active nature, with the implied understanding that conditions shall remain as at the commencement of the armistice, and all acts during the armistice tending to strengthen a belligerent, which his enemy would be in a position to prevent, were it not for the truce, are prohibited. Operations which could be carried on irrespective of the armistice, in general, are permissible.

"It rests with the contracting parties to settle, in the terms of the armistice, what communications may be held in the theater of war with the inhabitants, and between the inhabitants of one belligerent state and those of the other.

"Any serious violation of the armistice by one of the parties gives the other party the right of denouncing it, and even, in cases of urgency, of recommencing hostilities immediately.

"A violation of the terms of the armistice by private persons acting on their own initiative only entitles the injured party to demand the punishment of the offenders, or, if necessary, compensation for the losses sustained."

In case an armistice is not denounced, and there is no time specified for its termination, hostilities may be resumed after warning agreed upon between the belligerents. If a time for its termination is fixed in the agreement, hostilities may be resumed after that time.

CARTELS.

157. Cartels are agreements between belligerents for the purpose of regulating permitted intercourse in time of war, particularly the exchange and treatment of pris

oners.

Conventional agreements of the nature of cartels seem to have been in use as early as the middle of the sixteenth century and to have been in common use during the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648. These agreements sometimes fixed the ratio of exchange of prisoners and the amount of money to be paid for each prisoner in excess of the even exchange number. In

7 Laws and Customs of War on Land, arts. XXXIX-XLI, Appendix, p. 543.

a treaty between the United States and Prussia in 1785, very liberal rules for the treatment, care, and parole of prisoners of war were made. In many respects the most advanced regulations of the present day are not more humane. There is a provision "that each party shall be allowed to keep a commissary of prisoners of their own appointment, with every separate cantonment of prisoners in possession of the other, which commissary shall see the prisoners as often as he pleases, shall be allowed to receive and distribute whatever comforts may be sent to them by their friends, and shall be free to make his reports in open letters to those who employ him." That this and other similarly enlightened provisions might not fail, the treaty further specifies in article 24: "And it is declared that neither the pretense that war dissolves all treaties, nor any other whatever, shall be considered as annulling or suspending this and the next preceding article; but, on the contrary, that the state of war is precisely that for which they are provided, and during which they are to be as sacredly observed as the most acknowledged articles in the law of nature or nations."

Both belligerents are bound to observe the terms of the cartel, and they "are of such force under the law of nations that even the sovereign cannot annul them." 8

In case vessels are concerned in the performance of a cartel contract, such vessels are exempt from capture and entitled to protection of both belligerents so long as strictly engaged in the exchange. Any departure from the strict line of service under the engagement may make the vessel liable under the ordinary laws of war. Such vessels are not to be armed or prepared for carrying on hostilities, though they may carry a gun for saluting purposes.

8 United States v. Wright, 28 Fed. Cas. 796.

SAFE-CONDUCTS AND PASSPORTS.

158. A safe-conduct is a form of pass issued by a commanding officer in a region, authorizing an enemy subject to travel under specified conditions as to time and place in that region.

Safe-conducts are also issued to permit the carriage of goods to a specified place.

General permission to travel in the area belonging to or occupied by a belligerent is sometimes issued by the government in the form of a passport.

The safe-conduct is issued by the commanding officer in the region. The passport is granted by the government. They are alike not transferable, and liable to be withdrawn if not properly used or for military reasons.

SAFEGUARDS.

159. A safeguard is a protection granted either to persons or property within the limits of the command, and consists either in a written order or a guard of soldiers.

When a safeguard is in the form of a written order, it may be given to the enemy subject or may be posted upon the property. Property thus protected usually is semi-public in character, as museums, libraries, etc. Safeguard in the form of a detail of one or more soldiers may also be given. In such case this guard is inviolable, and if they fall into the power of the enemy must be treated with consideration and be sent back to their command.

The term "safeguard," or "safe-conduct," is sometimes used to describe the copy of a ransom bill retained by the master of a vessel who has purchased his release from capture, as this serves to protect him from capture by vessels of the belligerent from which he has purchased his release, provided he observes the conditions under which he has been released.