Prizes, or Vessels Seized as Such, and Prisoners.

or commit acts of hostility or of authority within a marine league of any foreign country with which we are at peace.

729.... When such a visit shall be made, the vessel, if neutral, is not then to be seized without a search carefully made, so far as to render it reasonable to believe that she is engaged in carrying contraband of war for or to the enemy, and to his ports, directly or indirectly; or unless she is attempting to violate a blockade established by the United States. If, after visitation and search, it shall appear to the satisfaction of the commanding officer that the vessel is in good faith and without contraband actually bound and passing from one friendly or neutral point to another, and not bound or proceeding to or from a port in the possession of the enemy, then she cannot be lawfully seized. It shall be the duty of the officer making the search to indorse upon the ship's register or license the fact of the visit, the nature of the search, by what vessel made, the name of her Commander, the latitude and longitude, the time of detention, and when released.

730. In order to avoid difficulty and error in relation to papers found on board a neutral vessel that may have been seized, the commanding officer will take care that official seals, or fastenings of foreign authorities, are in no case, nor on any pretext, to be broken, or parcels covered by them read by any naval authorities; but all bags or other things covering such parcels, and duly sealed or fastened by foreign authorities, will be remitted to the prize court.

731....If information should be received by a Commanding Officer that a suspicious vessel has come, or intends to come, within the limits of his prescribed cruising ground, he will not be authorized to depart from the usual practice in regard to visitation, search, or capture, but shall, in the event of falling in with her, proceed in all respects as provided for in paragraphs No. 728 and 729.

732....The officers and crew of a neutral vessel seized are by no means to be confined either in irons or otherwise, except by detention on board, unless by their own conduct they should render such restraint necessary. Their personal property is to be respected, and a full and proper allowance of provisions is to be distributed to them. If any cruelty or unnecessary force is used towards such crew, a prize court will decree damages to the injured parties.

Prizes, or Vessels Seized as Such, and Prisoners.

733....A neutral vessel seized is to wear the flag of her own country until she is adjudged to be a lawful prize by a competent court. The flag of the United States, however, may be exhibited at the fore, when necessary, to indicate that she is, for the time, in the possession of officers of the United States.

731.... The form of a letter of instructions to be given to prize masters, to be observed by Commanding Officers, will be found in the Appendix, No. 15.

735.... The Navigator, or other officer, or prize master, in whose charge instruments are placed, or the prize master to whom arms are intrusted, will be held strictly accountable for their condition, and in case of loss or damage, by neglect or any other cause not satisfactorily explained, the value will be charged to his account. The officer appointing a prize master will require to give a receipt in duplicate for the instruments and arms with which he may be furnished, one of the same to be forwarded to the Commanding Officer of the station to which the prize vessel is bound, and the other to be retained by such appointing officer; and in case of any deficiency in the delivery of these instruments and arms, or of any palpable abuse, the Commanding Officer of the station will at once have the matter investigated, and report the result to the proper bureau of the Navy Department.

736.... Prisoners of war are to be treated with humanity; their personal property shall be carefully protected; they shall have a proper allowance of provisions, and every comfort of air and exercise which circumstances admit of, shall be allowed them. Every precaution must be taken to prevent any hostile attempt on their part, and if necessary or expedient, they may be ironed or closely confined. If officers consent to give their parole not to attempt any hostile act on board the vessel, and to conform to such requirements as the Commanding Officer may consider necessary, they may be permitted such privileges of quarters and of the deck as he may deem proper.

737....If any vessel shall be taken acting as a vessel of war, or a privateer, without having a proper commission so to act, the officers and crew shall be considered as pirates and treated accordingly.

738....When a vessel is detailed to act in the suppression of the slave

Paroling.

trade, her Commanding Officer, if acting singly, will be furnished by the Department with the necessary instructions, slave trade papers, &c., but if acting otherwise, by the Commander-in Chief of the squadron.

ARTICLE XVI.

PAROLING AND FLAGS OF TRUCE.

SECTION 1.

Paroling.

739....Paroling must always take place by the interchange of signed duplicates of a written document, in which the names and rank of the persons paroled are correctly and distinctly stated. Any one who intentionally misstates his rank forfeits the benefit of his parole, and is liable to punishment.

740....None but Commissioned Officers can give the parole for themselves and their command, and no inferior officer can give a parole without the authority of his superior, if within reach.

741...No paroling of entire bodies of men after a battle or capture, and no dismissal of large numbers of prisoners with a general declaration that they are paroled, is permitted, or will be considered of any value.

742....An officer who shall give a parole for himself or his command without referring to his superior, when it is in his power to do so, will be considered as giving "aid and comfort to the enemy," and may be considered as a deserter, and be punished accordingly.

743....For the officer the pledging of his parole is an individual act, and no wholesale paroling by an officer for a number of inferiors in rank, in violation of paragraph No. 739, is permitted or will be considered valid.

744....No Non-commissioned or Warranted Officer, or seaman, or private marine, or other person belonging to the Navy, can give his parole except through a Commissioned Officer. Individual paroles not given through an officer are not only void, but make the individuals giving them amenable to punishment as deserters, The only admissa

Paroling....Flags of Truce.

ble exception is when individuals, properly separated from their commanders, have suffered long confinement without the possibility of being paroled through an officer.

745.... No prisoner of war can be forced by the hostile government to pledge his parole, and any threats or ill-treatment to force the giving of the parole is contrary to the law of war.

746...No prisoner of war can enter into engagements inconsistent with his character and duties as a citizen and a subject of his state. He can only bind himself not to bear arms against his captor for a limited period, or until he is exchanged, and this only with the stipulated or implied consent of his own government. If the engagement which he makes is not approved by his government, he is bound to return and surrender himself as a prisoner of war. His own government cannot, at the same time, disown his engagement and refuse his return as a prisoner.

747.... No one can pledge his parole that he will never bear arms against the government of his captors, nor that he will not bear arms against any other enemy of his government not at the time the ally of his captors. Such agreements have reference only to the existing enemy and his existing allies, and the existing war, and not to future belligerents.

748.... While the pledging of the military parole is a voluntary act of the individual, the capturing power is not obliged to grant it.

749....Paroles not authorized by the common law of war are not valid until approved by the government of the individual so pledging his parole.

750....The pledging of any unauthorized military parole is a miliary offence, punishable under the common law of war.

SECTION 2.

Flags of Truce.

751....A flag of truce is, in its nature, of a sacred character, and is ever to be so regarded by all persons in the Navy of the United States. 752....To use it to obtain surreptitiously naval knowledge or infor

Flags of True.

mation against the interests or wishes of an enemy, is to abuse it, and to subject the bearer of it to the punishment of a spy.

753.... The senior officer present is alone authorized to despatch, or to admit communication with, a flag of truce; but a vessel in a position to discover the approach of a flag of truce earlier than the rest, is, whenever one appears, to communicate promptly the fact by signal.

754....A flag of truce is always to be admitted with great circumspection, and should never be allowed to approach so as to be a means of acquiring useful information. The firing of a gun, with a blank charge, by the flag or senior officer's ship, is generally understood as a warning to a flag of truce not to approach any nearer.

755....Unnecessary frequency in the use of a flag of truce is to be carefully avoided.

756....A flag of truce on the water should be met at a suitable distance off, or at the point previously agreed upon, by a boat or vessel from the senior officer's ship, in charge of a commissioned and discreet officer, and having a white flag kept plainly displayed forward from the time of leaving until that of return.

757.... And in despatching a flag of truce the same precaution as to a suitable officer to be placed in charge, and as to keeping the white flag displayed, is to be observed.

758.... Whenever the white flag is used, the ensign is also to be exhibited.

759....No flag of truce can insist on being admitted; and as a rare exception only should a flag of truce be admitted during an et gagement. If then admitted, it is no breach of faith to retain it. Firing is not necessarily to cease at the appearance of a flag of truce in battle, and if any one cornected with it be killed, no complaint can be made. If, however, the white flag be exhibited evidently as a token of submission, then, of course, firir g should cease.

760.... An attacking force should avoid firing on hospitals whenever they are designated by flags or other symbols distinctly underderstood; but it is an act of bad faith, amounting to infamy, to hoist the hospital protective flag over any other building than a hospital, unless the attacking force should request or consent that it might be used in order to spare edifices dedicated to science or literature, or containing works of art.