flags of truce would be received. The military dele- Chapter IV gates at the Peace Conference all considered that the point was sufficiently covered by the provision of Article 33, to the effect that a commander to whom a flag of truce is sent is not obliged to receive it under all circumstances. Accordingly the proposition of the Brussels Conference was stricken out.

ARTICLE 34. The envoy loses his rights of in- Treachery. violability if it is proved beyond doubt that he has taken advantage of his privileged position to provoke or commit an act of treachery.

Chapter IV. On Capitulations

ARTICLE 35. Capitulations agreed upon between Military the Contracting Parties must be in accordance with honor. the rules of military honor.

When once settled, they must be scrupulously observed by both parties.

Chapter V. On Armistices

ARTICLE 36. An armistice suspends military opera- Definition tions by mutual agreement between the belligerent and duration. parties. If its duration is not fixed, the belligerent parties can resume operations at any time, provided always the enemy is warned within the time agreed upon, in accordance with the terms of the armistice.

tice.

ARTICLE 37. An armistice may be general or General or local. The first suspends all military operations of local armisthe belligerent States; the second, only those between certain fractions of the belligerent armies and in a fixed radius

Chapter IV

ARTICLE 38. An armistice must be notified offiNotification cially, and in good time, to the competent authorities and the troops. Hostilities are suspended immediately after the notification, or at a fixed date.

necessary.

What communications permissible.

Violation by

one of the parties.

By private

ARTICLE 39. It is for the Contracting Parties to settle, in the terms of the armistice, what communications may be held, on the theatre of war, with the population and with each other.

ARTICLE 40. Any serious violation of the armistice by one of the parties gives the other party the right to denounce it, and even, in case of urgency, to recommence hostilities at once.

ARTICLE 41. A violation of the terms of the individuals. armistice by private individuals acting on their own initiative, only confers the right of demanding the punishment of the offenders, and, if necessary, indemnity for the losses sustained.

What is occupied territory.

Order and safety.

SECTION III. ON MILITARY AUTHORITY OVER HOSTILE

TERRITORY

ARTICLE 42. Territory is considered occupied, when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation applies only to the territory where such authority is established, and in a position to assert itself.

ARTICLE 43. The authority of the legitimate power having actually passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all steps in his power to re-establish and insure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.

ARTICLE 44. Any compulsion of the population Chapter IV of occupied territory to take part in military opera- No conscriptions against its own country is prohibited.

tiou.

allegiance.

ARTICLE 45. Any pressure on the population of No oath of occupied territory to take an oath of allegiance to the hostile Power is prohibited.

ARTICLE 46. Family honor and rights, individual Individual lives and private property, as well as religious convic- rights tions and liberty, must be respected. Private property

cannot be confiscated.

ARTICLE 47. Pillage is absolutely prohibited.

respected.

Pillage prohibited.

ARTICLE 48. If, in the territory occupied, the Taxation. occupant collects the taxes, dues, and tolls imposed for the benefit of the State, he shall do it, as far as possible, in accordance with the rules in existence, and the assessment in force, and will in consequence be bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied territory on the same scale as that by which the legitimate Government was bound.

ARTICLE 49. If, besides the taxes mentioned in Contributions. the preceding Article, the occupant levies other money taxes in the occupied territory, this can only

be for military necessities or the administration of such territory.

individual

ARTICLE 50. No general penalty, pecuniary or No general otherwise, can be inflicted on the population on penalty for account of the acts of individuals, for which it can- acts. not be regarded as collectively responsible.

ARTICLE 51. No tax shall be collected except Collection of under a written order and on the responsibility of a taxes. Commander-in-Chief. This collection shall only take

Chapter IV place, as far as possible, in accordance with the rules in existence and the assessment of taxes in force.

Requisitions.

Taking of property.

Landing con

nections of submarine

For every payment a receipt shall be given to the taxpayer.

ARTICLE 52. Neither requisitions in kind, nor services can be demanded from communes or inhabitants, except for the necessities of the army of occupation. They must be in proportion to the resources of the country, and of such a nature as not to involve the population in the obligation of taking part in military operations against their country.

These requisitions and services shall only be demanded on the authority of the Commander in the locality occupied.

The contributions in kind shall, as far as possible, be paid for in ready money, if not, their receipt shall be acknowledged.

ARTICLE 53. An army of occupation can only take possession of the cash, funds, and property liable to requisition belonging strictly to the State, depots of arms, means of transport, stores, and supplies, and, generally, all movable property of the State which may be used for military operations.

Railway plant, telegraphs, telephones, steamers, and other ships, apart from cases governed by maritime law, as well as depots of arms and, generally, all kinds of war material, even though belonging to Companies or to private persons, are likewise material which may serve for military operations, but they must be restored at the conclusion of peace, and indemnities paid for them.

M. de Bille of Denmark proposed to add to the cables. second paragraph of this Article a provision protect

ing the landing connections of submarine cables Chapter IV within the maritime territorial limits of the respective States. The Government of Denmark had made a similar proposition in the Conference of Brussels of 1874. The Danish delegate declared that he would have preferred to extend the protection of this Article to all submarine cables in their full extent, but for practical reasons he confined his proposition upon this occasion to the protection of the landing connections within the limit of one league from the shore, hoping that the immense importance of the subject of protecting all submarine cables would cause it to be referred to a future conference. Lord Pauncefote, on behalf of Great Britain, declared that his Government could not consider this subject as falling properly within the jurisdiction of a Committee having charge of the rules of war on land; and the Danish delegate, under these circumstances, withdrew his proposition.

ARTICLE 54. The plant of railways coming from Railway neutral States, whether the property of those States, plants. or of Companies, or of private persons, shall be sent back to them as soon as possible.

State.

ARTICLE 55. The occupying State shall only be Trusteeship regarded as administrator and usufructuary of the of occupying public buildings, real property, forests, and agricultural works belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must protect the capital of these properties, and administer it according to the rules of trusteeship.