12. Pour la République de Cuba: ANTONIO S. DE BUSTAMANTE.

CONVENTION RESPECTING THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR ON LAND. Concluded October 18, 1907; ratification advised by the Senate March 10, 1908; ratified by the President February 23, 1909; ratification deposited with the Netherlands Government November 27, 1909; proclaimed February 28, 1910.

I. Instructions to forces.

II. Application.

III. Violation by belligerent.

IV. Ratification.

ARTICLES.

V. Time and deposit of ratification.

VI. Nonsignatory powers.
VII. When to come into force.
VIII. Denunciation.

IX. Register of ratifications.

• The ratifications of this convention were deposited at The Hague November 27, 1909, by Germany, United States of America, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Bolivia, and Salvador.

ANNEX.

Regulations respecting the laws and customs of war on land.

CHAPTER I.-Means of injuring the enemy; sieges; bombardments.

SECTION III.-Military authority over the territory of the hostile State.

[Translation.]

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; the President of the United States of America; the President of the Argentine Republic; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, &c., and Apostolic King of Hungary; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; the President of the Republic of Bolivia; the President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil; His Royal Highness the Prince of Bulgaria; the President of the Republic of Chile; the President of the Republic of Colombia; the Provisional Governor of the Republic of Cuba; His Majesty the King of Denmark; the President of the Dominican Republic; the President of the Republic of Ecuador; the President of the French Republic; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India; His Majesty the King of the Hellenes; the President of the Republic of Guatemala; the President of the Republic of Haïti; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan; His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, Duke of Nassau; the President of the United States of Mexico; His Royal Highness the Prince of Montenegro; His Majesty the King of Norway; the President of the Republic of Panama; the President of the Republic of Paraguay; 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, &c.; His Majesty the King of Roumania; His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias; the President of the Republic of Salvador; His Majesty the King of Servia; His Majesty the King of Siam; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans; the President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay; the President of the United States of Venezuela:

Seeing that, while seeking means to preserve peace and prevent armed conflicts between nations, it is likewise necessary to bear in mind the case where the appeal to arms has been brought about by events which their care was unable to avert;

Animated by the desire to serve, even in this extreme case, the interests of humanity and the ever progressive needs of civilization; Thinking it important, with this object, to revise the general laws and customs of war, either with a view to defining them with greater precision or to confining them within such limits as would mitigate their severity as far as possible;

Have deemed it necessary to complete and explain in certain particulars the work of the First Peace Conference, which, following on the Brussels Conference of 1874, and inspired by the ideas dictated by a wise and generous forethought, adopted provisions intended to define and govern the usages of war on land.

According to the views of the High Contracting Parties, these provisions, the wording of which has been inspired by the desire to diminish the evils of war, as far as military requirements permit, are intended to serve as a general rule of conduct for the belligerents in their mutual relations and in their relations with the inhabitants.

It has not, however, been found possible at present to concert Regulations covering all the circumstances which arise in practice;

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On the other hand, the High Contracting Parties clearly do not intend that unforeseen cases should, in the absence of a written undertaking, be left to the arbitrary judgment of military commanders.

Until a more complete code of the laws of war has been issued, the High Contracting Parties deem it expedient to declare that, in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity, and the dictates of the public conscience.

They declare that it is in this sense especially that Articles I and II of the Regulations adopted must be understood.

The High Contracting Parties, wishing to conclude a fresh Convention to this effect, have appointed the following as their Plenipotentiaries:-a

Sa Majesté l'Empereur d'Allemagne, Roi de Prusse:

Son Excellence le baron Marschall de Bieberstein, Son ministre d'état, Son ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire à Constantinople;

M. le dr. Johannes Kriege, Son envoyé en mission extraordinaire à la présente Conférence, Son conseiller intime de légation et jurisconsulte au ministère Impérial des affaires étrangères, membre de la cour permanente d'arbitrage.

Le Président des États-Unis d'Amérique:

Son Excellence M. Joseph H. Choate, ambassadeur extraordi-
naire;

Son Excellence M. Horace Porter, ambassadeur extraordinaire;
Son Excellence M. Uriah M. Rose, ambassadeur extraordinaire;
Son Excellence M. David Jayne Hill, envoyé extraordinaire et
ministre plénipotentiaire de la République à La Haye;
M. Charles S. Sperry, contre-amiral, ministre plénipotentiaire;
M. Georges B. Davis, général de brigade, chef de la justice mili-
taire de l'armée fédérale, ministre plénipotentiaire;
M. William I. Buchanan, ministre plénipotentiaire.

Le Président de la République Argentine:

Son Excellence M. Roque Saenz Peña, ancien ministre des affaires étrangères, envoyé extraordinaire et ministre plénipotentiaire de la République à Rome, membre de la cour permanente d'arbitrage;

Son Excellence M. Luis M. Drago, ancien ministre des affaires étrangères et des cultes de la République, député national. membre de la cour permanente d'arbitrage;

Son Excellence M. Carlos Rodriguez Larreta, ancien ministre des affaires étrangères et des cultes de la République, membre de la cour permanente d'arbitrage.

Sa Majesté l'Empereur d'Autriche, Roi de Bohême, etc., et Roi Apostolique de Hongrie:

Son Excellence M. Gaëtan Mérey de Kapos-Mére, Son conseiller intime, Son ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire; Son Excellence M. le baron Charles de Macchio, Son envoyé extraordinaire et ministre plénipotentiaire à Athènes.

The names of the Plenipotentiaries in the President's proclamation appear in French only.