The Red Cross in Peace and War

by Clara Barton

Department of State,
Washington, April 25, 1898.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the twenty-third instant, whereby, in view of the condition of war existing between the United States and Spain, you communicate the purpose of your government to propose to the cabinets of Washington and Madrid that they recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vivendi, during the whole duration of hostilities, the additional articles proposed by the International Conference of Geneva, under date of October 20, 1868, for the purpose of extending to naval wars the effects of the convention of Geneva of August 22, 1864, for the succor of the wounded in armies in the field.

As you note in the communication to which I have the honor to reply, the United States, through the act of the President, did on the first day of March, 1882, accede to the said additional articles of October 20, 1868, at the same time that it acceded to the original convention of Geneva of August 22, 1864; but, as is recited in the President’s proclamation of July 26, 1882, a copy of which I enclose herewith, the exchange of the ratifications of the aforesaid additional articles of October 20, 1868, had not then (nor has since) taken place between the contracting parties, so that the promulgation of the accession of the United States to the said additional articles was (and still remains) reserved until the exchange of the ratifications thereof between the several contracting states shall have been effected and the said additional articles shall have acquired full force and effect as an international treaty.

I find, upon examination of the published correspondence which took place in 1870 at the time of the war between France and North Germany (British and Foreign State Papers, vol. 60, pp. 945-946), that upon the initiative of the Prussian minister at Berne, followed by the proposal made by the government of the Swiss confederation to the French and North German governments, the then belligerents severally notified to the government of Switzerland their willingness to accept provisionally and at once to establish as a modus vivendi applicable to the war then in progress, both by sea and land, all the additional articles to the convention of Geneva of October 20, 1868, together with the subsequent interpretations of the ninth and tenth articles thereof agreed upon and proposed by England and France. I understand from your note that, although those articles have not as yet become a matter of international convention, it is desired that the United States and Spain accede to the same, together with the same amendments and construction as above stated. I entertain no doubt that the United States will readily lend its support and approval to the general purpose of those articles and be in favor of adopting them as a modus vivendi; it has ever been in favor of proper regulations for the mitigation of the hardships of war. But before it can accede to them as a matter of fact, in the present instance, it must first fully understand the nature and text of the amendments and construction placed upon the articles by France and England as stated by you.

I would respectfully suggest, therefore, that there be furnished to this government either the text or a clear exposition of the articles, with the amendments and constructions referred to, in order that the understanding may be complete. A certain pamphlet, written by Lieutenant Colonel Poland in 1886, is said to contain these amendments and constructions, but there is not now accessible to the Department of State a copy of such pamphlet or other reliable means of information on the subject. I shall await with pleasure fuller and exact information from you of the terms to which we are asked to accede.

Accept, etc.

John Sherman.

Swiss Legation,
Washington, D.C., May 4, 1898.

Mr. Secretary of State: I have had the honor to receive the note which your honorable predecessor did me the favor of addressing to me under the date of the twenty-fifth of April, in reply to mine of the twenty-third of the same month, upon the subject of the proposition of my government to the cabinets of Washington and Madrid to adopt as a modus vivendi pending the entire duration of the war, the articles of the twentieth of October, 1868, additional to those of the convention of Geneva of the twenty-second of August, 1864.

The documents which, in the aforesaid note of your predecessor, were desired and which, as I have had the opportunity of telling you verbally, my government had sent at the same time that it instructed me by cable to make the overtures on the subject, have just arrived, and I enclose them herein in duplicate copies. They confirm the text of the additional articles, the modification of Article IX proposed by France and the notes exchanged between England and France concerning the import of Article X. The Spanish Government having, by note of its Legation of the seventh of September, 1872, also declared that it was ready to adhere to the articles in question, the Federal Council hopes that the governments of America and Spain, appreciating the sentiments which have guided it in its course, will be of accord in adopting as a modus vivendi a measure which has for its purpose the securing of the application upon the sea of the humanitarian principles consecrated by the Geneva Convention.