APPENDIX
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE FOREIGN OFFICE RESPECTING THE INTERPRETATION
OF ARTICLE 23(h) OF THE HAGUE REGULATIONS CONCERNING LAND WARFARE
LETTER FROM THE PRESENT WRITER TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE.
Whewell House, Cambridge,
28th February, 1911.
To
The Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Sir,—
I venture to bring the following matter before your consideration:—
In the course of my recent studies I have been dealing with the laws and usages of war on land, and I have had to consider the interpretation of Article 23(h) of the Regulations attached to the Convention of 1907 relating to the Laws and Customs of war on land. I find that the interpretation prevailing among all continental and some English and American authorities is contrary to the old English rule, and I would respectfully ask to be informed of the view which His Majesty's Government place upon the article in question.
To give some idea as to how an interpretation of Article 23(h) contrary to the old English rule prevails generally, I will quote a number of French, German, English, and American writers, the works of whom I have at hand in my library, and I will also quote the German Weissbuch concerning the results of the second Hague Conference of 1907.