[113] In the exchange of despatches between England and Germany which arose out of the English deliveries of arms, the English Minister, Lord Granville, declares, in reply to the complaints of the German Ambassador in London, Count Bernstorff, that this behavior is authorized by the preexisting practise, but adds that “with the progress of civilization the obligations of neutrals have become more stringent, and declares his readiness to consult with other nations as to the possibility of introducing in concert more stringent rules, although his expectations of a practical result are, having regard to the declarations of the North-American Government, not very hopeful.” President Grant had, it is true, already in the Neutrality Proclamation of August 22nd, 1870, declared the trade in contraband in the United States to be permitted, but had uttered a warning that the export of the same over sea was forbidden by international law. He had later expressly forbidden the American arsenal administration to sell arms to a belligerent, an ordinance which was of course self-evident and was observed even in England, but he did not attempt to prevent dealers taking advantage of the public sale of arms out of the State arsenals to buy them for export to the French.
[114] Belgium allowed itself, in August, 1870, owing to the opposition of France, to be talked into forbidding the transport of wounded after the Battle of Sedan, through Belgian territory, and out of excessive caution interpreted its decree of August 27th as amounting to a prohibition of the transport even of individual wounded. The French protest was based on the contention that by the transport of wounded through Belgium, the military communication of the enemy with Germany was relieved from a serious hindrance. “On such a ground”—thinks Bluntschli (p. 434)—“one might set one’s face against the transport of large numbers but not the transport of individuals. These considerations of humanity should decide.”
[115] Dr. A. W. Heffter, Das Europäische Völkerrecht der Gegenwart (7th ed.), 1882, p. 320.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Page [xii]: The page number for “Treatment of Wounded and Sick Soldiers” was misprinted as “87”. The chapter actually begins on page 115 and that number has been used in this eBook.
The “[Contents of Editor’s Marginal Summary]” includes an entry for “War Treaties,” but there is no corresponding Sidenote. It also includes an entry for “Duties of the neutral—belligerents must be warned off”, but this actually refers to two separate Sidenotes.
Page [114]: Opening quotation mark before “The ugly and inherently” has no matching closing mark.