The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-06
REGULATIONS OF WAR.
LIEBER's CODE SUBJECT TO
NOTIFICATIONS.
by Guerrillns-The Fate
that win Be Reserved for Spies.

n
Ex-Attache in Pittsburg Dispatch.
G, many years have elapsed since the
7--f,ed states has been engaged in any
Lind of hostillties, save the suppression
=. risings on the part of the redskins,
,-s- a few remarks on the subject of the
.,les and regulations of war may be of
,.-oslv interest; all the more so as it ap-
,.srs probable that the President will call
+or the services of many thousands of
n,ilitian En- and volunteers, who. not being
professional soldiers, and having never
zone through a course of study of the
rules Of war which form most important
branch of the studies at West Point, may
nossiblv he deficient in the knowledge of
his particular branch of the military sci
euce.
The absence of instructions of this char
ecter vas severely felt during the civil
war. when the armies placed in the field
were composed in the greater part of
men AIKEN from civil pursuits and un
familiar with the usages of war. Indeed.
so serious and embarrassing were the
difficulties arising therefrom that before
the bostilities had been in progress for
eeh-=en months Secretary of War STAN
oa requested an eminent jurist, of the
rame of Francis Lieber, to prepare a
4 code Of instructions for the government Of
4 III troops engaged in operations against
The Confederacy. The rules prepared by
4 Dr. Lieber were submitted to and approved
n
n upon published in 1868 in the form of
general order of the war department, MAX
ing them obligatory upon the armies of
4 The United States
Nearly two score years have passed nv
4 soce their pronunciation, and, moreover
the war to which they were intended To
apply was of a strictly internal charac-
Il ter Therefore, although DR.. Lieber's code
may be taken, broadly speaking. as a ba-
SIS for the modern laws of warfare. vet
their enforcement in the forthcoming
struggle with Spain must necessarily he
modified by the fact that the foes are NOT
fellow-countrymen engaged in rebellion
hut the citizens of a foreign power. and
likewise by the circumstance that the va
nous wars which have taken place In the
cd world during the last thirty years. as
well as the congress of international law
held in the different capitals of Europe.
have had the effect of rendering necessary
number of changes in the so-called lie
Der rules contained in General Orders No
100, issued by the United States adiutant
generals Office in 1863.
In fact 1t is difficult to give anv nor
manency to these laws, since the condi-
tons of modern warfare are ever chang
ing and the rules have to be modified in
order to render them adaptable thereto
fortunately, the tendency of these changes
IS invariably in the direction of greater
humanity and liberality, and the only CIV
lIzed nation that has retained the harsh
usages, the cruel practices and the bar
oarous features of the wars of times gone
by are precisely the Spaniards whose
methods of campaigning in Cuba. are. in
deed, one of the chief causes of the con-
met now imminent between the United
states and the Dons
from inquiries which have made dur
ing the last few days at Washington T
am led to believe that the United States in
us war with Spain will to a great extent
nase its conduct upon the code recommend
al TOT adoption by the institute of Inter-
national Law at its session in Oxford, Sep
'ehoer 1880 That code in question is bas-
ca on the following authorities First the
Dictor Lieber code, adopted by the United
STATES army in 1868; second, the Geneva
convention of August, 1864; third the ad-
ultohaI articles of the Geneva Convention
q october, 1858; fourth, the declaration of
81 petersburg of November, 1868; fifth, the
declaration of Brussels, 1874; sixth. the lat
est orhclal manuals adopted by the govern
inehts OF France, Germany, Russia. Hol-
anu I1aIy and Austria; seventh, the Pa
us convention of 1856; and eighth. the Brus-
Sels session of the Institute of Information
al Law of 1879.
one OF the fundamental rules of this
'oQe' which has not yet been officially
auopled by either the American or the
Nnshsn governments, both of which how
ever may be relied upon to conform to it's
PROVISIONS, is that the state of war does
'0t admit of any fighting, or of hostile
- save between the regular armed
FORCES Of the belligerent states. Those
lofces must be under the direction of re-
'pV.slole chiefs, must have a uniform or
distinguishing badge recognizable at dis
,"nce' ana must carry arms openly That
10 10 say, men, or squads of men who COM
I"d"d hostlities, whether by fighting. or
w ralds, or footing without regular com
"lssloh' and without sharing continuously
=" 'ne war but who do so with intermitting
ulIs 10 their homes and vocations, or
XIII, XII the occasional assumption of the sem
"i@"ce OF peaceful pursuits, dvesting them
ives OF the character and appearance of
SoIu'efs' are not entitled the privileges. of
'eHiserents, but may if captured be treated
sun mar'ly as highway robbers pirates
and spies
IL IS on this ground that the German
loops IN 1870 shoi and hanged so many
u me French Franctieurs. They ac-
gorded, however, to the latter the priv
ses OF ordinary prisoners of war when il
'uq De shown that the captives had been
!Ahaoitants of non-occupied but invaded
''i1'ory, who at the approach of the
ieny' had taken arms openly and spon-
,'"eously so resist the invader, although
''eE might not have had time to regularly
ls7nize themselves into corps or regi-
IN order TO explain this more fully
would say that where, for instance, the
owner of a farm or plantation in Cuba,
VINO prefers Spanish tyranny TO American
election openly arms his family his
',,alhers and himself for the purpose OF
5stlng American Intervention, he is en-
'-en TO be treated as a bona fide bellig-
''sHt. whereas, if he, under the guise of
i''hdshlp lures the American troops into
"l ambush, and then takes advantage of
"e pellet of his good will and hospitality
attack them, he is worthy debarred of
n n f- Ito, To