Evening star., 1900-08-11
banner will probably be

unoer thiS sacred banner Will probably be
slaughtered.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth doctrine is laid down in Uncle Sans
manual of fighting etiquette. 1t can be ap-
phed IN certain emergencies. but never In a
spirit OF sheer revenge. Our commanders
holding Chinese prisoners of war may be
authorized to kill them If China is discov-
cred 10 have butchered any of our soldiers
taken into captivity. Should any Ameri-
cans be cast into slavery by the celestials
retaliation by killing the latter's prisoners
might again be resorted to. Retaliation by
killing may be lawfully applied also in cases
Where Americans in China, whether SOL
dlers or civilians, are assassinated-in other
words. killed without a fair trial Were it
deemed proper 1t would not be inconsistent
with our laws of war If General Chafree
should order the execution Of some Chinese
equal in rank to Minister Conger or any
of his legation, presuming that the latter
were murdered.
Retaliation by Civilized Armies,
The law of war can no more wholly dis
pense with retaliation than can the law of
nations, of which it is branch" Such are
the emphatic words of this little book of in
structions for our army in the field The
+ franco-Prussian war offered an excellent
example of legal retaliation After the bat
Tie OF Worth great numbers of peasants
were caught gouging and manning the
wounded Germans left lying in the field
iHeSe torturerS, although non-combatantS
were shot to death
Retaliation was applied nv tho allied
armies marching to Pekin in 1860 So in
censed We're the French at the diily-dalIv-
iils OF frlnce kung over the return of the
prisoners that they looted the emperor,s
great summer palace, which consisted of
a great variety of buildings, scattered in
an immense park. The French soldiers
reaped an abundant harvest of spoil They
ransacked the public reception hall state
and private bed rooms and boudoirs They
carried off such treasures of great value
as they could handle. Those too large to
oe removed were smashed They destroyed
ornamental lattice work, screens orna-
mentS OF costly jade. jars. clocks draperies
and furniture. They found great wardrobes
OF every article of dress-sIk coats en-
9r eroldered with gold dragons. boots, head
dresses and beautiful fans. They looted a
store room packed with great rolls of man
ufactured silk. On hearing of the fate of
thelr prisoners. the British finished this
work OF the French by setting the summer
palace on fire and burning it to the ground.
lheE a-so obtained from the Chinese gov
erhheht fhGD ounces of silver, divided
among those prisoners VINO had suffered
ana the families of those slain.
The Chinese soldiers will probably
Slau%nter our army nurses. not to mention
our SICK and wounded falling into their
hands. 1t is on account of China's black
record in such cases that Uncle Sam hesi-
tated in sending his women nurses to the
'front.' All great war powers, even Turkey,
nave signed a contract in which they agree
to protect each others sick wounded and
those VINO care for them, also to protect
ambulanceS and buildings which convey or
shelter them during all wars among them
selves But China has persistently refused To
sign this humane contract A civilized army
fighting US would protect not only the
angels of the battlefield" and the hos
pltaiS on our side, but would refrain from
firing upon any building flying a Red Cross
nag within our lines and thereby announc-
ing tnat a SICK soldier lies hpneafh fS