The daily Alaskan., 1916-08-28
PRISONERS OF WAR
I'm Former Times They Were Held
 as Virtual Slaves.
HAD TO EARN THEIR LIBERTY.
Then the System of Ransom Arose and With It Cruel Abuses and a-Law- loss Traffic In captives-Rules That Govern Civilized Nations Today.


 subject of an elaborate code of rules drawn up at meetings of The Hague peace conference. No property must be taken from him except arms and military equipment He must not be kept in close confinement if that can be avoided, and if possible his parole must be accepted. Ee may be set to auy work for which he is reasonably ftted-although officers are not bound to workout he must be allowed 6 similar standard of life and credited with a similar scale of pay to that which obtains among the soldier-artE- Icers of the conqueriug nation.
 When set free the cost of his maiute- nance will be deducted and be will re ceiye the balance in cash. He may be shot when trying to escape, but if caught alive he must not be punished except by curtaiIment of his liberty. These are a sew of the many rules by which all civilized nations are now bound in regard to their prisoners Of war.
 Among savcge men the destiny of prisoner was to be eaten, maSSacred tn cold blood or tortured for sport, until 1t dawned one day upon some primitive political economist that a live captive had labor value, and so arose the iuSti- tuition of slavery. Among free peoples like the Teulons, war prisoners were the only slaves allowed, aud they might in time earn their freedom. This Idea of communication became the custom of medieval Europe, applied as prize money" 10 ships and ran som" to individuals. All officers could claim the right Co offer a reason able ransom, which went into the pocket of the captor. Sometimes oti- cers would ransom a whole troop of their men.
 Kings or great captains were ran somed by their nations. Richard the Lion Heart had a woeful time of it until England ranSomed him from the Emperor Henry. King John of France. taken at Poitiers by the Black Prince, was held by England to ransom until the Duke of Aujou came as hostage while John went to raise the neces- sary cash. King David of Scotland, captured by Queen Eleanor. never per suaded the thrifty Scots to pay the whole of his ransom and became de pendent as q consequence.
 In Froissarts engaging chronicles you may read how bands of merceuary troops quarreled with gallant and i'm | petuous commanders. whose only o5- feet was the destruction Of the enemy. The mercenaries were out to take priS- oners and trade in the ranSoms. This traffic gave rise Co infinite abuses, in cluding torture and all manner of dis l honesty. Sir John Falstatf-Shake- speare's FalStaT-was notorious for | an extensive and interruptions traffic | in ransoms. Yet II was not until dur. ing the eighteenth century wars that an agreement to end the custom was come to between the European com manders. Even then it fingered on In practice until the eve Of the NapoleOntC wars, when 1t was swept away for the newer idea of exchange of prisoners rank for rank.
 One great change brought about by the new system was that the prisoners became a state care and responsibility Whether this change made for greater humaneness of treatment depended in part upon the ConqucrinC nation, but | even more upon the individual gover- nor or Jailer. This may be seen in the varying accounts we have Of the con ditions of prisoners of war in England during the long struggle with Napoleon. Llncolnshire's fcuS make good cen 1 ters for a military compound George Borrow, in "Lavengro,' has given a terrible picture of the conditions at Norman's Cross prison. in the fen dis trict. "RationS of Carriou meat, be writes. and bread from which have seen the very hounds occasionally turn away were unworthy entertainment even for the most rutian enemy, when helpless and captive.
 In these prisons the inmates made various articles of commercial utility. such as straw plait which were bought of them by dealers for a miser- able sum, the proceeds procuring them few trlflng comforts and the luxury of tobacco, or afrording the bribeS nee, essary for the smuggling out of letters More tolerable was the fGte of those l settled on parole In such towns as Chesterfield. where they endured ac- tual confinement under guard only at night, being free within certain bounds during the day. In many cases, as time went by, prisoners who had won the confidence of their guards became i virtually free in all respects, starting workshops as cabinetmakerS, etc. or teaching drawing, music or Frer2h to the children of the well to do Their geniality and politencss soon made them very popular with the blunt and serious Derbyshire folk. and quite 8 number of them married and settled down in the Chesterfield district, where the traces of this settlement may be | seen both in local names and in olive