SECTION 9. _the Choice of Means of Injuring_

The Choice of Means of Injuring

BULLETS IN SAVAGE WARFARE

Sir,--The Somaliland debate was sufficient evidence that The Hague Convention "respecting the laws and customs of war on land" is far more talked about than read. Colonel Cobbe had, it appears, complained of the defective stopping power, as against the foes whom he was encountering, of the Lee-Metford bullet. It is the old story that wounds inflicted by this bullet cannot be relied on to check the onrush of a hardy and fanatical savage, though they may ultimately result in his death. Whereupon arises, on the one hand, the demand for a more effective projectile, and, on the other hand, the cry that the proposed substitute is condemned by "the universal consent of Christendom"; or, in particular, "by the Convention of The Hague," which, as was correctly stated by Mr. Lee, prohibits only the use of arms which cause superfluous injury.

You print to-day two letters enforcing the view of the inefficiency against savages of the ordinary service bullet. Perhaps you will find space for a few words upon the question whether the employment for this purpose of a severer form of projectile, such as the Dum Dum bullet, would be a contravention of the "laws of war."

The law of the subject, as embodied in general international national agreements, is to be found in four paragraphs; to which, be it observed, nothing is added by the unwritten, or customary, law of nations. Of these paragraphs, which I shall set out textually, three affirm general principles, while the fourth contains a specific prohibition. The general provisions are as follows:--

"The progress of civilisation should have the effect of alleviating as much as possible the calamities of war. The only legitimate object which States should set before themselves during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy. For this purpose it is sufficient to disable the greatest possible number of men. This object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which would uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men or render their death inevitable. The employment of such arms would, therefore, be contrary to the laws of humanity." (St. Petersburg Declaration, 1868. Preamble.)

"The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited." (Hague Règlement, Art. 22.)

"Besides the prohibitions provided by special conventions [the Declaration of St. Petersburg alone answers to this description] it is in particular prohibited (e) to employ arms, projectiles, or material of a nature to cause superfluous injury." (Ib. Art. 23.)

The only special prohibition is that contained in the Declaration of St. Petersburg, by which the contracting parties--

"Engage mutually to renounce, in case of war among themselves, the employment by their military or naval forces of any projectile of a weight below 400 grammes which is either explosive or charged with fulminating or inflammable substances."

No one, so far as I am aware, has any wish to employ a bullet weighing less than 14 oz. which is either explosive or charged as above. So far, therefore, as the generally accepted laws of warfare are concerned, the only question as to the employment of Dum Dum or other expanding bullets is whether they "uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable"; in other words, whether they are "of a nature to cause superfluous injury." It is, however, probable that people who glibly talk of such bullets being "prohibited by The Hague Convention" are hazily reminiscent, not of the Règlement appended to that convention, but of a certain "Declaration," signed by the delegates of many of the Powers represented at The Hague in 1899, to the effect that--

"The contracting Powers renounce the use of bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard casing, which does not entirely cover the core, or is pierced with incisions."

To this declaration neither Great Britain nor the United States are parties, and it is waste-paper, except for Powers on whose behalf it has not only been signed, but has also been subsequently ratified.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, T. E. HOLLAND. Athenæum Club, May 2 (1903).

The Declaration last mentioned (No. 3 of the first Peace Conference) is now something more than waste paper, having been generally ratified. Great Britain, on August 17, 1907, at the fourth plenary sitting of the Second Peace Conference, announced her adhesion to it, as also to the, also generally ratified, Declaration No. 2 of 1899, which forbids the employment of projectiles constructed solely for the diffusion suffocating or harmful gases.

The provisions of Arts. 22 and 23 (e) of the Règlement annexed to The Hague Convention of 1899 "concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land," as quoted in the letter, have been textually reproduced in Arts. 22 and 23 (e) of the Règlement annexed to the Hague Convention, No. iv. of 1907, on the same subject, ratified by Great Britain on November 27, 1909.

The written agreements as to the choice of weapons may be taken therefore to start from the general principles laid down in the preamble to the Declaration of St. Petersburg (though held by some Powers to err in the direction of liberality), and in Arts. 22 and 23 (e) of The Hague Règlements. The specially prohibited means of destruction are, by the Declaration of St. Petersburg, explosive bullets; by The Hague Règlements, Art. 23 (a) poison or poisoned arms; by The Hague Declarations of 1898, Nos. 2 and 3, "projectiles the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or harmful gases," and "bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard casing, which does not entirely cover the core, or is pierced with incisions." As to Declaration No. 1, cf. supra, p. 22. It must be remarked that the Declarations of St. Petersburg and of The Hague, unlike The Hague Règlements, apply to war at sea, as well as on land.

Cf. supra, p. 22, and see the author's The Laws of War on Land (written and unwritten), 1908, pp. 40-43.

GASES

Sir,--The weightily signed medical protest which you publish this morning will be widely welcomed. The German employment of poisonous gases for military purposes, which the Allies were obliged, reluctantly, though necessarily, to reciprocate, was, of course, prohibited by international Acts to which Germany is a party. Not only does the Declaration of 1899 specifically render unlawful "the use of projectiles the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or harmful gases," but the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 both forbid, in general terms, the employment of "(a) poison or poisoned arms," "(c) arms, projectiles, or material of a nature to cause superfluous suffering." The United States, like the rest of the world, are a party to the two Conventions, and would doubtless, after the experiences of recent years, no longer hesitate, as hitherto, to adhere to the Declaration of 1899; in accordance with Admiral Mahan's view at that date, to the effect that "the effect of gas shells has yet to be ascertained," and, in particular, "whether they would be more, or less, merciful than missiles now available."

The prohibition ought, no doubt, to be renewed and, if possible, strengthened; but this is surely not, as your correspondents suggest, work for the Peace Congress. The rules for naval warfare set out in the Declaration of Paris of 1856 form no part of the Treaty of Paris of that year.

I venture to make a similar remark with reference to any discussion by the Peace Congress of "the freedom of the seas," a topic unfortunately included by President Wilson among his "14 points." The peace delegates will be concerned with questions of regroupings of territory, penalties, and reparation. The rehabilitation and revision of international law is a different business, and should be reserved for a subsequent conference.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, T. E. HOLLAND. Oxford, November 29 (1918).

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