network of committees for the relief of wounded soldiers; and this
phenomenon would have led the least discerning persons to suspect that
this special work was entering on a new phase. Several of these
committees had already begun to exercise their functions in the
Schleswig-Holstein war, yet all unanimously proclaimed that they would
constitute themselves as permanent institutions, and, in a great
measure, they seemed to obey one watch-word. All, in fact, declared in
their charter of establishment, that they would conform to the
resolutions of the Geneva Conference.
What, then, was this conference, whose magic wand had, so to speak,
electrified all nations? It seems too important an historical fact to be
passed over in silence, because we feel certain that an inquiry into its
nature, and how it arose, will prove highly interesting.
1. It originated with the Société Genevoise d'utilité publique, which
had undertaken to contribute toward the progress of philanthropy. At its
sitting of the ninth of February, 1863, it discussed the question, in
accordance with the proposition of one of its members, M. Henri Dunant,
whether means might not be found to form, during a time of peace and
tranquillity, relief societies, whose aim should be to help the wounded
in time of war by means of volunteers, zealous, devoted and well
qualified for such work.
Although it had no very clear idea of what should be done, in order to
obtain the result which seemed desirable, the society took the matter
under its patronage, and entrusted the examination of it to a special
commission, with full power to act.
The course to be pursued was long debated in this little committee, the
members of which finally agreed to submit the question to more competent
judges. It was, in fact, necessary, before encouraging the formation of
societies of volunteers, to know whether any need for them had been
felt, and whether they would not be regarded with a jealous eye by the
administrative or military authorities. It was also necessary to
determine what should be the nature of their action under various social
and political forms of government. In order not to venture recklessly on
a road bristling with obstacles, it was therefore evident that they
ought to take as guides experienced men, versed in the practice of war,
and belonging to different nationalities. An International Conference
appeared to be indispensable to the work, as a basis or starting point.
If, after this ordeal, the first idea, upon which the most divergent
opinions were even then professed, should be recognized as
impracticable, its partisans would at least possess the consolation of
having done their best. We shall have, said one of them, the approval of
our consciences, and the feeling that we have done that which it is
right men should do who love their neighbor. If, on the contrary, the
thing were pronounced to be good, useful and acceptable, what
encouragement such a decision would afford them to launch out upon their
course! What moral force they who should first put themselves in the
breach would receive! It was not a time to hesitate. The circular
convoking the meeting was issued on the first of September, 1863.
Nothing was neglected that could give the greatest publicity to this
appeal. It was brought specially to the notice of the International
Statistical Congress, sitting at Berlin, in the month of September,
1863, which expressed an opinion entirely favorable to the project.
At length the day fixed for the opening of the Conference arrived. On
the morning of the twenty-sixth of October, in the rooms of the Athenæum
at Geneva, might be seen an assembly composed of eighteen official
delegates, representing fourteen governments, six delegates of different
associations, seven unaccredited visitors, with five members of the
Geneva Committee. It was sufficient to glance over the list of the
thirty-six members of the Conference, to understand that the expectation
of its promoters was attained, and even surpassed, and that their
initiative had already found its reward in the meeting of such a body.
It was impossible that a deliberation among men so eminently qualified
should not throw the fullest light on the question submitted to them.
The committee tells us that the eagerness with which the invitation was
responded to soon justified the propriety of the step it had taken. It
became convinced that, in drawing public attention to the insufficiency
of the official sanitary service, it had touched a sensitive chord, and
had responded to a universal wish. It was also convinced that it was not
pursuing a chimerical object. If, for a moment, it had feared that its
project would only attract mere dreamers and Utopians, it was reassured
on seeing that it had to deal with men in earnest, with medical and
military magnates. It also received much encouragement from persons who
were prevented from taking part in the debates, but who testified to the
lively interest they took in them.
It was then, with the most happy auspices that General Dufour opened the
Conference, which lasted four days, under the presidency of M. Moynier,
president of the Genevoise Society of Public Utility, and the
vice-presidency of His Highness Prince Henry XIII., of Reuss, the
delegate of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Every one seemed
animated by the best motives, and desirous not to lose so good an
opportunity to open a new arena for the cause of charity. It was
interesting to witness the general unanimity, as new as it was
spontaneous, on a question of humanity instantaneously developed into
one of philanthropic urgency. Dr. Landa, delegate of the Spanish
Government, well expressed the sentiment of the assembly when he
exclaimed, "Oh, that we may be so happy as to discover the basis which
shall render the the useful institution we aspire to found durable and
effectual!" The magnitude of the result which may be obtained, and the
tears which may be wiped away, demand that we should devote all our
efforts to attain it; and if this work be realized, it will be an event
which all friends of humanity will be able to hail with the greatest
joy. We feel, said the president of the Conference, that a great duty is
imposed upon us, and we shall not rest until we have found means to
lessen for our fellow-creatures the privations, the sufferings and the
evils of all kinds which are the inevitable consequences of an armed
contest.
So much good-will was not superfluous, in order to accomplish the
arduous task of the Conference. For what, indeed, was it laboring? For
nothing less than to reconcile two opposites--charity and war. The
propriety of voluntary aid being admitted, it was necessary to leave it
sufficiently free, in order that zeal might not be cooled by
unreasonable conditions; yet, at the same time, to subject it to a
certain discipline, so that it might have access to the army without
being an encumbrance to it. Here was the real problem to be solved. Here
was a link to be established between the civil and the military, which,
though opposed, are not necessarily incompatible, and should be
encouraged to live fraternally side by side. The experience of modern
wars seemed to justify this inquiry, for it was averred that here the
administration of voluntary offerings had been defective. Besides, the
question presented itself in a new character, owing to the fact that a
staff of volunteers occupied an important place in it. If this view of
the case was to take precedence of all others, nothing less than a
complete revolution was intended, and its importance being acknowledged,
it would have been wrong to engage in it otherwise than earnestly. It
was for discussion to reveal the opinion that was entertained of it.
Independently of all that was difficult in the very nature of the
subject with which the conference was to occupy itself, it met with
another obstacle, in the consideration which it was obliged to give to
the different forms of government under which civilized nations dwell.
It is certain that a relief committee would be bound to modify its
conduct, and its hands would be more or less free, according to the
political or social circle in which it would have its existence. For
example, where individual initiative is highly developed, as in
Switzerland and America, there will be found liberty for the efforts of
free societies which would not be tolerated to the same degree in France
or Austria. The consequence of this situation was, that, called to draw
up a code of military philanthropy for the use of all nations, the
Conference could only advocate general principles, so that its decisions
might be everywhere acceptable.
Here it took its stand, and following the advice of its president, it
left to each society the duty of regulating minute details as it might
judge expedient. It wisely confined its ambition to the construction of
a solid foundation for the monument which it wished to erect, and which
was perhaps destined to become one of the glories of our century.
Let us now give heed to the voice of the Conference, and let us cast our
eyes over the resolutions, placed side by side with the _propositions_
presented by the Geneva Committee, under the title of _Projet de
Concordat_. It is evident, indeed, from a comparison of these two
documents that the first ideas were true, since they have only been
slightly modified. The authors of this project, however, offer it as the
eminently perfectible fruit of their first meditations, and as a basis
which they deemed it right to furnish to the Conference, in order to
guide it in its labors.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 1. There shall be, in each of the contracting countries, a
national committee, whose duty shall consist in remedying, by all
the means in its power, the inadequacy of the official sanitary
service of the armies in active service.
This committee shall organize itself in the manner which may appear
to it the most useful and expedient.
ART. 2. Sections, unlimited in number, shall be founded, in order to
second the national committee. These shall be necessarily
subordinate to the committee, to which alone shall belong the
supreme direction.
ART. 3. Every national committee shall place itself in communication
with the government of its own country, and shall ascertain that its
efforts of service will be accepted in case of war.
ART. 4. In time of peace, the committees and their sections shall
occupy themselves with improvements to be introduced in the military
sanitary service, in the establishment of ambulances and hospitals,
in the means of transports for the wounded, etc., and in pursuing
the realization of these objects.
ART. 5. The committees and sections of the different countries shall
reassemble in international congresses, in order to communicate the
result of their experience, and to concert together on the measures
to be taken in the interests of the work.
ART. 6. In the month of January every year, the national committees
shall present a report of their labors during the past year, adding
to it such communications as they may consider useful to be brought
to the knowledge of the committees of other countries. The exchange
of these communications and reports shall be managed through the
medium of the Geneva committee, to whom they shall be addressed.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS IN CASE OF WAR.
ART. 7. In case of war, the committees of the belligerent nations
shall furnish the necessary aid to their respective armies, and, in
particular, shall provide for the formation and organization of
corps of volunteer nurses.
They shall solicit the support of the committees belonging to
neutral nations.
ART. 8. The volunteer nurses shall bind themselves to serve during a
limited time, and not in any way to meddle in the operations of the
war.
They shall be employed, according to their wish, in field service or
in that of the hospitals. Females will necessarily be assigned to
the latter.
ART. 9. The volunteer nurses shall wear a uniform in all countries,
or an identical distinctive badge. Their person shall be sacred, and
military chiefs shall afford them protection.
At the commencement of a campaign, the soldiers of both armies shall
be informed of the existence of these corps, and of their
exclusively benevolent character.
RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE.
The International Conference, desirous to give aid to the wounded
soldiers in all cases where the military medical service shall be
inadequate, has adopted the following resolutions:
ARTICLE 1. There shall be in every country a committee whose duty it
will be to co-operate in time of war by all the means in its power,
with the sanitary service of the army.
This committee shall organize itself in the manner which may appear
to it as the most useful and expedient.
ART. 2. Sections, unlimited in number, shall be formed, in order to
second the committee, to which the general direction will belong.
ART. 3. Every committee shall place itself in communication with the
government of its own country, in order that its offers of
assistance, in case of need, may be accepted.
ART. 4. In time of peace the committees and sections shall be
occupied with the means to make themselves really useful in time of
war, especially in preparing material aid of every kind, and in
endeavoring to train and instruct volunteer nurses.
ART. 5. In the event of war, the committees of the belligerent
nations shall furnish relief to their respective armies in
proportion to their resources; in particular, they shall organize
and place the volunteer nurses on an active footing, and, in
conjunction with the military authority, they shall arrange places
for the reception of the wounded.
They shall solicit the assistance of the committees belonging to
neutral nations.
ART. 6. On the demand, or with the concurrence, of the military
authority, the committees shall send volunteer nurses to the field
of battle. They shall there place them under the direction of the
military chiefs.
ART. 7. The volunteer nurses employed with armies shall be provided,
by their respective committees, with everything necessary for their
maintenance.
ART. 8. They shall wear, in all countries, a white band around the
arm with a Red Cross upon it, as a distinctive and uniform badge.
ART. 9. The committees and sections of the different countries shall
meet in International Conference, in order to communicate to each
other the results of their experience, and to decide on the measures
to be adopted for the advancement of the work.
ART. 10. The exchange of communications between the committees of
the different nations shall be made provisionally through the medium
of the Committee of Geneva.
Independently of the above resolutions, the Conference expressed the
following wishes:
A. That the governments should grant protection to the national
committees which may be formed, and should, as far as possible,
facilitate the accomplishment of their task.
B. That, in time of war, neutrality should be proclaimed by the
belligerent nations for the field and stationary hospitals, and that
it may also be accorded, in the most complete manner, to all
officials employed in sanitary work, to volunteer nurses, to the
inhabitants of the country who shall assist the wounded, and to the
wounded themselves.
That an incidental distinctive sign be adopted for the medical corps
of all armies, or, at least, for all persons attached to this
service in the same army.
That an identical flag be also adopted for the field and stationary
hospitals of all armies.
The innovation which is most striking, in reading these documents,
is the pre-existence of the committees for war, and their creation
and maintenance in times of peace.
If those societies which have hitherto labored had only conformed to
this arrangement, they would have been spared much trouble, and
would have been able to give to their resources a more judicious
direction. If each of them had been enlightened by the experience
of its predecessors; if each had known before hand that which it
would have to do in such and such an emergency; if it had
anticipated obstacles in order to remove them; and if it had been
provided with money and material, it would have been able to render
much greater services, and would not, to the same extent, have been
a victim either to its inexperience or to its precipitation. The
preliminary study of ways and means would have left traces of
something more systematic and would have prevented much waste and
many false calculations. Voluntary action will be so much more
efficacious when it shall have preorganized. At a meeting of the
different German relief committees held at Berlin, on the tenth of
July, 1864, Baron Tinti, of Vienna, strongly insisted on this truth,
and the Committee of Schwerin did the same in its report of 1865.
When our generosity shall be less ignorant, it will know where and
in what way it can be useful; we shall economize our means; we shall
multiply our gifts by the good employment that we shall make of
them, and by the direction that will be given to the public desire.
_Bis dat, qui cito dat._ He who gives opportunely gives twice.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF NATIONAL RED CROSS MEMBERS.]
[Illustration: Copyright, 1898, by Clara Barton.
SUBURBAN HEADQUARTERS, AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS.]
THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS TREATY.
CONVENTION OF GENEVA.
_For the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies at the
Field, August 22, 1864._
The sovereigns of the following countries, to wit: Baden, Belgium,
Denmark, Holland, Spain, Portugal, France, Prussia, Saxony,
Würtemberg, and the Federal Council of Switzerland, animated by a
common desire of mitigating, as far as in their power, the evils
inseparable from war, of suppressing needless severities and of
ameliorating the condition of soldiers wounded on fields of battle,
having concluded to determine a treaty for this purpose, these
plenipotentiaries, after the due interchange of their powers, found
to be in good and proper form, have agreed upon the following
articles, to wit:
ARTICLE 1. Ambulances (field hospitals) and military hospitals shall
be acknowledged to be neutral, and as such shall be protected and
respected by belligerents, so long as any sick or wounded may be
therein. Such neutrality shall cease, if the ambulances or hospitals
should be held by a military force.
ART. 2. Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances, comprising the
staff for superintendence, medical service, administration,
transport of wounded, as well as chaplains, shall participate in the
benefit of neutrality whilst so employed, and so long as there
remain any to bring in or to succor.
ART. 3. The persons designated in the preceding article may, even
after occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their duties in
the hospital or ambulance which they may have, or may withdraw in
order to regain the corps to which they belong. Under such
circumstances, when the persons shall cease from their functions,
they shall be delivered by the occupying army to the outposts of the
enemy. They shall have specially the right of sending a
representative to the headquarters of their respective armies.
ART. 4. As the equipment of military hospitals remains subject to
the laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, on
withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private
property. Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the
contrary, retain its equipment.
ART. 5. Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the wounded
shall be respected and shall remain free. The generals of the
belligerent powers shall make it their care to inform the
inhabitants of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the
neutrality which will be the consequence of it. Any wounded man
entertained and taken care of in a house shall be considered as a
protection thereto. Any inhabitant who shall have entertained
wounded men in his house shall be exempted from the quartering of
troops, as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may
be imposed.
ART. 6. Wounded or sick soldiers shall be entertained and taken care
of, to whatever nation they may belong. Commanders-in-chief shall
have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy,
soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement, when circumstances
permit this to be done, and with the consent of both parties. Those
who are recognized after they are healed as incapable of serving,
shall be sent back to their country. The others may also be sent
back on the condition of not again bearing arms during the
continuance of the war. Evacuations, together with the persons under
whose directions they take place, shall be protected by an absolute
neutrality.
ART. 7. A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for
hospitals, ambulances, and evacuations. It must on every occasion be
accompanied by the national flag. An arm badge (brassard) shall also
be allowed for individuals neutralized, but the delivery thereof
shall be left to military authority. The flag and arm badge shall
bear a red cross on a white ground.
ART. 8. The details of execution of the present convention shall be
regulated by the commanders-in-chief of belligerent armies,
according to the instructions of their respective governments, and
in conformity with the general principles laid down in this
convention.
ART. 9. The high contracting powers have agreed to communicate the
present convention to those governments which have not found it
convenient to send plenipotentiaries to the International Convention
at Geneva, with an invitation to accede thereto; the protocol is,
for that purpose, left open.
ART. 10. The present convention shall be ratified and the
ratification shall be exchanged at Berne, in four months, or sooner,
if possible.
In witness thereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the
same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
Done at Geneva, the twenty-third day of August, 1864.
GOVERNMENTS ADOPTING THE TREATY.
List in chronological order of the governments which have adopted
the articles of the Convention of Geneva, of the twenty-second of
August, 1864:
France September 22, 1864.
Switzerland October 1, 1864.
Belgium October 14, 1864.
Netherlands November 29, 1864.
Italy December 4, 1864.
Sweden and Norway December 13, 1864.
Denmark December 15, 1864.
Spain December 15, 1864.
Baden December 16, 1864.
Greece January 17, 1865.
Great Britain February 18, 1865.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin March 9, 1865.
Prussia June 22, 1865.
Turkey July 5, 1865.
Würtemberg June 2, 1866.
Hesse Darmstadt June 22, 1866.
Bavaria June 30, 1866.
Austria July 21, 1866.
Portugal August 9, 1866.
Saxony October 25, 1866.
Russia May 22, 1867.
Pontifical States May 9, 1868.
Roumania November 30, 1874.
Persia December 5, 1874.
San Salvador December 30, 1874.
Montenegro November 29, 1875.
Servia March 24, 1876.
Bolivia October 16, 1879.
Chili November 15, 1879.
Argentine Republic November 25, 1879.
Peru April 22, 1880.
United States March 1, 1882.
Bulgaria March 1, 1884.
Japan June 5, 1886.
Luxemburg October 5, 1888.
Hungary ----
Congo Free State December 27, 1888.
Venezuela 1894.
Siam June 29, 1895.
South African Republic September 30, 1896.
Honduras May 16, 1898.
Nicaragua May 16, 1898.
The following public address, written in 1881, is inserted because of
its historical character, showing as it does, quite as well as anything
that could now be written, the general apathy in America concerning the
treaty, and the many obstacles that had to be overcome by years of
struggle and weary waiting:
ADDRESS BY CLARA BARTON.
_To the President, Congress, and People of the United States:_
A brief statement of how I became acquainted with the Red Cross may
serve to explain at once its principles and methods, as well as the
present attitude of our government in regard to it.
The practical beneficence of the sanitary and Christian commissions of
the United States attracted the attention of the civilized world. I had
borne some part in the operations of field hospitals in actual service
in the battles of the Civil War, and some public notice had been taken
of that work. But, broken in health, I was directed by my physicians to
go to Europe prepared to remain three years.