The Red Cross in Peace and War
by Clara Barton · English · Gutenberg #44202 · 1,535,123 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Red Cross in Peace and War
Author: Clara Barton
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Transcriber's Notes
Certain typographical features of the original cannot be reproduced
Illustrations cannot be reproduced in this version of the text. They
are indicated in the text, in their approximate positions, as:
[Illustration: <caption>]. Autograph letters, signatures, and similar
documents which were presented as images in the original, but have been
transcribed here, in lieu of captions.
Italic fonts are rendered using delimiting underscores, as _italic_.
The 'oe' ligature is spelled with separate characters. Words in all
small capital letters, including those which employ mixed case, are
shifted to uppercase.
Footnotes, which appeared at the bottom of the page, are positioned
at logical breaks following their references. They have been assigned
unique letters, beginning with 'A', and appear as:
[A] Text of footnote.
The lists of Illustrations and Contents have several anomalous, though
accurate, entries. For example, the section on the re-incorporation of
the Red Cross, beginning on page 94, appears in the Contents between
sections on p. 184 and p. 197, for no apparent reason. The reference has
been placed in its proper position in the Contents. Please note that
the entries in the Contents do not always refer to formal sections of
the text. They sometimes direct one to a change of topic otherwise
unmarked in the text itself.
Several of the photographs associated with the Spanish American War,
which were included at the end of the volume on pp. 675 and 676, are
listed in the Illustrations where their subjects would appear.
The opening of the section on General History is labeled "Chapter I",
the only use of that designation in the volume.
[Frontispiece: CLARA BARTON.
_From a portrait taken about 1875._]
THE RED CROSS
IN PEACE AND WAR
[Illustration]
BY CLARA BARTON
AMERICAN HISTORICAL PRESS
1906
Copyright 1898, by CLARA BARTON
From the President of the United States
In his Message to Congress December 6, 1898.
It is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial appreciation
the timely and useful work of the American National Red Cross, both
in relief measures preparatory to the campaigns, in sanitary assistance
at several of the camps of assemblage, and, later, under the able and
experienced leadership of the president of the society, Miss Clara
Barton, on the fields of battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba.
Working in conjunction with the governmental authorities and under
their sanction and approval, and with the enthusiastic co-operation of
many patriotic women and societies in the various States, the Red
Cross has fully maintained its already high reputation for intense
earnestness and ability to exercise the noble purposes of its international
organization, thus justifying the confidence and support which
it has received at the hands of the American people. To the members
and officers and all who aided them in their philanthropic work,
the sincere and lasting gratitude of the soldiers and the public is due
and freely accorded.
In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obligations
to the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe
guidance, for which the nation makes reverent acknowledgment and
offers humble prayers for the continuance of His favors.
[Illustration: William McKinley]
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Clara Barton, from a portrait taken about 1875 Frontispiece.
The International Committee of the Red Cross,
Geneva, Switzerland opp. 16
Clara Barton, taken about 1885 opp. 17
The First Red Cross Warehouse, Washington, D.C. 21
National Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, from 1892 to 1897 22
Some of the First Members of the American National Red Cross 43
A Group of American National Red Cross Members 44
A Group of American National Red Cross Members 55
Suburban Headquarters, American National Red Cross 56
Some Red Cross Decorations Presented to Clara Barton 83
Chronological Historic Tree 84
Clara Barton, taken about 1884 113
"Josh V. Throop" 114
Camp Perry 143
Red Cross Headquarters 144
Johnstown, Pa., before the Flood of 1889 155
Red Cross Hotel, Locust Street, Johnstown, Pa. 156
Red Cross Furniture Room, Johnstown, Pa. 163
Typical Scene after the Flood at Johnstown, Pa., May 30, 1889 164
In Memoriam 174
Typhus Fever Patients in the Russian Famine, 1891-92 181
Count Lyoff Tolstoi 182
Women Cutting Potatoes for Planting--Sea Island Relief,
S.C., February, 1894 199
A Windfall for St. Helena 200
Testimonial from Russian Workmen for American Help and Sympathy
in the Famine of 1892 217
A Russian Peasant Village 218
Receiving Room for Clothing, S.C. Island Relief, 1893-94 235
South Carolina Sea Island Relief 236
The Island District from Savannah to Beaufort 251
Sick with the Famine Fever 253
Hunger-Stricken 254
Miss Barton's Room 271
In the Old Schloss of Baden 272
Red Cross Headquarters, Constantinople 281
View from Red Cross Headquarters, Constantinople 282
Turkish Cemetery 282
Chief of the Dersin Kourds and His Three Sub-Chiefs 291
Chief of the Dersin Kourds 292
Decoration of the Royal Order of Melusine 300
Tower of Christ, Constantinople 301
W.W. Peet, Esq. 302
Rev. Henry O. Dwight, D.D. 302
Rev. Joseph K. Greene, D.D. 302
Rev. George Washburn, D.D. 302
Signature of the Sultan 303
Turkish Dispatches 306, 307
Map of the Country traversed by the Red Cross Expeditions carrying
American Relief to the Victims of the Armenian Massacres in
1896 309
Interior of Gregorian Church at Oorfa 308
American College Buildings, Aintab 311
American and Armenian Quarters, Harpoot 311
Marash 312
Red Cross Caravan 312
A Bit of Palou 318
Rev. C.F. Gates, D.D., Harpoot 321
Miss Caroline E. Bush, Harpoot 321
First Expedition Embarking on Ferryboat, Euphrates River 321
A Turkish Teskere or Passport 322
Diarbeker, Vilayet of Diarbeker 331
Ruins of an Old Gateway at Farkin 332
Some Methods of Work 340
Salemlik 341
Pera Bridge, Constantinople 341
Turkish Coffee House 342
Hamalls--Showing Manner of Carrying Heavy Burdens 342
Red Cross Expeditions Passing through the Valley of Catch Beard 348
A Turkish Procession in Arabkir 349
Judge Alexander W. Terrell, United States Minister to
Constantinople during the Armenian Troubles 351
Armenian and Turkish Decorations 352
Group of Armenian Teachers and Pupils, Harpoot American Missionary
College 357
Clara Barton, taken in 1897 358
A Part of the American National Red Cross Fleet in the
Spanish-American War of 1898 371
Officers of the Executive Committee American National Red Cross 372
Admiral William T. Sampson 381
Governor-General's Palace, Havana 382
Entrance to Harbor of Havana--Punta Park 391
John D. Long, Secretary of Navy 392
On San Juan Hill, Santiago 407
Spanish Guerillas 409
A Mounted Advance, Reconnoitring 410
United States Steamship "Oregon" 413
"Almirante Oquendo," after the Engagement 419
United States Warships before the Entrance to Santiago Harbor 421
"Marie Teresa" after the Engagement 424
Chickamauga Camp 427
Camp Thomas, Headquarters American National Red Cross 428
Fortifications of Manila 440
Red Cross Dining Room for Convalescents, Fort McPherson, Ga. 445
Dining Tent Attached to Red Cross Kitchen, at Camp Hobson, Ga. 446
Panorama of Manila 451
In the Trenches before Santiago 453
A Soldier Funeral 463
McCalla Camp--Early Morning Attack 454
A Typical Cuban Camp 464
A Cuban "Block House," Garrisoned 481
A View of Eastern Cuba 482
A Part of the Red Cross Corps 499
"I Am with the Wounded."--Clara Barton's Cable Message from
Havana 500
Wreck of the Battleship "Maine," Havana Harbor 517
The Prado--Principal Street in Havana 518
Havana Harbor 535
Captain C.D. Sigsbee 536
Street in Cavite 539
Citizens of Jaruco Presenting a Memorial for the Victims of
the "Maine" 553
Little Convalescents in Hospital 554
Location of Shore Batteries, Santiago 556
July Fifth in Rifle Pits 558
Scenes on the "State of Texas" and in Siboney 570
The Physicians and Nurses of the Orphanage and Clinic in Havana 571
A Cuban Thatch Hut 581
A Battery of Cuban Artillery 582
A Group of Red Cross Sisters 591
Diploma of Gratitude for Miss Clara Barton from the Red Cross
of Spain 592
View of Santiago de Cuba from the Harbor 675
View of Morro Castle, Santiago de Cuba 676
The Burning of Siboney 597
Annie E. Wheeler 609
The Youngest Red Cross Nurse 610
Scenes in Siboney 627
Scenes in Santiago 628
Refugees from Santiago 636
Santiago Refugees at El Caney 639
Establishing Headquarters Ashore 640
Starving in the Plaza 647
Los Fosos 648
Bringing in the Wounded 657
Clearing for a Cross Road 658
CONTENTS.
PAGE
TO THE PEOPLE 13
INTRODUCTION 17
THE RED CROSS. General History 23
Organization and Methods of Work 27
Occupation in Times of Peace 29
Services in Time of War 30
Neutral Countries in Time of Peace 34
International Correspondence. M. Moynier's First Letter 36
American Association of the Red Cross. Constitution and
Original Incorporation 46-47
First International Conference 48
The Treaty of the Red Cross 57
Governments Adopting the Treaty 58
Address by Clara Barton 60
Action of the United States Government 72
The "Additional Articles" Concerning the Navy 74
International Bulletin, Extract from 77
Accession of the United States to the Treaty and
"Additional Articles" 80
Proclamation of President Arthur 85
International Bulletin. Concerning Adhesion of the
United States 87
International Committee. Letter Acknowledging Notice of
Adhesion by United States 90
International Committee. Fiftieth Circular Announcing
Adoption of Treaty by United States 91
The Reincorporation of the American National Red Cross 94
Significance of "Red Cross" in its Relation to Philanthropy.
Address by Clara Barton 97
MICHIGAN FOREST FIRES 107
MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVER FLOODS 111
MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA CYCLONE 112
OHIO RIVER FLOOD 115
Down the Mississippi 121
"The Little Six" 130
TEXAS FAMINE 136
THE MOUNT VERNON CYCLONE 145
YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC IN FLORIDA 147
The MacClenny Nurses 150
THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD 157
Arrival at Johnstown 158
Appointment of Committees 160
The Work of Relief 161
Farewell to Miss Barton 169
"The Dread Conemaugh" 170
In Memoriam 174
THE RUSSIAN FAMINE 175
Count Tolstoi on the Character of the Peasants 176
Beginning of American Relief 177
Appreciation of American Sympathy 180
Dr. Hubbell's Report 184
SEA ISLANDS HURRICANE 197
Coast of South Carolina 197
Admiral Beardslee's Description of the Hurricane 203
Relief Work South of Broad River 211
Report by John McDonald 211
Hiltonhead District Clothing Department. Report by Mrs. MacDonald 220
Medical Department. Report by Dr. E.W. Egan 222-228
Relief Methods in Field. Dr. Hubbell's Report 232
On the Charleston Group. Report by H.L. Bailey 244
The Clothing Department. Mrs. Gardner's Report 252
The Sewing Circles 257
A Christmas Carol 261
Mrs. Reed's Report 263
Leaving the Field 268
Letter to Charleston _News and Courier_ 268
Circular to Clergymen and Committees 273
ARMENIA 275
Distance and Difficulties of Travel and Transportation 305
Funds 307
Committees 310
To the Press of the United States 313
To Contributors 313
To the Government at Washington 314
To Our Legation in Constantinople 314
To the Ambassadors of other Nations 315
Commendatory 315
"Marmora." Poem by Clara Barton 319
Report of Financial Secretary 324
General Field Agent's Report 334
Medical Report 350
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 360
Home Camps and American Waters 361
The Central Cuban Relief Committee, Appointment of 362
The Red Cross Requested to Administer Relief in Cuba 365
Taking Command of the "State of Texas" 368
Relief Work at Tampa and Key West 368
Feeding Spanish Prisoners of War 369
Correspondence with Admiral Sampson 370
Appointment of the Executive Committee of the Red Cross and the
Relief Committee of New York 375
Communication from Secretary of State Acknowledging Official
Status of the American National Red Cross 377
The Modus Vivendi with Spain 384-394
Services of the Red Cross accepted by the Government 395
Appointment of Red Cross Field Agents for the Camps 395
Camp Alger, Washington, D.C. 397
Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park 408
Jacksonville and Miami, Florida 414
Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Ga. 420
Camp Hobson, Lithia, Ga. 422
St. Paul Red Cross 425
Montauk Point, Long Island 426
Pacific Coast 431
The Red Cross of California 433
The Red Cross of Oregon 441
The Red Cross, Seattle, Wash. 452
PORTO RICO 460
Report of Horace F. Barnes 460
Shipments by United States Transports 470
Relief Committee of New York, Report by 473
Women's Auxiliaries of the Red Cross 491
"Women who went to the Field." Poem by Clara Barton 509
CUBA AND THE CUBAN CAMPAIGN 514
Havana 520
Los Fosos 521
The Orphanage 522
Destruction of the "Maine" 524
Jaruco 527
Matanzas 531
Senator Redfield Proctor's Speech in United States Senate 534
Artemisa 540
Sagua La Grande 542
Cienfuegos 544
Back to Havana 545
Leaving Havana 549
On Board the "State of Texas" 550
Tampa 552
Arrival at Santiago 555
Siboney 557
Hospital Work at Siboney 560
Relief Work at the Front 566
Entering the Harbor of Santiago 576
Unloading the "State of Texas" 577
Feeding the Refugees 577
Relief Work in Santiago 578
Departure of the "State of Texas" 580
The Transport "Clinton" at the Disposition of the Red Cross 583
Leaving Santiago for Havana 584
Departure from Havana 585
REPORTS.
Report of Dr. A. Monae Lesser 587
Report of Financial Secretary, Mr. C.H.H. Cottrell 600
The Schooner "Mary E. Morse." Distribution of Ice 624
Letter of Santiago Committee 637
Medical Report by E.W. Egan, M.D. 642
Clothing Department. Report by Miss Annie M. Fowler 656
The Red Cross of Other Nations 662
To the Congress of the United States. Address by Clara Barton 666
To the Committees on The Red Cross 674
To the Auxiliaries of the Red Cross and the Nurses Who Went
to the War 677
Unwritten Thanks 680
A Word of Explanation 680
Conclusion 681
Notes 683
TO THE PEOPLE.
In recounting the experience of the Red Cross in the Cuban campaign, I
have endeavored to tell the story of the events as they succeeded each
other, recording simply the facts connected with the work of the War
Relief, and refraining from criticism of men and methods. There were
unpleasant incidents to relate, and unfortunate conditions to describe,
but I have neither said nor written that any particular person, or
persons, were to blame. It is not my duty, nor is it within my power, to
analyze and criticise all the intricate workings of a government and its
armies in the field.
The conditions that existed during the campaign and the suffering that
had to be endured, were by no means peculiar to the Spanish-American
War. Suffering, sickness, confusion, and death--these are inseparable
from every armed conflict. They have always existed under such
circumstances; they are a part of war itself, against which no human
foresight can wholly provide.
Every civilized government is financially able to provide for its
armies, but the great and seemingly insuperable difficulty is, to always
have what is wanted at the place where it is most needed. It is a part
of the strategy of war, that an enemy seeks battle at a time and place
when his opponent is least prepared for it. Occasionally, too, an
attacking commander is deceived. Where he expects only slight
resistance, he encounters an overwhelming force and a battle of
unforeseen proportions, with unexpected casualties, occurs. This is the
universal testimony of nations. If it were not so, all needs could be
provided for and every move planned at the outset.
It was for these reasons that a body of gentlemen, now known as the
International Committee of Geneva, aided by National Associations in
each country, planned, urged and finally succeeded in securing the
adoption of the Treaty of the Red Cross. For these reasons the Treaty of
Geneva and the National Committees of the Red Cross exist to-day. It is
through the National Committees of the Red Cross in each treaty nation,
that the people seek to assist the government in times of great
emergency, in war or other calamity. It is only by favoring the
organization of this Auxiliary Relief in times of peace, encouraging its
development to the highest state of efficiency, preparing to utilize not
only all the ordinary resources, but also the generous support of the
people, through the Red Cross, that a government may hope to avoid much
of the needless suffering, sickness and death in war.
In carrying out its mission, to assist in the prevention and relief of
suffering, the Red Cross has neither the desire nor the intention to be
censorious, and is actuated neither by political opinion nor motives of
interference. It is but the outward and practical expression of that
universal sympathy that goes out from the millions of homes and
firesides, from the great heart of the nation, to humanity in distress,
to the soldier on the march, in the bivouac and on the field of battle.
Through all the past years, during which the Red Cross has sought
recognition, protection and co-operation, it was but for one purpose--to
be ready. Our only regret is that, during the late war, we were not
able to render greater service. Even the little that was accomplished,
could not have been done without the ever ready assistance of the
President and the Secretary of War.
Before us now lie the problems of the future, and the question is:
How shall we meet them? As friends of humanity, while there is still
a possibility of war or calamity, it behooves us to prepare. In America
perhaps, we are apt to undervalue careful preparation and depend too
much upon our impulses. Certainly in no other country have the
people so often risen from a state of unreadiness and accomplished such
wonderful results--at such a great sacrifice. The first American war
since the adoption of the Treaty of Geneva, has brought the Red Cross
home to the people; they have come to understand its meaning and
desire to become a permanent part of it. Now that the appropriate
time has come, it is the purpose of the Red Cross, relying upon the
active sympathy of the government and the generous support of the
people, to continue its work of preparation, until in its councils and in
its ranks the whole country shall be represented, standing together,
ready for any great emergency, inspired by the love of humanity and
the world-wide motto of the Red Cross:
"In time of peace and prosperity, prepare for war and calamity."
[Illustration: Clara Barton.]
[Illustration: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS, GENEVA,
SWITZERLAND
_Dr. Appia died, succeeded by M.E. Jouard Neville. Recent
additions to the Committee are, N. Adolphe Moynier and M.
Paul des Goulles, Secretary to the President._]
[Illustration: CLARA BARTON.
_Taken about 1885._]
INTRODUCTION.
To be called to tell in a few brief weeks the whole story of the Red
Cross from its origin to the present time seems a labor scarcely less
than to have lived it. It is a task that, however unworthily it may now
be performed, is, in itself, not unworthy the genius of George Eliot or
Macaulay. It is a story illustrating the rapid rise of the humane
sentiment in the latter half of the nineteenth century. On its European
side, it tells of the first timid and cautious putting forth of the
sentiment of humanity in war, amid the rattling swords and guns of
Solferino, its deaths and wounds and its subsequent awful silence.
It tells of its later fertilization on the red fields of Gravelotte and
Sedan beneath my own personal observation.
It was from such surroundings as these that the Red Cross has become the
means by which philanthropy has been grafted onto the wild and savage
stem of war.
From the first filaments spun in the heart of a solitary traveler have
been drawn onward stronger and larger strands, until now more than forty
of the principal nations of the earth are bound together by bonds of the
highest international law, that must make war in the future less
barbarous than it has been in the past.
It gives hope that "the very torrent, tempest and whirlwind" of war
itself may some day at last, far off, perhaps, give way to the sunny and
pleasant days of perpetual and universal peace. When a proposition for
an absolute and common disarmament of nations, made by the strongest of
the rulers of Europe, will not be met by cynical sneers and suggestions
of Machiavelian craft.
On its American side it is a story of such immense success on the part
of the American National Red Cross in some of its greatest and most
difficult fields of labor, that no financial report of them has ever
been made, because the story would have been altogether incredible. The
universal opinion of ordinary business people would have been that these
results could not have been obtained on the means stated, and therefore
something must be wrong or hidden, and to save ourselves from painful
suspicion, it was decided, rightly or wrongly, that the story must
remain substantially untold till its work in other fields had prepared
the public mind to accept the literal truth.
But the time has come at last when the facts may properly be set forth
without fear that they will be discredited or undervalued.
It will relate some of the experiences, the labors, the successes and
triumphs of the American National Red Cross in times of peace, by which
it had prepared itself to enter upon the Cuban contest as its first
independent work in time of war.
The Red Cross has done its part in that contest in the same spirit in
which it has heretofore done all the work which has been committed to
its care. It has done it unobtrusively, faithfully and successfully.
It may not altogether have escaped censure in the rather wild cyclone of
criticism that has swept over the country, but we remember not so much
the faultfinding that may have occasionally been poured out upon the Red
Cross, as the blessings and benedictions from all sides for work well
and nobly done that have fallen even upon its humblest ministers and
assistants.
It has been truthfully said that "so great has been the pressure to
share the difficulties and dangers of this service with only
transportation and subsistence for pay, that the Red Cross could on
these terms have had as many volunteers as there were enlisted men, if
their services could have been utilized and made important."
Indeed, it seems to have become the milder romance of war, and is
gradually winning its way into the very heart of the pomp and
circumstance of "glorious" war itself.
The Red Cross has therefore come to be so loved and trusted, its
principles and insignia have been so deeply set into the substance of
international law and the life of many great nations, that people
everywhere are beginning to ask with enthusiasm about its origin and
history; about the principles on which it acts. They ask for some
statement of its experiences, its hardships and its perils, and for some
account of those who have been most prominent in its operations.
It is partially to answer these and many similar inquiries that this
book has been prepared. It is in part a compilation and revision of
various statements necessarily incomplete and unsatisfactory, made from
time to time to meet emergencies. In part it has been wholly rewritten.
A great portion of the story of the Red Cross has been told in other
languages than English, because it was of work done by other than
English people. Much of this literature has never been translated or
placed within the reach of the English-speaking public.
Although the gradual growth of the idea of something like humanity in
war, stimulated by the ignorant and insane horrors of India and the
Crimea, and soothed and instructed by the sensible and practical work of
Florence Nightingale, had slowly but surely led up to the conditions
which made such a movement possible, it was not until the remarkable
campaign of Napoleon III. in Northern Italy again woke the slumbering
sympathies of the world that any definite steps revealed themselves.
In compiling this book I have been compelled to make use of much of the
material contained in a previous history written by myself in 1883,
which in turn was based upon the records and the literature of the
International Committee, and the official correspondence connected with
the treaty.
[Illustration: Clara Barton.]
[Illustration: Copyright, 1893, by Clara Barton.
THE FIRST RED CROSS WAREHOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C.]
[Illustration: NATIONAL RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON,
FROM 1892 TO 1897.
_Formerly headquarters of General Grant from which he
entered the White House as President._]
THE RED CROSS.
CHAPTER I
On June 24, 1859, occurred the memorable battle of Solferino, in which
the French and Sardinians were arrayed against the Austrians. The battle
raged over a wide reach of country and continued for sixteen hours; at
the end of which sixteen thousand French and Sardinian soldiers and
twenty thousand Austrians lay dead or were wounded and disabled on that
field. The old and ever-recurring fact reappeared: the medical staff was
wholly inadequate to the immense task suddenly cast upon them. For days
after the battle the dead in part remained unburied, and the wounded
where they fell, or crawled away as they could for shelter and help.
A Swiss gentleman, Henri Dunant by name, was then traveling near that
battlefield, and was deeply impressed by the scenes there presented to
him. He joined in the work of relief, but the inadequacy of preparation
and the consequent suffering of the wounded haunted him afterwards and
impelled him to write a book entitled "A Souvenir of Solferino," in
which he strongly advocated more humane and extensive appliances of aid
to wounded soldiers. He lectured about them before the "Society of
Public Utility" of Geneva. M. Gustav Moynier, a gentleman of independent
fortune, was then president of that society. Dr. Louis Appia, a
philanthropic physician, and Adolph Ador, a counsellor of repute in
Geneva, became interested in his views. They drew the attention of
Dufour, the general of the Swiss army, to the subject, and enlisted his
hearty co-operation. A meeting of this society was called to consider "a
proposition relative to the formation of permanent societies for the
relief of wounded soldiers." This meeting took place on the ninth of
February, 1863. The matter was laid fully before the society. It was
heartily received and acted upon and a committee was appointed with M.
Moynier at its head to examine into methods by which the desired
results might be obtained. So fully did this committee realize its
responsibility and the magnitude, grandeur and labor of the undertaking,
that the first steps were made even with timidity. But overcoming all
obstacles, it decided upon a plan which seemed possible, and announced
for the twenty-sixth of the following October a reunion to which were
invited from many countries men sympathizing with its views or able to
assist in its discussions. This international conference was held at the
appointed time, and continued its sessions four days. At this meeting it
was decided to call an international convention to be held at Geneva
during the autumn of the following year (1864). At this convention was
brought out the Geneva Treaty, and a permanent international committee
with headquarters at Geneva was formed, and the fundamental plan of the
national permanent relief societies adopted.
One of the first objects necessary and desired by the International
Committee for the successful prosecution of its work was the
co-operation by some of the more important states of Europe in a treaty
which should recognize the neutrality of the hospitals established, of
the sick and wounded, and of all persons and effects connected with the
relief service; also the adoption of a uniform protective sign or badge.
It inquired with care into the disposition of the several governments,
and was met with active sympathy and moral support. It first secured the
co-operation of the Swiss Federal Council and the Emperor of France. It
shortly after procured the signatures of ten other governments, which
were given at its room in the city hall of Geneva, August 22, 1864, and
was called the Convention of Geneva.
Its sign or badge was also agreed upon, namely, a red cross on a white
ground, which was to be worn on the arm by all persons acting with or in
the service of the committees enrolled under the convention.
The treaty provides for the neutrality of all sanitary supplies,
ambulances, surgeons, nurses, attendants, and sick or wounded men, and
their safe conduct when they bear the sign of the organization, viz: the
Red Cross.
Although the convention which originated the organization was
necessarily international, the relief societies themselves are entirely
national and independent; each one governing itself and making its own
laws, according to the genius of its nationality and needs.
It was necessary for recognition and safety, and for carrying out the
general provisions of the treaty, that a uniform badge should be agreed
upon. The Red Cross was chosen out of compliment to the Swiss republic,
where the first convention was held, and in which the central committee
has its headquarters. The Swiss colors being a white cross on a red
ground, the badge chosen was these colors reversed.
There are no "members of the Red Cross," but only members of societies
whose _sign_ it is. There is no "_Order of the Red Cross_." The relief
societies use, each according to its convenience, whatever methods seem
best suited to prepare in times of peace for the necessities of sanitary
service in times of war. They gather and store gifts of money and
supplies; arrange hospitals, ambulances, methods of transportation of
wounded men, bureaus of information, correspondence, etc. All that the
most ingenious philanthropy could devise and execute has been attempted
in this direction.
In the Franco-Prussian war this was abundantly tested. That Prussia
acknowledged its beneficence is proven by the fact that the emperor
affixed the Red Cross to the Iron Cross of Merit. The number of
governments adhering to the treaty was shortly after increased to
twenty-two and at the present date there are forty-two.
The German-Austria war of 1866, though not fully developing the
advantages of this international law, was yet the means of discovering
its imperfections. Consequently, in 1867 the relief societies of Paris
considered it necessary that the treaty should be revised, modified and
completed. Requests were issued for modification. The International
Committee transmitted them to the various governments, and in 1868 a
second diplomatic conference was convened at Geneva at which were voted
additional articles, improving the treaty by completing its design and
extending its beneficial action to maritime warfare.
During the war of 1866 no decisive trial of the new principles involved
in the treaty could be made, for Austria at that time had not adopted
it. But in 1870-71 it was otherwise. The belligerents, both France and
Germany, had accepted the treaty. Thus it became possible to show to the
world the immense service and beneficent results which the treaty,
through the relief societies, might accomplish.
The dullest apprehension can partially appreciate the responsibility
incurred by relief societies in time of war. The thoughtful mind will
readily perceive that these responsibilities involve constant vigilance
and effort during periods of peace. It is wise statesmanship which
suggests that in time of peace we must prepare for war, and it is no
less a wise benevolence that makes preparation in the hour of peace for
assuaging the ills that are sure to accompany war. We do not wait till
battles are upon us to provide efficient soldiery and munitions of war.
Everything that foresight and caution can devise to insure success is
made ready and kept ready against the time of need. It is equally
necessary to hold ourselves in readiness for effective service in the
mitigation of evils consequent upon war, if humane work is to be
undertaken for that purpose.
Permanent armies are organized, drilled and supported for the actual
service in war. It is no less incumbent if we would do efficient work in
alleviating the sufferings caused by the barbarisms of war, that we
should organize philanthropic efforts and be ready with whatever is
necessary, to be on the field at the sound of the first gun. An
understanding of this truth led the conference of 1863 to embody in its
articles as one of its first cardinal characteristics the following: "In
time of peace the committee will occupy itself with means to render
genuine assistance in time of war."
The International Committee assumed that there should be a relief
association in every country which endorsed the treaty, and so generally
was the idea accepted that at the end of the year 1864, when only ten
governments had been added to the convention, twenty-five committees had
been formed, under each of which relief societies were organized. It
was, however, only after the wars of 1864, 1866 and 1870 that the
movement began really to be popular. These conflicts brought not only
contestants, but neutral powers so to appreciate the horrors of war,
that they were quite ready to acknowledge the beneficence and wisdom of
the Geneva Treaty. Many who approved the humane idea and expressed a
hearty sympathy for the object to be obtained, had heretofore regarded
it as Utopian, a thing desirable but not attainable, an amiable and
fanatical illusion which would ever elude the practical grasp.
Nevertheless, the work accomplished during the wars referred to won over
not only such cavillers, but persons actually hostile to the movement,
to regard it as a practical and most beneficent undertaking. The crowned
heads of Europe were quick to perceive the benign uses of the
associations, and bestowed upon the central committees of their
countries money, credit and personal approbation. The families of
sovereigns contributed their sympathy and material support. The list of
princes and princesses who came forward with personal aid and assumed
direction of the work, was by no means small, thus proving correct the
augury of the Conference of 1863, that "The governments would accord
their high protection to the committees in their organization."
From one of the bulletins of the International Committee we make the
following hopeful extract:
"The whole of Europe is marshaled under the banner of the Red Cross. To
its powerful and peaceful sign the committee hopes to bring all the
civilized nations of the earth. Wherever men fight and tear each other
in pieces, wherever the glare and roar of war are heard, they aim to
plant the white banner that bears the blessed sign of relief. Already
they have carried it into Asia. Their ensign waves in Siberia, on the
Chinese frontier, and in Turkestan, and, through the African committee,
in Algeria and Egypt. Oceanica has a committee at Batavia. Japan
accepted the Treaty of Geneva in 1886, and on the breaking out of
hostilities between Japan and China, the Minister of War issued a
notification to the Japanese army, September 22, 1894, calling their
attention to the substance of the treaty."
ORGANIZATION AND METHODS OF WORK.
One of the things considered indispensable, and therefore adopted as a
resolution by the Conference of 1863, was the centralization of the work
in each country separately by itself.
While the treaty must be universally acknowledged and its badge accepted
as a universal sign, it was equally essential that the societies of the
different countries should be simply national and in no respect
international. It was therefore ordained by the conference that all
local committees or organizations desirous of working with the Red
Cross, should do so under the auspices of the Central Committee of their
own nation, which is recognized by its government and also recognized by
the International Committee from which the sign of the Red Cross
emanates. Singularly enough, the International Committee has had
considerable difficulty in making this fully understood, and frequently
has been obliged to suggest to local committees the necessity for their
subordination to the Central or National Committee. Once in three months
the International Committee publishes an official list of all central
committees recognized by it as national. In this way it is able to
exercise a certain control, and to repress entanglements and abuses
which would become consequent on irresponsible or counterfeit
organizations. To recapitulate: the Commission of Geneva, of which M.
Moynier is president, is the only International Committee. All other
committees are simply national or subordinate to national committees.
The Conference of 1863 foresaw that national differences would prevent a
universal code of management, and that to make the societies
international would destroy them, so far as efficiency was concerned.
They therefore adopted a resolution that "Central committees should
organize in such a manner as seemed the most useful and convenient to
themselves." Every committee being its own judge, has its own
constitution and laws. To be efficient, it must have the recognition of
its own government, must bear the stamp of national individuality and be
constructed according to the spirit, habits and needs of the country it
represents. No hierarchy unites the national societies; they are
independent of each other, but they have each an individual
responsibility to the treaty, under the ensign of which they work, and
they labor in a common cause. It is desirable that they should all be
known by one name, namely, the Society of the Red Cross. The functions
of the International Committee, whose headquarters are at Geneva, were
also determined by the Conference of 1863. It is to serve provisionally
as an intermediate agent between national committees, and to facilitate
their communications with each other. It occupies itself with the
general interests of the Red Cross in correspondence, and the study of
theoretical and practical methods of amelioration and relief.
The national committees are charged with the direction and
responsibility for the work in their own countries. They must provide
resources to be utilized in time of need, take active measures to secure
adherents, establish local societies, and have an efficient working
force always in readiness for action, and in time of war to dispatch and
distribute safely and wisely all accumulations of material and supplies,
nurses and assistants, to their proper destination, and, in short,
whatever may be gathered from the patriotism and philanthropy of the
country. They must always remember that central committees without
abundant sectional branches would be of little use.
In most countries the co-operation of women has been eagerly sought. It
is needless to say it has been as eagerly given. In some countries the
central committees are mixed, both sexes working together; in others,
sub-committees are formed by women, and in others, such as the Grand
Duchy of Baden, woman leads.
As a last detail of organization, the Conference of 1863 recommended to
the central committees to put themselves _en rapport_ with their
respective governments, in order that their offers of service should be
accepted when required. This makes it incumbent upon national societies
to obtain and hold government recognition, by which they are endowed
with the immunities and privileges of legally constituted bodies and
with recognition from other nations in time of war, not otherwise
possible to them.
OCCUPATIONS OF RELIEF SOCIETIES IN TIMES OF PEACE.
Organization, recognition and communication are by no means all that is
necessary to insure the fulfillment of the objects of these
associations. A thing most important to be borne in mind is that if
money be necessary for war, it is also an indispensable agent in relief
of the miseries occasioned by war. Self-devotion alone will not answer.
The relief societies need funds and other resources to carry on their
work. They not only require means for current expenses, but, most of
all, for possible emergencies. To obtain and prudently conserve these
resources is an important work. The Russian Society set a good example
of activity in this direction. From the beginning of its organization in
1867 it systematically collected money over the whole empire and
neglected nothing that tended to success. It put boxes in churches,
convents, armories, railroad depots, steamboats, in every place
frequented by the public. Beside the collection of funds, the Conference
of 1863 recommended that peace periods should be occupied in gathering
necessary material for service. In 1868 there were in Geneva alone five
depots where were accumulated one thousand two hundred and twenty-eight
shirts, besides hosiery, bandages, lint, etc., for over one thousand
wounded. There were also large collections in the provinces, and now,
thirty years later, these accumulations have probably greatly increased.
In other countries the supplies remaining after wars were gathered in
depots and were added to abundantly. Thus, in 1868, the Berlin Committee
was in possession of supplies worth over twenty-five thousand dollars.
Especial care is taken to acquire familiarity with the use of all
sanitary material, to eliminate as far as possible whatever may be
prejudicial to sick or wounded men, to improve both sanitary system and
all supplies to be used under it, to have everything of the very best,
as surgical instruments, medicine chests, bandages, stretchers, wagons,
tents and field hospitals.
We would refer to the effort made in the national exhibitions of the
various countries, where the societies of the Red Cross have displayed
their practical improvements and inventions in competitive fields,
taxing to the utmost human ingenuity and skill. Some countries have
taken grand prizes. An exposition at The Hague was held in 1867
exclusively for the work of the Red Cross. Permanent museums have been
established where all sorts of sanitary material for relief are
exhibited, as may be seen in Stockholm, Carlsruhe, St. Petersburg,
Moscow and Paris. The museum of Paris is the most important of all, and
is international, other countries having participated in its foundation.
Another method is the publication of works bearing upon this subject,
some of which are scientific and very valuable. Not less important is
the sanitary personnel. Of all aid, efficient nurses are the most
difficult to obtain. There are numbers of men and women who have the
will and devotion necessary to lead them into hospitals or to
battlefields, but very few of them are capable of performing well the
duties of nurses. Therefore, but a small portion of the volunteers are
available. The relief societies soon found that women were by nature
much better fitted for this duty than men can be, and to enable them to
fulfill to the best advantage the mission for which they are so well
adapted, it was decided to afford them the best possible professional
instruction. For this purpose, during peace training schools were
established from which were graduated great numbers of women who are
ready at a moment's notice to go upon the battlefield or into hospitals.
These professional nurses find no difficulty during times of peace in
securing remunerative employment. Indeed, they are eagerly sought for by
the community to take positions at the bedside of the sick, with the
proviso that they are to be allowed to obey the pledge of their society
at the first tocsin of war. There are schools for this purpose in
England, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Russia and other European countries,
and nothing has been neglected to make them thorough and to place them
on a strong and solid basis.
SERVICES IN TIME OF WAR.
Notwithstanding the readiness with which most persons will perceive the
beneficent uses of relief societies in war, it may not be amiss to
particularize some of the work accomplished by the societies of the Red
Cross. Not to mention civil disturbances and lesser conflicts, they
participated in not less than five great wars in the first ten years,
commencing with Schleswig-Holstein, and ending with the Franco-German.
Russia and Turkey have followed, with many others since that time, in
all of which these societies have signally proved their power to
ameliorate the horrors of war. The earlier of these, while affording
great opportunity for the beneficent work of the societies, were also
grand fields of instruction and discipline to the committee, enabling
them to store up vast funds of practical knowledge which were to be of
great service.
The Sanitary Commission of the United States also served as an excellent
example in many respects to the relief societies of Europe, and from it
they took many valuable lessons. Thus in 1866 Europe was much better
prepared than ever before for the care of those who suffered from the
barbarisms of war. She was now ready with some degree of ability to
oppose the arms of charity to the arms of violence, and make a kind of
war on war itself. Still however there was a lack of centralization. The
provincial committees worked separately, and consequently lost force.
Notwithstanding these drawbacks, large amounts of money were gathered,
and munificent supplies of material brought into store. The Austrian
Committee alone collected 2,170,000 francs, and a great supply of all
things needed in hospital service. The Central Committee was of great
use in facilitating correspondence between the different peoples
comprising the Austrian Empire, the bureau maintaining correspondence in
eleven different languages.
Italy was not backward in the performance of her duty. She used her
abundant resources in the most effectual way. Not only were her
provincial societies of relief united for common action, but they
received external aid from France and Switzerland. Here was exhibited
the first beautiful example of neutral powers interfering in the cause
of charity in time of war--instead of joining in the work of
destruction, lending their aid to repair its damages. The provincial
committees banded together under the Central Committee of Milan. Four
squads, comprising well-trained nurses and assistants, were organized
and furnished with all necessary material to follow the military
ambulances or field hospitals, whose wagons were placed at their
disposal.
Thus the committee not only reinforced the sanitary _personnel_ of the
army, but greatly increased its supplies. It provided entirely the
sanitary material for the Tyrolese volunteers, and afforded relief to
the navy, and when the war was over it remained among the wounded. In
addition to the supplies this committee afforded, it expended in money
not less than 199,064 francs.
But after all it was Germany standing between the two armies which
distinguished herself. Since the Conference of 1863 she had been acting
on the rule of preparation, and now found herself in readiness for all
emergencies. The Central Committee of Berlin was flooded with
contributions from the provincial committees. In the eight provinces of
Prussia 4,000,000 of thalers were collected, and the other states of
Germany were not behind. So munificently did the people bestow their
aid, that large storehouses were provided in Berlin and in the provinces
for its reception, and at the central depot in Berlin two hundred paid
persons, besides a large number of volunteers, and nearly three hundred
ladies and misses were employed in classifying, parceling, packing up,
and dispatching the goods. Special railroad trains carried material to
the points of need. In one train were twenty-six cars laden with 1800 to
2000 cwt. of supplies. Never had private charity, however carefully
directed, been able to accomplish such prodigies of benevolence. It was
now that the beneficence of the Treaty and the excellence of the
organization were manifested. But the committee did not confine itself
to sending supplies for the wounded to the seat of war. It established
and provisioned refreshment stations for the trains, to which those
unable to proceed on the trains to the great hospitals without danger to
life, were admitted, nursed and cared for with the tenderest solicitude
until they were sufficiently recovered to be removed, or death took
them. At the station of Pardubitz from six hundred to eight hundred were
cared for daily for two months, and lodging provided for three hundred
at night. This example suffices to show the extraordinary results of
well-organized plans and concerted action. During the war, the relief
societies had also to contend with the terrible scourge of cholera.
There can be no estimate of the misery assuaged and deaths prevented by
the unselfish zeal and devotion of the wearers of the Red Cross.
In the interval between the wars of 1866 and 1867, and that of 1870-71,
the time had been improved by the societies existing under the Geneva
Treaty, in adding to their resources in every possible manner.
Improvements were made in all articles of sanitary service; excellent
treatises regarding the hygiene of the camp and hospital were widely
circulated; the press had greatly interested itself in the promulgation
of information regarding all matters of interest or instruction
pertaining to sanitary effort, and almost universally lent its powerful
influence to build up the societies. Ten new societies were formed
during this time. In Germany the work of the Red Cross was so thoroughly
organized, that at the first signal from Berlin, committees arrived as
if by magic at all required points, forming a chain which extended over
the whole country, and numbered over two thousand persons. This is more
remarkable since Germany was a neutral power. Constant communication was
kept up between these committees and the central bureau, and the most
perfect order and discipline were maintained. Relief was sent from one
or another of these stations as was needed. The state afforded free
transport, and the voluntary contributions of the people kept up the
supplies of sanitary material, so that there was never any lack or
danger of failure. With the government transports, whether by land or
water, there went always the agents of the Red Cross, protected by their
badges and flag, to wait on the invoices, hasten their progress, see to
their being kept in good order, and properly delivered at their
destination. Depots of supplies were moved from place to place as
exigencies demanded. The greatest care was taken to prevent disorder or
confusion, and the best military circumspection and regularity
prevailed. The great central depot at Berlin comprised seven sections,
viz: Camp material; clothing; dressing, for wounds; surgical apparatus;
medicines and disinfectants; food and tobacco; and hospital furnishings.
Did space allow, it would be desirable to give statistics of the
contributions in money and supplies to this service. Suffice it to say,
the humanity of peoples is far beyond that of governments. Governments
appropriate immense sums to carry on destructive conflicts, but the work
of relief societies the world over, and especially during the war of
1870-71, has shown that the philanthropy of the people equals their
patriotism. The sums given to assuage the miseries of the
Franco-Prussian war were simply fabulous. In 1863, fears were expressed
that there would be difficulty in collecting needful funds and supplies
to carry out the designs of the treaty. These misgivings proved
groundless. After the war of 1870-71, notwithstanding nothing had been
withheld in the way of relief, the societies settled their accounts with
large balances in their treasuries.
In France not nearly so much had been previously done to provide for the
exigencies which fell upon them, but the committee worked with such
vigor and so wrought upon the philanthropy of individuals, that active
measures of relief were instantly taken. Gold and supplies poured into
the hands of the committee at Paris. One month sufficed to organize and
provide seventeen campaign ambulances or field hospitals, which
immediately joined the army and accompanied it through the first period
of the war, or until the battle of Sedan. In Paris ambulances were
stationed at the railroad depots to pick up the wounded, and a bureau of
information was created for soldiers' families. When the siege of Paris
was about to take place, the committee threw, without delay, a
commission into Brussels charged with the direction and help of flying
hospitals. Nine committees were established in the provinces, with power
to act for the Central Committee and to invite the people to help.
Meanwhile the committee in Paris did its utmost to mitigate the distress
that reigned there, and to prepare for the result of the siege. History
has recorded the sufferings, the horrors of misery that accompanied and
followed that siege; but history can never relate what wretchedness was
averted, what agonies were alleviated, what multitudes of lives were
saved, by the presence and effort of the relief societies! What the
state of France must have been without the merciful help of the Red
Cross societies the imagination dare not picture. After the armistice
was signed there were removed from Paris, under the auspices of the
relief societies, ten thousand wounded men, who otherwise must have
lingered in agony, or died from want of care; and there were brought
back by them to French soil nine thousand men who had been cared for in
German hospitals.
HELP FROM NEUTRAL COUNTRIES.
Neutral countries also during this war were ready and bountiful with
help; and those working under the treaty did most effectual service.
England contributed 7,500,000 francs, besides large gifts of sanitary
supplies; in one hundred and eighty-eight days' time she sent to the
seat of war twelve thousand boxes of supplies through the agents of the
Red Cross.
To give an idea of the readiness and efficacy with which the committees
worked even in neutral countries, one instance will suffice. From
Pont-a-Mousson a telegram was sent to London for two hundred and fifty
iron beds for the wounded, and in forty-eight hours they arrived in
answer to the request. England kept also at the seat of war agents to
inform the committee at home of whatever was most needed in supplies.
The neutral countries sent also surgeons, physicians and nurses, and in
many other ways gave practical testimony to the benign efficacy of the
Geneva treaty.
As will be seen by the foregoing pages, the objects and provisions of
the Geneva convention and the societies acting under it, are designed
for, and applicable to, the exigencies of war only. The close contact of
the nations hitherto signing this treaty, renders them far more liable
to the recurrence of war among them than our own, which by its
geographical position and distance from neighboring nations, entertains
a feeling of security which justifies the hope that we may seldom, if
ever again, have occasion to provide for the exigencies of war in our
land.
This leads the American Red Cross to perceive the great wisdom,
foresight and breadth of the resolution adopted by the convention of
1863, which provides that "Committees shall organize in the manner which
shall seem most useful and convenient to themselves;" also in their
article on the organization of societies in these pages occurs the
following: "To be efficient, societies must have government recognition,
must bear the stamp of their national individuality, and be constructed
according to the spirit, habits, and needs of the country they
represent. This is essential to success."
As no work can retain its vitality without constant action, so in a
country like ours, with a people of so active a temperament, an
essential element in endearing to them a work, is to keep constantly
before them its usefulness. With this view the question of meeting the
want heretofore felt on all occasions of public calamity, of sufficient
extent to be deemed of national importance, has received attention at
the hands of this association. For this purpose the necessary steps have
been inaugurated to organize auxiliary societies, prepared to co-operate
with the central association in all plans for prompt relief; whilst the
volunteers who shall render personal aid will be expected to hold
themselves in the same readiness as in the case of an international
call.
It must, however, be distinctly understood that these additional
functions for local purposes shall in no manner impair the international
obligation of the association; but on the contrary it is believed will
render them more effective in time of need.
It may appear singular that a movement so humane in its purposes, so
wise and well considered in its regulations, so universal in its
application, and every way so unexceptional, should have been so long in
finding its way to the knowledge and consideration of the people of the
United States. This fact appears to have been the result of
circumstances rather than intention. While eminently a reading people,
we are almost exclusively confined to the English language. The
literature of the Red Cross is entirely in other languages, largely
French, and thus has failed to meet the eye of the reading public.
It will be observed that the first convention was called during our war;
no delegates were especially sent by the United States, but our Minister
Plenipotentiary to Switzerland, acting as delegate, sent a copy of the
doings of the convention to our government for recognition. In the midst
of civil war as we were at the time the subject was very naturally and
properly declined.
[Illustration: FIRST LETTER FROM M. GUSTAV MOYNIER TO THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, URGING THE ADOPTION OF THE TREATY OF GENEVA.]
It was again most fittingly presented in 1866 through Rev. Dr. Henry W.
Bellows, and by this eminent gentleman and philanthropist a Society of
the Red Cross was actually formed; but for some cause it failed, and the
convention was not recognized. The International Committee became in a
manner discouraged in its efforts with the United States, but finally it
was decided to present it again through Miss Clara Barton, and
accordingly the following letter was addressed to President Hayes during
the first year of his administration:
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR
THE RELIEF OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS,
GENEVA, _August 19, 1877_.
_To the President of the United States, at Washington_:
MR. PRESIDENT: The International Committee of the Red Cross desires
most earnestly that the United States should be associated with them
in their work, and they take the liberty of addressing themselves to
you, with the hope that you will second their efforts. In order that
the functions of the National Society of the Red Cross be faithfully
performed, it is indispensable that it should have the sympathy and
protection of the government.
It would be irrational to establish an association upon the
principles of the Convention of Geneva, without the association
having the assurance that the army of its own country, of which it
should be an auxiliary, would be guided, should the case occur, by
the same principles. It would consequently be useless for us to
appeal to the people of the country, inasmuch as the United States,
as a government, has made no declaration of adhering officially to
the principles laid down by the convention of the twenty-second
August, 1864.
Such is then, Mr. President, the principal object of the present
request. We do not doubt but this will meet with a favorable
reception from you, for the United States is in advance of Europe
upon the subject of war, and the celebrated "Instructions of the
American Army" are a monument which does honor to the United States.
You are aware, Mr. President, that the Government of the United
States was officially represented at the Convention of Geneva, in
1864, by two delegates, and this mark of approbation given to the
work which was being accomplished was then considered by every one
as a precursor of a legal ratification. Until the present time,
however, this confirmation has not taken place, and we think that
this formality, which would have no other bearing than to express
publicly the acquiescence of the United States in those humanitarian
principles now admitted by all civilized people, has only been
retarded because the occasion has not offered itself. We flatter
ourselves with the hope that, appealing directly to your generous
sentiments, will determine you to take the necessary measures to put
an end to a situation so much to be regretted. We only wait such
good news, Mr. President, in order to urge the founding of an
American Society of the Red Cross.
We have already an able and devoted assistant in Miss Clara Barton,
to whom we confide the care of handing to you this present request.
It would be very desirable that the projected asseveration should be
under your distinguished patronage, and we hope that you will not
refuse us this favor.
Receive, Mr. President, the assurance of our highest consideration.
For the International Committee:
G. MOYNIER, _President_.
[Illustration: AUTOGRAPH ENDORSEMENT BY PRESIDENT GARFIELD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON.
Will the Secy
of State please
hear Miss Barton
on the subject
herein referred
to
J.A. Garfield
March 30, 1881.]
This letter was sent to Miss Barton, who, having labored with committees
of the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian war, thus becoming familiar
with its methods, was very naturally selected as the bearer of the
letter, and the exponent of the cause. Moreover, foreign nations had
secured her promise to present it to the government on her return to her
country and endeavor to make its principles understood among the people.
Accordingly the letter was presented by Miss Barton to President Hayes
and by him referred to his Secretary of State, but as no action was
taken, and no promise of any action given, it was not deemed advisable
to proceed to the organization of societies formed with special
reference to acting under the regulations of a governmental treaty
having no present existence, and no guaranty of any in the future.
Thus it remained until the incoming of the administration of President
Garfield when a copy of the letter of Mr. Moynier was presented by Miss
Barton to President Garfield, very cordially received by him, and
endorsed to Secretary Blaine; from whom after full consideration of the
subject the following letter was received:
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, _May 20, 1881_.
MISS CLARA BARTON, _American Representative of the Red Cross, etc.,
Washington_:
DEAR MADAM: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the
letter addressed by Mr. Moynier, President of the Red Cross
International Convention, to the President of the United States,
bearing the date of the nineteenth August, 1877, and referred by
President Garfield on the thirtieth March, 1881, to this
department.
It appears, from a careful perusal of the letter, that Mr. Moynier
is anxious that the Government of the United States should join with
other governments of the world in this International Convention.
Will you be pleased to say to Mr. Moynier, in reply to his letter,
that the President of the United States, and the officers of this
government, are in full sympathy with any wise measures tending
toward the amelioration of the suffering incident to warfare. The
constitution of the United States has, however, lodged the entire
war-making power in the Congress of the United States; and, as the
participation of the United States in an International Convention of
this character is consequent upon and auxiliary to the war-making
power of the nation, legislation by Congress is needful to
accomplish the humane end that your society has in view. It gives
me, however, great pleasure to state that I shall be happy to give
any measures which you may propose careful attention and
consideration, and should the President, as I doubt not he will,
approve of the matter, the administration will recommend to Congress
the adoption of the international treaty which you desire.
I am, madam, with very great respect, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. BLAINE.
On the twenty-fifth of June the following letter from Mr. Moynier,
president of the International Committee of Geneva, in reply to the
preceding letter of Secretary Blaine, was received by Miss Barton, and
duly presented at the State department:
GENEVA, _June 13, 1881_.
To the Honorable Secretary of State, JAMES G. BLAINE, _Washington_:
SIR: Miss Clara Barton has just communicated to me the letter which
she has had the honor to receive from you, bearing date of May 20,
1881, and I hasten to express to you how much satisfaction I have
experienced from it. I do not doubt now, thanks to your favorable
consideration and that of President Garfield, that the United States
may soon be counted among the number of signers of the Geneva
Convention, since you have been kind enough to allow me to hope that
the proposition for it will be made to Congress by the
administration.
I thank you, as well as President Garfield, for having been willing
to take into serious consideration the wish contained in my letter
of August 19, 1877, assuredly a very natural wish, since it tended
to unite your country with a work of humanity and civilization for
which it is one of the best qualified.
Since my letter of 1877 was written, several new governmental
adhesions have been given to the Geneva Convention, and I think that
these precedents will be much more encouraging to the United States
from the fact that they have been given by America. It was under the
influence of events of the recent war of the Pacific that Bolivia
signed the treaty the 16th of October, 1879, Chili on the 15th of
November, 1879, Argentine Republic on the 25th of November, 1879,
and Peru on the 22d of April, 1881. This argument in favor of the
adhesion of your country is the only one I can add to my request,
and to the printed documents that Miss Barton has placed in your
hands, to aid your judgment and that of Congress.
I now await with full confidence the final result of your
sympathetic efforts, and I beg you to accept, sir, the assurance of
my high consideration.
G. MOYNIER, _President_.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN
NATIONAL RED CROSS.]
[Illustration: A GROUP OF AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS MEMBERS.]
The very cordial and frank expressions of sympathy contained
in Secretary Blaine's letter gave assurance of the acceptance of the
terms of the treaty by the government at no distant day, and warranted
the formation of societies. Accordingly a meeting was held in
Washington, D.C., May 21, 1881, which resulted in the formation
of an association to be known as the American [National] Association
of the Red Cross. A constitution was adopted, a copy of which follows:
CONSTITUTION.
_Name, Location._
ARTICLE 1. This Association shall be known as the American Association
of the Red Cross, with its office located at Washington, D.C., and shall
consist of the subscribers hereunto, and such other persons as shall
hereafter be elected to membership; and it shall constitute a Central
National Association with power to organize state and territorial
associations auxiliary to itself.
_Objects of Association._
ART. 2. The objects of the National Association are,
_First_, To secure the adoption by the Government of the United States
of the Treaty of August 22, 1864.
_Second_, To obtain recognition by the Government of the United States,
and to hold itself in readiness for communicating therewith at all
times, to the end that its purposes may be more widely and effectually
carried out.
_Third_, To organize a system of national relief and apply the same in
mitigating the sufferings caused by war, pestilence, famine and other
calamities.
_Fourth_, To collect and diffuse information touching the progress of
mercy, the organization of national relief, the advancement of sanitary
science and hospital service, and their application.
_Fifth_, To co-operate with all other national societies, for the
furtherance of the articles herein set forth, in such ways as are
provided by the regulations governing such co-operation.
_Duties._
ART. 3. This association shall hold itself in readiness in the event of
war or any calamity great enough to be considered national, to
inaugurate such practical measures, in mitigation of the suffering and
for the protection and relief of sick and wounded, as may be consistent
with the objects of the association as indicated in Article 2.
_Officers._
ART. 4. The officers of this association shall consist of a president;
first vice-president; other vice-presidents, not to exceed one from each
State, Territory, and the District of Columbia; a secretary; treasurer;
an executive board; a board for consultation, which shall consist of the
following officers of the United States Government, viz: The President
and his cabinet: General of the Army; Surgeon General; Adjutant General,
and Judge Advocate General, and such other officers as may hereafter be
deemed necessary.
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF THE RED CROSS.
ORIGINAL INCORPORATION.
The undersigned, all of whom are citizens of the United States of
America, and a majority of whom are citizens of the District of
Columbia, desirous of forming an association for benevolent and
charitable purposes to co-operate with the Comité International de
Secours aux Militaires Blessés of Geneva, Switzerland, do, in pursuance
of sections 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550 and 551 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States, relating to the District of Columbia, make, sign
and acknowledge these:
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
1.
The name of this association shall be the American Association of the
Red Cross.
2.
The term of its existence shall be for twenty (20) years.
3.
The objects of this association shall be:
1st. To secure by the United States the adoption of the treaty of August
22, 1864, between Italy, Baden, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Spain,
Portugal, France, Prussia, Saxony, Wurtemberg, and the Federal Council
of Switzerland.
2d. To obtain recognition by the Government of the United States, and to
hold itself in readiness for communicating therewith at all times, to
the end that its purposes may be more wisely and effectually carried
out.
3d. To organize a system of national relief and apply the same in
mitigating the sufferings caused by war, pestilence, famine and other
calamities.
4th. To collect and diffuse information touching the progress of mercy,
the organization of national relief, the advancement of sanitary
science, and their application.
5th. To co-operate with all other similar national societies for the
furtherance of the articles herein set forth, in such ways as are
provided by the regulations governing such co-operation.
4.
The number of this association, to be styled the "Executive Board," for
the first year of its existence, shall be eleven (11).
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals at the city
of Washington this first day of July, A.D. 1881.
THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE.
_The proceedings of this Conference and what led up to it we learn
chiefly from the historical report of the Conference by Mr.
Gustav Moynier and Dr. Louis Appia, of the International
Committee of the Red Cross. It was the work of this Conference
that laid the foundation for the Treaty of Geneva, adopted in the
following year._
In the year 1864, Europe was covered, as if by enchantment, with a
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.
In September, 1869, I arrived at Geneva, Switzerland. In October I was
visited by the president and members of the "International Committee for
the relief of the wounded in war." They wished to learn if possible why
the United States had declined to sign the treaty. Our position was
incomprehensible to them. If the treaty had originated with a monarchial
government they could see some ground for hesitancy. But it originated
in a Republic older than our own. To what did America object, and how
could these objections be overcome? They had twice formally presented it
to the government at Washington, once in 1864, through our Minister
Plenipotentiary at Berne, who was present at the convention; again in
1868, through Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows, the great head of war relief in
America. They had failed in both instances. No satisfactory nor adequate
reason had ever been given by the nation for the course pursued. They
had thought the people of America, with their grand sanitary record,
would be the first to appreciate and accept it. I listened in silent
wonder to all this recital, and when I did reply it was to say that I
had never in America heard of the Convention of Geneva nor of the
treaty, and was sure that as a country America did not know she had
declined; that she would be the last to withhold recognition of a humane
movement; that it had doubtless been referred to and declined by some
one department of the government, or some one official, and had never
been submitted to the people; and as its literature was in languages
foreign to our English-speaking population, it had no way of reaching
us.
You will naturally infer that I examined it. I became all the time more
deeply impressed with the wisdom of its principles, the good practical
sense of its details, and its extreme usefulness in practice. Humane
intelligence had devised its provisions and peculiarly adapted it to win
popular favor. The absurdity of our own position in relation to it was
simply marvelous. As I counted up its roll of twenty-two nations--not a
civilized people in the world but ourselves missing, and saw Greece,
Spain, and Turkey there, I began to fear that in the eyes of the "rest
of mankind" we could not be far from barbarians. This reflection did not
furnish a stimulating food for national pride. I grew more and more
ashamed. But the winter wore on as winters do with invalids abroad. The
summer found me at Berne in quest of strength among its mountain views
and baths.
On the fifteenth of July, 1870, France declared war against Prussia.
Within three days a band of agents from the "International Committee of
Geneva," headed by Dr. Louis Appia (one of the prime movers of the
convention), equipped for work and _en route_ for the seat of war, stood
at the door of my villa inviting me to go with them and take such part
as I had taken in our own war. I had not strength to trust for that, and
declined with thanks, promising to follow in my own time and way, and I
did follow within a week. No shot had then been fired--no man had
fallen--yet this organized, powerful commission was on its way, with its
skilled agents, ready to receive, direct and dispense the charities and
accumulations which the generous sympathies of twenty-two nations, if
applied to, might place at its disposal. These men had treaty power to
go directly on to any field, and work unmolested in full co-operation
with the military and commanders-in-chief; their supplies held sacred
and their efforts recognized and seconded in every direction by either
belligerent army. Not a man could lie uncared for nor unfed. I thought
of the Peninsula in McClellan's campaign--of Pittsburg Landing, Cedar
Mountain and second Bull Run, Antietam, Old Fredericksburg with its
acres of snow-covered and gun-covered _glacee_, and its fourth-day flag
of truce; of its dead, and starving wounded, frozen to the ground, and
our commissions and their supplies in Washington, with no effective
organization to go beyond; of the Petersburg mine, with its four
thousand dead and wounded and no flag of truce, the wounded broiling in
a July sun--died and rotted where they fell. I remembered our prisons,
crowded with starving men whom all the powers and pities of the world
could not reach even with a bit of bread. I thought of the widows' weeds
still fresh and dark through all the land, north and south, from the
pine to the palm; the shadows on the hearths and hearts over all my
country. Sore, broken hearts, ruined, desolate homes! Was this people to
decline a humanity in war? Was this a country to reject a treaty for the
help of wounded soldiers? Were these the women and men to stand aloof
and consider? I believed if these people knew that the last cloud of war
had forever passed from their horizon, the tender, painful, deathless
memories of what had been would bring them in with a force no power
could resist. They needed only to know.
As I journeyed on and saw the work of these Red Cross societies in the
field, accomplishing in four months under their systematic organization
what we failed to accomplish in four years without it--no mistakes, no
needless suffering, no starving, no lack of care, no waste, no
confusion, but order, plenty, cleanliness and comfort wherever that
little flag made its way--a whole continent marshaled under the banner
of the Red Cross--as I saw all this, and joined and worked in it, you
will not wonder that I said to myself "If I live to return to my country
I will try to make my people understand the Red Cross and that treaty."
But I did more than resolve, I promised other nations I would do it, and
other reasons pressed me to remember my promise. The Franco-Prussian war
and the war of the commune were both enormous in the extent of their
operations and in the suffering of individuals. This great modern
international impulse of charity went out everywhere to meet and
alleviate its miseries. The small, poor countries gave of their poverty
and the rich nations poured out abundantly of their vast resources. The
contributions of those under the Red Cross went quietly, promptly
through international responsible channels, were thoughtfully and
carefully distributed through well-known agents, returns, accurate to a
franc, were made and duly published to the credit of the contributing
nations, and _the object aimed at was accomplished_.
America, filled with German and French people, with people humane and
universal in their instincts of citizenship and brotherhood, freighted
ships with supplies and contributions in money prodigal and vast. They
arrived in Europe, but they were not under the treaty regulations. No
sign of the Red Cross authorized any one to receive and distribute them.
The poor baffled agents, honest, well meaning and indefatigable, did all
that individuals without system or organization could do. But for the
most part the magnificent charity of America was misapplied and went as
unsystematized charity always tends to go, to ruin and to utter waste.
_The object aimed at was not accomplished._
At the end of the report of the international organization of the Red
Cross occurs something like this: "It is said that the United States of
America also contributed something for the sick and wounded, but what,
or how much, or to whom, or when or where, it is impossible to tell."
In the autumn of 1873, I returned to America more broken in health than
when I left in 1869. Then followed years of suffering in which I forgot
how to walk, but I remembered my resolve and my promise. After almost
five years I was able to go to Washington with a letter from Monsieur
Moynier, president of the International Committee of Geneva, to the
President of the United States, asking once more that our government
accede to the articles of the convention. Having been made the official
bearer of this letter, I presented it in 1877 to President Hayes, who
received it kindly, referring it to his Secretary of State, Mr. Evarts,
who in his turn referred it to his assistant secretary as the person who
would know all about it, examine and report for decision. I then saw how
it was made to depend not alone upon one department, but one man, who
had been the assistant secretary of state in 1864 and also in 1868, when
the treaty had been on the two previous occasions presented to our
government. It was a settled thing. There was nothing to hope for from
that administration. The matter had been officially referred and would
be decided accordingly. It would be declined because it had been
declined. If I pressed it to a decision, it would only weigh it down
with a third refusal. I waited. My next thought was to refer it to
Congress. That step would be irregular, and discourteous to the
administration. I did not like to take it, still I attempted it, but
could not get it considered, for it promised neither political
influence, patronage, nor votes.
The next year I returned to Washington to try Congress again. I
published a little pamphlet of two leaves addressed to the members and
senators, to be laid upon their desks in the hope they would take the
trouble to read so little as that, and be by so much the better prepared
to consider and act upon a bill if I could get one before them. My
strength failed before I could get that bill presented, and I went home
again in midwinter. There then remained but a portion of the term of
that administration, and I determined, if possible, to outlive it,
hoping another would be more responsive. Meanwhile I wrote, talked, and
did whatever I could to spread the idea among the people, and March,
1881, when the administration of President Garfield came in, I went
again to Washington. The subject was very cordially received by the
President and carefully referred by him to Secretary Blaine, who
considered it himself, conferred fully with me, and finally laid it
before the President and the cabinet. Perhaps the most satisfactory
account of that transaction will be found in the letter of Mr. Blaine
addressed to me, (see page 41), which gives the assurance that President
Garfield would recommend the adoption of the treaty in his message to
Congress.
What were the provisions of that treaty which had been so conspicuously
and persistently neglected and apparently rejected by this whole
government, whose people are as humane as any people in the world, and
as ready to adopt plain and common sense provisions against evils sure
to come upon themselves and those whom they hold most dear? It was
merely the proposed adoption of a treaty by this government with other
nations for the purpose of ameliorating the conditions incident to
warfare, humanizing its regulations, softening its barbarities, and so
far as possible, lessening the sufferings of the wounded and sick who
fall by it. This treaty consists of a code of ten articles, formed and
adopted by the International Convention of Geneva, Switzerland, held
August 22, 1864, which convention was composed of delegates, two or more
from each of the civilized nations of the world, and was called at the
instance of the members of the Society of Public Utility of Switzerland.
The sittings of the convention occupied four days, and resulted, as
before stated, in a code of ten articles, to be taken by the delegates
there present, back to the governments of their respective countries for
ratification. Four months were allowed for consideration and decision by
the governments, and all acceding within that time were held as having
signed at the convention. At the close of this period, it was found that
twelve nations had endorsed the terms of the treaty and signed its
articles. The protocol was left open for such as should follow. The
articles of this treaty provide, as its first and most important
feature, for the entire and strict neutrality of all material and
supplies contributed by any nation for the use of the sick and wounded
in war; also that persons engaged in the distribution of them, shall
not be subject to capture; that all hospitals, general or field, shall
be neutral, respected and protected by all belligerents; that all
persons comprising the medical service, surgeons, chaplains,
superintendents, shall be neutral, continuing their work after the
occupation of a field or post the same as before, and when no longer
needed be free to retire; that they may send a representative to their
own headquarters if needful; that field hospitals shall retain their own
equipments; that inhabitants of a country who entertain and care for the
wounded of either side, in their houses, shall be protected; that the
generals of an army shall so inform the people; that commanders-in-chief
shall have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy
soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement, both parties consenting
to the same; that the wounded, incapable of serving, shall be returned
when healed; that all transports of wounded and all evacuations of posts
or towns shall be protected by absolute neutrality. That the sick and
wounded shall be entertained regardless of nationality; and that
commanders-in-chief shall act in accordance with the instructions of
their respective governments, and in conformity to the treaty. In order
that all may understand, and no mistake be possible, it also provides
that one uniform international flag shall mark all hospitals, all posts
of sick and wounded, and one uniform badge or sign shall mark all
hospital material, and be worn by all persons properly engaged in the
hospital service of any nation included within the treaty; that this
international flag and sign shall be a red cross on a white ground, and
that the nations within the compact shall not cease their endeavors
until every other nation capable of making war shall have signed this
treaty, and thus acceded to the general principles of humanity in
warfare recognized by other peoples.
Thirty-one governments have already signed this treaty, thirty-one
nations are in this humane compact. The United States of America is not
in it, and the work to which your attention is called, and which has
occupied me for the last several years, is to induce her to place
herself there.
This is what the Red Cross means, not an order of knighthood, not a
commandery, not a secret society, not a society at all by itself, but
the powerful, peaceful sign and the reducing to practical usefulness of
one of the broadest and most needed humanities the world has ever known.
These articles, it will be observed, constitute at once a treaty
governing our relations with foreign nations, and additional articles of
war governing the conduct of our military forces in the field. As a
treaty under the constitution, the President and Senate are competent to
deal with them; as additional articles of war, Congress must sanction
and adopt them before they can become effective and binding upon the
government and the people. For this reason I have appealed to Congress
as well as to the Executive Department.
On the breaking up of the original convention at Geneva, the practical
work of organizing its principles into form and making them understood
and adopted by the people, devolved upon seven men, mainly those who had
been instrumental in calling it. These men were peculiarly fitted for
this work by special training, enlarged views, and a comprehensive
charity, no less than by practical insight, knowledge of the facts and
needs of the situation, and a brave trust in the humane instincts of
human nature. They are known to-day the world over as "The International
Committee of Geneva for the relief of the sick and wounded in war." This
committee is international, and is the one medium through which all
nations within the treaty transact business and carry on correspondence.
The first act of each nation subsequent to the treaty has been to
establish a central society of its own, which of course is national, and
which has general charge and direction of the work of its own country.
Under these comes the establishment of local societies. It will be
perceived that their system, aside from its international feature, is
very nearly what our own war relief societies would have been had they
retained permanent organizations. Indeed, it is believed that we
furnished for their admirable system some very valuable ideas. The
success of the Red Cross associations consists in their making their
societies permanent, holding their organizations firm and intact,
guarding their supplies, saving their property from waste, destruction
and pillage, and making the persons in charge of the gifts of the people
as strictly responsible for straightforward conduct and honest returns,
as they would be for the personal property of an individual, a business
firm, or a bank.
In attempting to present to the people of this country the plan of the
Red Cross societies, it is proper to explain that originally and as
operating in other countries they recognize only the miseries arising
from war. Their humanities, although immense, are confined to this war
centre. The treaty does not cover more than this, but the resolutions
for the establishment of societies under the treaty, permit them to
organize in accordance with the spirit and needs of their nationalities.
By our geographical position and isolation we are far less liable to
the disturbances of war than the nations of Europe, which are so
frequently called upon that they do well to keep in readiness for the
exigencies of war alone. But no country is more liable than our own to
great overmastering calamities, various, widespread and terrible. Seldom
a year passes that the nation from sea to sea is not, by the shock of
some sudden, unforeseen disaster, brought to utter consternation, and
stands shivering like a ship in a gale, powerless, horrified, and
despairing. Plagues, cholera, fires, flood, famine, all bear upon us
with terrible force. Like war these events are entirely out of the
common course of woes and necessities. Like death they are sure to come
in some form and at some time, and like it no mortal knows where, how or
when.
What have we in readiness to meet these emergencies save the good heart
of our people and their impulsive, generous gifts? Certainly no
organized system for collection, reception nor distribution; no agents,
nurses nor material, and, worst of all, no funds; nowhere any resources
in _reserve_ for use in such an hour of peril and national woe; every
movement crude, confused and unsystematized, every thing as unprepared
as if we had never known a calamity before and had no reason to expect
one again.
Meanwhile the suffering victims wait! True, in the shock we bestow most
generously, lavishly even. Men "on Change" plunge their hands into their
pockets and throw their gold to strangers, who may have neither
preparation nor fitness for the work they undertake, and often no
guaranty for honesty. Women, in the terror and excitement of the moment
and in their eagerness to aid, beg in the streets and rush into fairs,
working day and night, to the neglect of other duties in the present,
and at the peril of all health in the future--often an enormous outlay
for very meagre returns. Thus our gifts fall far short of their best,
being hastily bestowed, irresponsibly received and wastefully applied.
We should not, even if to some degree we might, depend upon our ordinary
charitable and church societies to meet these great catastrophes; they
are always overtaxed. Our communities abound in charitable societies,
but each has its specific object to which its resources are and must be
applied; consequently they cannot be relied upon for prompt and abundant
aid in a great and sudden emergency. This must necessarily be the case
with all societies which organize to work for a specific charity. And
this is as it should be; it is enough that they do constantly bestow.
Charity bears an open palm, to give is her mission. But I have never
classed these Red Cross societies with charities, I have rather
considered them as a wise national provision which seeks to garner and
store up something against an hour of sudden need. In all our land we
have not one organization of this nature and which acts upon the system
of conserved resources. Our people have been more wise and thoughtful in
the establishment of means for preventing and arresting the destruction
of property than the destruction of human life and the lessening of
consequent suffering. They have provided and maintain at an immense
cost, in the aggregate, a system of fire departments with their
expensive buildings and apparatus, with their fine horses and strong men
kept constantly in readiness to dash to the rescue at the first dread
clang of the fire bell. Still, while the electric current may flash upon
us at any moment its ill tidings of some great human distress, we have
no means of relief in readiness such as these Red Cross societies would
furnish.
I beg you will not feel that in the presentation of this plan of action
I seek to add to the labors of the people. On the contrary, I am
striving to lessen them by making previous, calm preparation do away
with the strain and confusion of unexpected necessities and haste. I am
providing not weariness, but rest.
And, again, I would not be understood as suggesting the raising of more
moneys for charitable purposes; rather I am trying to save the people's
means, to economize their charities, to make their gifts do more by the
prevention of needless waste and extravagance. If I thought that the
formation of these societies would add a burden to our people I would be
the last to advocate it. I would not, however, yield the fact of the
treaty. For patriotism, for national honor, I would stand by that at all
cost. My first and greatest endeavor has been to wipe from the scroll of
my country's fame the stain of imputed lack of common humanity, to take
her out of the roll of barbarism. I said that in 1869 there were
twenty-two nations in the compact. There are now thirty-one, for since
that date have been added Roumania, Persia, San Salvador, Montenegro,
Servia, Bolivia, Chili, Argentine Republic and Peru. If the United
States of America is fortunate and diligent she may, perhaps, come to
stand No. 32 in the roll of civilization and humanity. If not, she will
remain where she at present stands, among the barbarians and the
heathen.
In considering this condition of things it seemed desirable to so extend
the original design of the Red Cross societies operating in other lands
as to include not only suffering by war, but by pestilence, famine,
fires or floods--in short, any unlooked-for calamity so great as to
place it beyond the means of ordinary local charity, and which by
public opinion would be pronounced a national calamity; but that this
addition should in no way impair the original functions of the society,
and that for their own well being they should be held firm by the
distinguishing feature of the international constitution, which provides
that local societies shall not act except upon orders from the National
Association, which is charged with the duty of being so fully informed
upon all such subjects, both at home and abroad, as to constitute it the
most competent judge of the magnitude and gravity of any catastrophe.
During all these years no societies under the true banner of the Red
Cross of Geneva were or could be organized, for the government had not
yet ratified the treaty and no department of the government had then
intimated that it ever would be ratified. It could not be a responsible
or quite an honest movement on my part to proceed to the formation of
societies to act under and in conformity to a treaty of special
character so long as our government recognized no such treaty and I
could get no assurance that it ever would or indeed could recognize it.
But this delay in the formation of societies, however embarrassing, was
in no manner able to interfere with the general plan, or the working
details for its operations, which had been arranged and decided upon
before the presentation of the subject to the government in 1877, and
published in pamphlet form in 1878, making it to cover, as it now does,
the entire field of national relief for great national woes and
calamities in time of peace, no less than in war. The wise provisions,
careful preparations and thorough system which had been found so
efficient in the permanent societies of the Red Cross in other
countries, could not fail, I thought, to constitute both a useful and
powerful system of relief in any class of disasters. I therefore
ventured so far upon the generous spirit of their original resolutions
in the plan of our societies as, mechanically speaking, to attach to
this vast motor power the extra and hitherto dead weight of our great
national calamities, in order that the same force should apply to all
and serve to lighten I hoped, so far as possible, not only the woes of
those directly called to suffer, but the burdens on the hearts and hands
of those called to sympathize with their sufferings.
The time allowed for the practical test of this experiment has been
short. Scarcely three months in which to organize and act, but the brave
societies of the Red Cross of western New York, at this moment standing
so nobly among their flame-stricken neighbors of Michigan--so
generously responding to their calls for help, are quite sufficient I
believe to show what the action and results of this combined system will
be when recognized and inaugurated.
It may be said that this treaty jeopardizes our traditional policy,
which jealously guards against entangling alliances abroad; that as we
are exempt by our geographical position from occasions for war this
treaty must bring us not benefits but only burdens from other people's
calamities and wars--calamities and wars which we do not create and of
which we may properly reap the incidental advantages. But this treaty
binds none to bear burdens, but only to refrain from cruelties; it binds
not to give but to allow others to give wisely and to work humanely if
they will, while all shall guarantee to them undisturbed activity in
deeds of charity. There is then in the Red Cross no "entangling
alliance" that any but a barbarian at war can feel as a restraint. This
inculcated wariness of foreign influences, wonderfully freshened by the
conduct of foreign rulers and writers during the rebellion and deepened
by the crimes and the craft directed primarily at Mexico and ultimately
at us, made the people of America in 1864 and 1868 devoutly thankful for
the friendly and stormy sea that rolled between them and the European
states. And it is not perhaps altogether strange that American
statesmen, inspired by such a public opinion, should then have been but
little inclined to look with favor upon any new international
obligations however specious in appearance or humane in fact. But the
award of Geneva surely opened the way for the Red Cross of Geneva. Time
and success have made plain the nation's path. The postal treaty since
made among all nations and entered into heartily by this has proved
salutary to all. It has removed every valid state reason for opposition
to the harmless, humane and peaceful provisions of the treaty of the Red
Cross.
But in the midst of the rugged facts of war come sentimental objections
and objectors. For, deplore it as we may, war _is the great fact_ of all
history and its most pitiable feature is not after all so much the great
numbers slain, wounded and captured in battle, as their cruel after
treatment as wounded and prisoners, no adequate provision being made for
their necessities, no humane care even permitted, except at the risk of
death or imprisonment as spies, of those moved by wise pity or a simple
religious zeal.
Among these hard facts appears a conscientious theorist and asks, Is not
war a great sin and wrong? Ought we to provide for it, to make it easy,
to lessen its horrors, to mitigate its sufferings? Shall we not in this
way encourage rulers and peoples to engage in war for slight and fancied
grievances?
We provide for the victims of the great wrong and sin of intemperance.
These are for the most part voluntary victims, each in a measure the
arbiter of his own fate. The soldier has generally no part, no voice, in
creating the war in which he fights. He simply obeys as he must his
superiors and the laws of his country. Yes, it is a great wrong and sin,
and for that reason I would provide not only for, but against it.
But here comes the speculative theorist! Isn't it encouraging a bad
principle; wouldn't it be better to do away with all war? Wouldn't peace
societies be better? Oh, yes, my friend, as much better as the
millennium would be better than this, but it is not here. Hard facts are
here; war is here; war is the outgrowth, indicator and relic of
barbarism. Civilization alone will do away with it, and scarcely a
quarter of the earth is yet civilized, and that quarter not beyond the
possibilities of war. It is a long step yet to permanent peace. We
cannot cross a stream until we reach it. The sober truth is, we are
called to deal with facts, not theories; we must practice if we would
teach. And be assured, my friends, there is not a peace society on the
face of the earth to-day, nor ever will be, so potent, so effectual
against war as the Red Cross of Geneva.
The sooner the world learns that the halo of glory which surrounds a
field of battle and its tortured, thirsting, starving, pain-racked,
dying victims exists only in imagination; that it is all sentiment,
delusion, falsehood, given for effect; that soldiers do not die painless
deaths; that the sum of all human agony finds its equivalent on the
battlefield, in the hospital, by the weary wayside and in the prison;
that, deck it as you will, it is agony; the sooner and more thoroughly
the people of the earth are brought to realize and appreciate these
facts, the more slow and considerate they will be about rushing into
hasty and needless wars, and the less popular war will become.
Death by the bullet painless! What did this nation do during eighty
agonizing and memorable days but to watch the effects of one bullet
wound? Was it painless? Painless either to the victim or the nation?
Though canopied by a fortitude, patience, faith and courage scarce
exceeded in the annals of history, still was it agony. And when in his
delirious dreams the dying President murmured, "The great heart of the
nation will not let the soldier die," I prayed God to hasten the time
when every wounded soldier would be sustained by this sweet assurance;
that in the combined sympathies, wisdom, enlightenment and power of the
nations, he should indeed feel that the great heart of the people would
not let the soldier die.
Friends, was it accident, or was it providence which made it one of the
last acts of James A. Garfield in health to pledge himself to urge upon
the representatives of his people in Congress assembled, this great
national step for the relief and care of wounded men? Living or dying it
was his act and his wish, and no member in that honored, considerate and
humane body but will feel himself in some manner holden to see it
carried out.
ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
The president of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton, in November,
1881, laid before President Arthur the matter of the Treaty of Geneva,
and the unfulfilled desire of President Garfield that the United States
should give its adhesion to that international compact. To this
President Arthur gave a cordial and favorable response, and made good
his words by the following paragraph in his first annual message, sent
to the forty-seventh Congress:
At its last extra session the Senate called for the text of the
Geneva Convention for the relief of the wounded in war. I trust that
this action foreshadows such interest in the subject as will result
in the adhesion of the United States to that humane and commendable
engagement.
This part of the message was immediately taken up in the Senate and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, consisting of the
following named gentlemen, to wit: William Windom, Minnesota; George F.
Edmunds, Vermont; John T. Miller, California; Thomas W. Ferry, Michigan;
Elbridge G. Lapham, New York; John W. Johnston, Virginia; J.T. Morgan,
Alabama; George H. Pendleton, Ohio; Benjamin H. Hill, Georgia.
During the consideration of the subject an invitation was extended to
the president of the American Association, its counsel and other
associate members to meet the above named Senate Committee at the
capitol, for conference, and for an explanation of such points as still
remained obscure, to aid their deliberations, and to facilitate
investigations.
On the seventeenth of May, 1881, Hon. Omar D. Conger submitted to the
United States Senate the following resolution, which was considered by
unanimous consent and agreed to:
_Resolved_, That the Secretary of State be requested to furnish to
the Senate copies (translations) of Articles of Convention signed at
Geneva, Switzerland, August 22, 1864, touching the treatment of
those wounded in war, together with the forms of ratification
employed by the several governments, parties thereto.
On the twelfth of December, 1881, in response to the above resolution,
President Arthur addressed to the Senate a message transmitting a report
of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, touching the Geneva
convention for the relief of the wounded in war, which message, report
and accompanying papers were as follows:
(Senate Ex. Doc. No. 6, 47th Congress, 1st Session.)
Message from the President of the United States, transmitting in
response to Senate resolution of May 17th, 1881, a report of the
Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, touching the Geneva
convention for the relief of the wounded in war.
December 12, 1881.--Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and
ordered to be printed.
_To Senate of the United States:_
I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the
seventeenth of May last, a report of the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, touching the Geneva convention for the relief of
the wounded in war.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR,
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1881_.
_To the President:_
The Secretary of State, to whom was addressed a resolution of the
Senate, dated the seventeenth of May, 1881, requesting him "to furnish
to the Senate copies (translations) of Articles of Convention signed at
Geneva, Switzerland, August 22, 1864, touching the treatment of those
wounded in war, together with the forms of ratification employed by the
several governments, parties thereto," has the honor to lay before the
President the papers called for by the resolution.
In view of the reference made, in the annual message of the President,
to the Geneva convention, the Secretary of State deems it unnecessary
now to enlarge upon the advisability of the adhesion of the United
States to an international compact at once so humane in its character
and so universal in its application as to commend itself to the adoption
of nearly all the civilized powers.
JAMES G. BLAINE.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1881_.
THE "ADDITIONAL ARTICLES" CONCERNING THE RED CROSS FOR THE NAVY.
The governments of North Germany, Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium,
Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and
Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Würtemberg, desiring to extend to armies
on the sea the advantages of the convention concluded at Geneva the
twenty-second of August, 1864, for the amelioration of the condition of
wounded soldiers in armies in the field, and to further particularize
some of the stipulations of the said convention, proposed and signed the
following additional articles:
Additional Articles to the Convention of Geneva of the twenty-second
August, 1864, signed at Geneva the twentieth of October, 1868.
ARTICLE I. The persons designated in Article II. of the convention
shall, after the occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their
duties, according to their wants, to the sick and wounded in the
ambulance or the hospital which they serve. When they request to
withdraw, the commander of the occupying troops shall fix the time
of departure, which he shall only be allowed to delay for a short
time in case of military necessity.
ART. II. Arrangements will have to be made by the belligerent powers
to ensure to the neutralized person, fallen into the hands of the
army of the enemy, the entire enjoyment of his salary.
ART. III. Under the conditions provided for in Articles I. and IV.
of the convention, the name "ambulance" applies to field hospitals
and other temporary establishments, which follow the troops on the
field of battle to receive the sick and wounded.
ART. IV. In conformity with the spirit of Article V. of the
convention, and to the reservations contained in the protocol of
1864, it is explained that for the appointment of the charges
relative to the quartering of troops and of the contributions of
war, account only shall be taken in an equitable manner of the
charitable zeal displayed by the inhabitants.
ART. V. In addition to Article VI. of the convention, it is
stipulated that, with the reservation of officers whose detention
might be important to the fate of arms, and within the limits fixed
by the second paragraph of that article, the wounded fallen into the
hands of the enemy shall be sent back to their country, after they
are cured, or sooner if possible, on condition, nevertheless, of not
again bearing arms during the continuance of the war.
ART. VI. The boats which, at their own risk and peril, during and
after an engagement pick up the shipwrecked or wounded, or which,
having picked them up, convey them on board a neutral, or hospital
ship, shall enjoy, until the accomplishment of their mission, the
character of neutrality, as far as the circumstances of the
engagement and the position of the ships engaged will permit.
The appreciation of these circumstances is entrusted to the humanity
of all the combatants. The wrecked and wounded thus picked up and
saved must not serve again during the continuance of the war.
ART. VII. The religious, medical and hospital staff of any captured
vessel are declared neutral, and, on leaving the ship, may remove
the articles and surgical instruments which are their private
property.
ART. VIII. The staff designated in the preceding article must
continue to fulfill their functions in the captured ship, assisting
in the removal of wounded made by the victorious party; they will
then be at liberty to return to their country, in conformity with
the second paragraph of the first additional article.
The stipulations of the second additional article are applicable to
the pay and allowance of the staff.
ART. IX. The military hospital ships remain under martial law in all
that concerns their stores; they become the property of the captor,
but the latter must not divert them from their special appropriation
during the continuance of the war.
The vessels not equipped for fighting, which during peace the
government shall have officially declared to be intended to serve as
floating hospital ships, shall, however, enjoy during the war
complete neutrality, both as regards stores, and also as regards
their staff, provided their equipment is exclusively appropriated to
the special service on which they are employed.
ART. X. Any merchantman, to whatever nation she may belong, charged
exclusively with removal of sick and wounded, is protected by
neutrality, but the mere fact, noted on the ship's books, of the
vessel having been visited by an enemy's cruiser, renders the sick
and wounded incapable of serving during the continuance of the war.
The cruiser shall even have the right of putting on board an officer
in order to accompany the convoy, and thus verify the good faith of
the operation.
If the merchant ship also carries a cargo, her neutrality will still
protect it, provided that such cargo is not of a nature to be
confiscated by the belligerents.
The belligerents retain the right to interdict neutralized vessels
from all communication, and from any course which they may deem
prejudicial to the secrecy of their operations. In urgent cases,
special conventions may be entered into between commanders-in-chief,
in order to neutralize temporarily and in a special manner the
vessels intended for the removal of the sick and wounded.
ART. XI. Wounded or sick sailors and soldiers, when embarked, to
whatever nation they may belong, shall be protected and taken care
of by their captors.
Their return to their own country is subject to the provisions of
Article VI. of the convention, and of the additional Article V.
ART. XII. The distinctive flag to be used with the national flag, in
order to indicate any vessel or boat which may claim the benefits of
neutrality, in virtue of the principles of this convention, is a
white flag with a red cross. The belligerents may exercise in this
respect any mode of verification which they may deem necessary.
Military hospital ships shall be distinguished by being painted
white outside, with green strake.
ART. XIII. The hospital ships which are equipped at the expense of
the aid societies, recognized by the governments signing this
convention, and which are furnished with a commission emanating
from the sovereign, who shall have given express authority for their
being fitted out, and with a certificate from the proper naval
authority that they have been placed under his control during their
fitting out and on their final departure, and that they were then
appropriated solely to the purpose of their mission, shall be
considered neutral, as well as the whole of their staff. They shall
be recognized and protected by the belligerents.
They shall make themselves known by hoisting, together with their
national flag, the white flag with a red cross. The distinctive mark
of their staff, while performing their duties, shall be an armlet of
the same colors.
The outer painting of these hospital ships shall be white, with red
strake.
These ships shall bear aid and assistance to the wounded and wrecked
belligerents, without distinction of nationality.
They must take care not to interfere in any way with the movements
of the combatants. During and after the battle they must do their
duty at their own risk and peril.
The belligerents shall have the right of controlling and visiting
them; they will be at liberty to refuse their assistance, to order
them to depart, and to detain them if the exigencies of the case
require such a step.
The wounded and wrecked picked up by these ships cannot be reclaimed
by either of the combatants, and they will be required not to serve
during the continuance of the war.
ART. XIV. In naval wars any strong presumption that either
belligerent takes advantage of the benefits of neutrality, with any
other view than the interest of the sick and wounded, gives to the
other belligerent, until proof to the contrary, the right of
suspending the Convention Treaty, as regards such belligerent.
Should this presumption become a certainty, notice may be given to
such belligerent that the convention is suspended with regard to him
during the whole continuance of the war.
ART. XV. The present act shall be drawn up in a single original
copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Swiss
Confederation.
An authentic copy of this act shall be delivered, with an invitation
to adhere to it, to each of the signatory powers of the convention
of the twenty-second of August, 1864, as well as to those that have
successively acceded to it.
In faith whereof, the undersigned commissaries have drawn up the
present project of additional articles and have affixed thereunto
the seals of their arms:
Von Roeder,
F. Löffler,
Köhler,
Dr. Mundy,
Steiner,
Dr. Dompierre,
Visschers,
J.B.G. Galiffe,
D. Felice Baroffio,
Paalo Cottrau,
H.A. Van Karnebeck,
Westenberg,
F.N. Staaff,
G.H. Dufour,
G. Moynier,
A. Coupvent des Bois,
H. de Préval,
John Saville Lumley,
H.R. Yelverton,
Dr. S. Lehmann,
Husny,
Dr. C. Hahn,
Dr. Fichte.
[_International Bulletin, January, 1882._]
THE GENEVA CONVENTION IN THE UNITED STATES.
The friends of the Red Cross are not ignorant that the list of States
which have signed the Geneva Convention presents a grave and lamentable
lack. One of the most civilized nations of the world, and consequently
one of the best prepared to subscribe to the principles of this treaty,
that is to say, the United States of America, does not appear there.
Their absence is so much the more surprising because the proceedings of
the Geneva Convention have only been, in some respects, the partial
reproduction of the celebrated "Instructions of the American Army,"
edited by the late Dr. Lieber, and adopted by President Lincoln (April
24, 1863), and put in practice by the armies of the North during the war
of secession. More than this, it is remembered that the Government at
Washington had been represented at the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva
in 1864 by two delegates at the debates relative to the Geneva
Convention, but without being furnished with sufficient power to sign
it. [Protocol of the session of August 9, 1864.] These were Messrs.
George J. Fogg, United States Minister at Berne, and Charles S.P.
Bowles, European Agent of the American Sanitary Commission.
It was expected, then, that the adhesion of the United States would soon
follow, but nothing came of it. Nevertheless, in the hope that this
result would not be too long delayed, an aid society was formed at New
York in 1866, when the civil war had come to an end, to gather in some
way the heritage of the Sanitary Commission, which had just filled with
much brilliancy, and during several years, the rôle of a veritable Red
Cross Society.
One might have thought that the Berlin Conference in 1869 would be a
determining circumstance which would induce the United States to enter
into the European concert.
The invitation to assist at the Conference at Berlin in 1869 was
addressed to the Government of the United States, which declined it with
thanks, as not having taken part in the Convention of Geneva. The
society of which we have just spoken was in like manner invited, but it
also was not represented.
This double absence called out a proposition from M. Hepke, privy
counsellor of the legation, a proposition, supported by the signatures
of thirty-eight other delegates present, and adopted unanimously by the
members of the Conference.
The text of it was as follows:
"The Conference having arrived at the end of their labors, express a
lively regret at having been deprived of the precious assistance of the
delegates from the United States of North America, convinced that the
great and noble nation which, one of the first in the world, has
rendered eminent services to the great humanitarian work, will welcome
with sympathy the results of their labors, the Conference desires that
the protocols of these sessions shall be addressed by their President to
the Government of the United States of North America, and to the
different aid committees which exist in that country."
That step unfortunately remained without results. The society which had
its seat at New York, comprehending that its existence would be
unnatural and its position false so long as the government refused to
sign the convention, finished by dissolving towards the end of 1872.
Since then, the International Committee, which would not despair of
success, made upon its part several new attempts, which invariably met
with absolute non-attention. Happily the history of the Red Cross was
there to prove that the most tenacious resistance is not indefinite, and
that sooner or later the sentiments of the most recalcitrant governments
are modified under the control of circumstances. How many we have seen
who at first believed their adhesion useless, or even dangerous, and who
have been led to repentance on the occurrence of wars in which their
armies were to be, or had been, engaged, because they comprehended at
that moment only to what point their fears were chimerical or their
indifference injurious to those depending upon them for protection.
In the United States time has done its work as elsewhere, though peace
has long reigned there. The change of sentiment which has been produced
in regard to the Red Cross has revealed itself recently on the sixth of
December, 1881, in the message of President Arthur at the opening of the
fourth session of the Forty-seventh Congress. We read there the
following paragraph:
"At its last extra session the Senate demanded the text of the Geneva
Convention for aiding the wounded in time of war. I hope that this fact
proves the interest which the Senate feels in this question, and that
there will result from it, the adhesion of the United States to this
humane and commendable treaty."
It seems, then, that we touch the port; the matter is seriously
considered, and it will be with lively satisfaction that we shall
register the result which has been so long the end of our desires.
We will not terminate these retrospective considerations, without
telling what we know of the causes which have recently led to decisive
steps in the question.
It is, above all, to a woman that this result is owing, and the name of
that woman is not unknown to our readers. We spoke to them several years
ago of Miss Clara Barton, one of the heroines of the American war, where
she reproduced the charitable exploits of Miss Nightingale; she was
honored at the conclusion of the war with a national recompense.[A]
[A] This statement is not exact; indeed, it does some injustice as well
to Miss Barton as to the American Congress, and was doubtless derived
from misstatements promulgated in the United States, the result of a
general misunderstanding of the facts, and an error, of course, unknown
to a foreign writer.
Precisely what the Thirty-seventh Congress did was to pass the following
joint resolution of both houses, and in accordance with the same to pay
over to Miss Barton the sum mentioned in it for the uses and purposes
therein set forth:
March 10, 1866.
_A resolution providing for expenses incurred in searching for missing
soldiers of the Army of the United States, and for further prosecution
of the same._
_Whereas_, Miss Clara Barton has, during the late war of the rebellion,
expended from her own resources large sums of money in endeavoring to
discover missing soldiers of the armies of the United States, and in
communicating intelligence to their relatives; therefore,
_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the sum of fifteen
thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated out of any
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to reimburse Miss
Clara Barton for the amount so expended by her, and to aid in the
further prosecution of the search for missing soldiers, and the printing
necessary to the furtherance of the said object shall hereafter be done
by the Public Printer.
Approved March 10, 1866.
[14 Vol. U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 350.]
This, therefore, was not recompense for services; it was reimbursement
for money expended; it was money expended by a private citizen for
public uses, and this, mainly, after the close of the war. The
government recognized its value to the people, and refunded the money,
and that without solicitation on Miss Barton's part.
This work was a fitting, even necessary, result of her four years'
voluntary and unpaid services on the field, not as an ordinary nurse,
but as a sort of independent sanitary commission, whom the government,
the soldiers, and the people came at last to implicitly trust, for they
never found their trust betrayed nor themselves disappointed by any want
of discretion, sagacity, or energy on her part. It cannot be set forth
here, it can only be alluded to most briefly. In its details it must
form a chapter in the story of a life singularly original, successful,
and beneficent.
--[Report of the American (National) Association of the Red Cross of
1883.]
Then, being in Europe at the time of the French and German war, she
again flew to the battlefield. Returning at last to her own country with
enfeebled health, she determined to give what strength remained to her
to the service of the Red Cross, and took for her task to plead its
cause with the influential men of the American government. Quitting her
home at Dansville, she passed long months at Washington to carry
conviction to the minds of the President, of his ministers, of members
of Congress, writing for the journals, publishing pamphlets to spread
the ideas the triumph of which she had at heart. She had need of much
perseverance and energy to avoid renouncing her plan, for she waited
long before finding a favorable opportunity. It was not until the
accession of President Garfield that she could catch a glimpse of
success. She then found in the Chief Magistrate of the nation a man who
warmly espoused her cause, and in the Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine, an
auxiliary as zealous as he was devoted. We have seen by the quotation
which we have borrowed from the last Presidential message that Mr.
Arthur shares the sentiments and ideas of his predecessor on the subject
of the Geneva Convention, and it is hardly probable that he will
encounter upon this point opposition from Congress.
The name of Miss Barton will probably not figure in the official
documents which will be the fruit of her labors, but here, where we have
entire liberty to render homage to her devotion, we are happy to be able
to proclaim her imperishable title to the gratitude of the Red Cross.
To the name of Miss Barton we should join that of M. Edouard Seve, who,
after having rendered important service to the Red Cross in South
America, where he represented Belgium to Chili, has continued to use his
activity in favor of the same cause in the United States since he has
been called to the position of consul-general at Philadelphia. His
efforts have certainly contributed to render the Government at
Washington favorable to the Geneva Convention.
The preceding article was already printed when we received from the
indefatigable Miss Barton a new pamphlet upon the Red Cross and the
Geneva Convention. This little work is destined to initiate the
Americans into the origin and history of the work, with which they are
as yet but imperfectly acquainted, and for which it is the aspiration of
the author to awaken their interest; in particular, we find there the
confirmation of the steps of which we have spoken above, and especially
the text of the two letters addressed by the International Committee,
one on the ninth of August, 1877, to President Hayes, the other on the
thirteenth of June, to Secretary of State Blaine.
The pamphlet which we have announced has been published by the American
National Society of the Red Cross, with which we have not yet had
occasion to make our readers acquainted. This society, recently
established at the suggestion of Miss Barton, and of which she has been
made president, is only waiting for the official adhesion of the United
States to the Geneva Convention to put itself in relation with the
societies of other countries. We will wait until then to speak of it and
to give the details of its organization.
ACCESSION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE TREATY OF GENEVA AND TO THE ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES.
On the first day of March, 1882, the President, by his signature,
gave the accession of the United States to the Treaty of Geneva of August
22, 1864, and also to that of October 20, 1868, and transmitted to the
Senate the following message, declaration, and proposed adoption of
the same:
_Message from the President of the United States, transmitting an
accession of the United States to the Convention concluded at
Geneva on the twenty-second August, 1864, between various powers,
for the amelioration of the wounded of armies in the field, and
to the additional articles thereto, signed at Geneva on the
twentieth October, 1868._
March 3, 1882.--Read; accession read the first time referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations, and, together with the message,
ordered to be printed in confidence, for the use of the Senate.
March 16, 1882.--Ratified and injunction of secrecy removed
therefrom.
_To the Senate of the United States:_
I transmit to the Senate for its action thereon, the accession of
the United States to the convention concluded at Geneva on the
twenty-second August, 1864, between various powers, for the
amelioration of the wounded of armies in the field, and to the
additional articles thereto, signed at Geneva on the twentieth of
October, 1868.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1882_.
_Whereas_, on the twenty-second day of August, 1864, a convention
was concluded at Geneva, in Switzerland, between the Grand Duchy of
Baden and the Swiss Confederation, the Kingdom of Belgium, the
Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Empire, the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of the
Netherlands; the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Prussia, and
the Kingdom of Würtemberg, for the amelioration of the wounded in
armies in the field, the tenor of which convention is as follows:
(See treaty and additional articles, already inserted.)
Now, therefore, the President of the United States of America, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, hereby declares that
the United States accede to the said convention of the twenty-second
August, 1864, and also accede to the said convention of October 20,
1868.
Done at Washington this first day of March in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence
of the United States the one hundred and sixth.
(Seal.) CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
By the President.
FRED'K T. FRELINGHUYSEN,
_Secretary of State_.
The same day the president of the American Association sent by cablegram
to President Moynier, of the International Committee at Geneva, the glad
tidings that the United States had at last joined in the great humane
work of the world by ratifying the treaties of the Red Cross; and on the
twenty-fourth of the same month, President Moynier replied as follows:
COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE SECOURS
AUX MILITAIRES BLESSES,
GENEVA, _March 24, 1882_.
MISS CLARA BARTON, _President of the American Society of the Red
Cross, Washington_:
MADEMOISELLE: At last, on the seventeenth instant, I received your
glorious telegram. I delayed replying to it in order to communicate
its contents to my colleagues of the International Committee, so as
to be able to thank you in the name of all of us and to tell you of
the joy it gives us. You must feel happy too, and proud to have at
last attained your object, thanks to a perseverance and a zeal which
surmounted every obstacle.
Please, if opportunity offers, to be our interpreter to President
Arthur and present him our warmest congratulations.
I suppose your government will now notify the Swiss Federal Council
of its decision in the matter, and the latter will then inform the
other Powers which have signed the Red Cross Treaty.
Only after this formality shall have been complied with can we
occupy ourselves with fixing the official international status of
your American society. We have, however, already considered the
circular which we intend to address to all the societies of the Red
Cross, and with regard thereto we have found that it will be
necessary for us as a preliminary measure to be furnished with a
document certifying that the American society has attained the
second of its objects, _i.e._, that it has been (officially)
recognized by the American Government.
It is important that we be able to certify that your government is
prepared to accept your services in case of war; that it will
readily enter into co-operation with you, and will encourage the
centralization under your direction of all the voluntary aid. We
have no doubt that you will readily obtain from the competent
authorities an official declaration to that effect, and we believe
that this matter will be merely a formality, _but we attach the
greatest importance to the fact in order to cover our
responsibility, especially in view of the pretensions of rival
societies which might claim to be acknowledged by us_.
It is your society alone and none other that we will recognize,
because it inspires us with confidence, and _we would be placed in a
false position if you failed to obtain for it a privileged position
by a formal recognition by the government_.
We hope that you will appreciate the motives of caution which guide
us in this matter, and that you may soon enable us to act in the
premises.
Wishing to testify to you its gratitude for the services you have
already rendered to the Red Cross, the committee decided to offer to
you one of the medals which a German engraver caused to be struck
off in 1870 in honor of the Red Cross. It will be sent to you in a
few days. It is of very small intrinsic value indeed, but, such as
it is, we have no other means of recompensing the most meritorious
of our assistants. Please to regard it only as a simple memorial,
and as a proof of the esteem and gratitude we feel for you.
Accept, mademoiselle, the assurance of my most distinguished
sentiments.
G. MOYNIER, _President_.
[Illustration: Copyright 1898, by Clara Barton.
SOME RED CROSS DECORATIONS PRESENTED TO CLARA BARTON.
_The Iron Cross of Merit presented by Emperor William I.
and Empress Augusta, in recognition of services in the
Franco-German War of 1870-71. The German Medal of
Honor presented by the Comité International in
recognition of services in securing the adhesion
of the United States to the treaty of the Red Cross.
The Servian Red Cross presented by Queen Natali of
Servia._]
[Illustration: Copyright 1898, by Clara Barton.
CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORIC TREE.
_Showing the development of the Red Cross during the
first twenty-five years of its existence. The city of
Geneva, its origin. The central branch represents the
work of the Comité International. The right branch the
formation of the national societies or committees. The
left branch the date of adhesion to the treaty by the
various nations._]
The requirements contained in the foregoing letter, in regard to
the recognition of the American Association of the Red Cross, were
fully and generously complied with by the various branches of the
Government of the United States, and the documents conveying the
official recognition were transmitted by the Honorable Secretary of
State to the American consul at Geneva, with instructions to deliver
them to the International Committee.
The following is the proclamation by President Arthur announcing
to the people the adoption by the United States of the Treaty of
Geneva, and the Additional Articles concerning the Navy:
By the President of the United States of America:
A PROCLAMATION.
_Whereas_, on the twenty-second day of August, 1864, a convention
was concluded at Geneva, in Switzerland, between the Grand Duchy of
Baden and the Swiss Confederation, the Kingdom of Belgium, the
Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Empire, the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Prussia, and
the Kingdom of Würtemberg, for the amelioration of the wounded in
armies in the field, the tenor of which convention is hereinafter
subjoined:
_And whereas_, the several contracting parties to the said
convention exchanged the ratification thereof at Geneva on the
twenty-second day of June, 1865;
_And whereas_, the several states hereinafter named have adhered to
the said convention in virtue of Article IX. thereof, to wit:
Sweden, December 13, 1864; Greece, January 5-17, 1865; Great
Britain, February 18, 1865; Mecklenburg-Schwerin, March 9, 1865;
Turkey, July 5, 1865; Würtemberg, June 22, 1866; Hesse, June 2,
1866; Bavaria, June 30, 1866; Austria, July 21, 1866; Persia,
December 5, 1874; Salvador, December 30, 1874; Montenegro, November
17-29, 1875; Servia, March 24, 1876; Bolivia, October 16, 1879;
Chili, November 15, 1879; Argentine Republic, November 25, 1879;
Peru, April 22, 1880.
_And whereas_, the Swiss Confederation, in virtue of the said
Article IX. of said convention, has invited the United States of
America to accede thereto;
_And whereas_, on the twentieth October, 1868, the following
additional articles were proposed and signed at Geneva, on behalf of
Great Britain, Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Italy, Netherlands, North Germany, Sweden and Norway, Switzerland,
Turkey and Würtemberg, the tenor of which Additional Articles is
hereinafter subjoined (see page 74);
_And whereas_, the President of the United States of America, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, did, on the first day of
March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, declare that the
United States accede to the said convention of the twenty-second of
August, 1864, and also accede to the said convention of October 20,
1868;
_And whereas_, on the ninth day of June, one thousand eight hundred
and eighty-two, the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, in
virtue of the final provision of a certain minute of the exchange of
the ratifications of the said convention at Berne, December 22,
1864, did, by a formal declaration, accept the said adhesion of the
United States of America, as well in the name of the Swiss
Confederation as in that of the other contracting states;
_And whereas_, furthermore, the Government of the Swiss
Confederation has informed the Government of the United States that
the exchange of the ratifications of the aforesaid Additional
Articles of the twentieth October, 1868, to which the United States
of America have, in like manner, adhered as aforesaid, has not yet
taken place between the contracting parties, and that these articles
cannot be regarded as a treaty in full force and effect;
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Chester A. Arthur, President of
the United States of America, have caused the said Convention Treaty
of August 22, 1864, to be made public, to the end that the same and
every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with
good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof; reserving,
however, the promulgation of the hereinbefore mentioned Additional
Articles of October 20, 1868, notwithstanding the accession of the
United States of America thereto, until the exchange of the
ratifications thereof between the several contracting states shall
have been effected, and the said Additional Articles shall have
acquired full force and effect as an international treaty.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-sixth day of July, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
seventh.
(L.S.)
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
By the President,
FRED'K T. FRELINGHUYSEN,
_Secretary of State_.
_United States of America, Department of State, to all to whom these
presents shall come, greeting_:
I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original on file
in the Department of State.
In testimony whereof I, John Davis, Acting Secretary of State of the
United States, have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal
of the Department of State to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this ninth day of August, A.D. 1882,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the one
hundred and seventh.
(L.S.)
JOHN DAVIS.
Thus was the American branch of the Red Cross welcomed into
the fellowship of kindred associations in thirty-one other nations, the
most prosperous and civilized on the globe, its position assured, and its
future course made simple, direct and untroubled.
The official bulletin of the International Committee also hailed the
accession of the United States to the treaty, in an article of
characteristic caution and of great significance. In that article, which
is quoted in full hereafter, the distinction was carefully pointed out
between that which had already been fully agreed to, and had become
invested with all the force and solemnity of international treaties, and
the proposed amendment which had been drawn up and considered with a
view to ultimate adoption. This proposed amendment had received the
sanction and signatures of the International Committee at Geneva,
without ever having been formally adopted by any nation. The United
States had, at the same moment adopted both, thus becoming the
thirty-second nation to adhere to the treaty of August 22, 1864, and the
_first_ to adopt the proposed amendment of October 20, 1868.
[_International Bulletin for April, 1882._]
ADHESION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE CONVENTION OF GENEVA.
Referring to the article inserted in our preceding bulletin, p. 42,
we are happy to be able to announce that the act of adhesion which
we presented was signed at Washington the sixteenth of March, in
pursuance of a vote by which the members of the Senate gave their
approval with unanimity. Our readers will doubtless be surprised, as
we are, that after the long and systematic resistance of the
Government of the United States against rallying to the Convention
of Geneva, there cannot be found in the American legislature a
single representative of the opposition. So complete a reversal of
opinion cannot be explained, unless we admit that the chief officers
of the nation had cherished, up to the present time, prejudices in
regard to the Convention of Geneva--prejudices which vanished as
soon as they fully comprehended what was expected of them, and
recognized that there was nothing compromising in it to the
political condition of their country.
With the zeal of new converts, they have even gone beyond the mark,
inasmuch as they have voted their adhesion not only to the
convention of the twenty-second of August, 1864, but also to the
plan of Additional Articles of the twentieth of October, 1868, which
was not the matter in question, since they had never had the force
of law; we give this news only under every reserve, because we have
received contradictory information on the subject. If this defect in
form is found in the official document which will be sent to the
Swiss Federal Council one could fear it might retard the so much
desired conclusion of this important affair, but it need not be too
much regretted, since it will enable us to understand the opinion of
the great Transatlantic Republic upon maritime questions as they
relate to the Red Cross.
The action of the United States, mentioned in this article, was perhaps
somewhat characteristic. It seemed to give itself to the movement of the
Red Cross with a gracious earnestness seldom seen in the cautious forms
of diplomatic action, and it certainty was in very decided contrast with
its former hesitancy.
No doubt could now rest in any mind that the adhesion of the United
States was, at last, hearty and sincere, and calculated to allay any
distrust which its former isolation and declination of the treaty might
have anywhere engendered.
This action of the Government of the United States also rendered the
position of the National Association exceptionally satisfactory, and
introduced it to the International Committee at Geneva and all the
affiliated societies under circumstances calculated to promote in the
greatest degree its usefulness and harmony, and to add to the
gratification of all who personally have any part in the operations of
the American Association.
For all this it is indebted to the judicious and thoughtful care and
exalted statesmanship of the President of the United States, his cabinet
and advisers, and the members of the Forty-seventh Congress, who,
without one breath of criticism, or one moment of delay, after they came
to fully understand the subject and comprehend its purposes and object,
granted all that was then asked of them, in the adhesion to the
treaties, in the recognition of the National Association, and the
provisions for printing and disseminating a knowledge of its principles
and practical work.
Perhaps no act of this age or country has reflected more credit abroad
upon those specially active in it, than this simple and beneficent
measure. It must, in its great and humane principles, its far-reaching
philanthropy, its innovations upon the long established and accepted
customs and rules of barbaric cruelty, its wise practical charity, stand
forever next to the immortal proclamation of freedom to the slaves that
crowns the name of Abraham Lincoln.
Special thanks are peculiarly due to those who have been its active,
wise and unwavering friends, who have planned its course so truly, and
set forth its purposes so clearly, that it will hereafter be
misunderstood only by those who are unwilling to learn, or who are
actively hostile to its beneficent aims.
Perhaps at the risk of seeming invidious--for we would by no means
ignore, and have no less gratitude for the legion of generous helpers we
cannot name--we might state that among those who have been foremost to
aid and encourage us have been the Hon. Omar D. Conger, of Michigan,
who, first in the House, and afterward in the Senate, has been
conspicuous for persistent and courageous work; also, Hon. William
Windom, of Minnesota, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who
was first to investigate and take the matter up as a member of President
Garfield's cabinet; Senator E.P. Lapham, of New York, who has spared
neither time nor thought, patience nor labor, in his legal
investigations of the whole matter; and probably no person has done more
than he to throw light upon obscure parts and point out the true and
proper course to be pursued in the accomplishment of the work, and the
acceptance of the treaty. Senators Morgan, of Alabama; Edmunds, of
Vermont; Hawley, of Connecticut; Anthony, of Rhode Island; Hoar, of
Massachusetts, all accorded to it their willing interest and aid.
Indeed, all sections and parties have seemed eager to help the Red
Cross; a result that might, perhaps, have been anticipated, since it
asks only an opportunity to faithfully work according to methods
approved by thoughtful experience, and toward ends that all humane
persons must approve.
To the American newspaper press, and perhaps to the New York _Herald_
more than to any other newspaper, through its international character,
wonderful enterprise, and far-reaching circulation, the Red Cross is
indebted for timely aid and noble furtherance of its objects and aims.
It has been quick to discern their substantial character, and generous
and full in commending them. Still, the same difficulty confronts us in
regard to publications as persons--where all have been so willing it is
difficult to distinguish. Not less than three hundred periodicals and
papers have, within the last two years, laid upon our desk their
graceful tribute of encouraging and fitly spoken words, and it has been
given as an estimate of an experienced city editor, gathered through his
exchanges, that over five hundred editorial notices were given of our
little Red Cross book of last year, and these, invariably, so far as met
our eyes, kindly approving and encouraging. The capacity of the Red
Cross to carry on most wisely and well its beneficent work must in the
future, as it has done in the past, depend largely upon the active and
cordial co-operation of the newspaper press; and we do not doubt that it
will continue to receive the same prompt and efficient assistance so
long as it shall continue to deserve it.
By the combined assistance of all these powerful friends of the Red
Cross, the country has at last been rescued from the position in which
it had been standing for the last seventeen years--a puzzling wonder to
its admiring friends, a baffling enigma to all, treating its enemies
subdued with romantic generosity, and its enemies taken captive in war
with all the tenderness of friends, and yet, clinging, apparently with
intense fierceness, to an unsocial isolation, to savage rules and
regulations of war that only barbarians would ever wish to practice,
pouring out its beneficence in astonishing prodigality, and in untold
volume, variety and value upon strangers, and yet seemingly hesitating
only when it was proposed by international law and system to use and not
waste its magnificent voluntary offerings, but to entrust them all to
responsible agents, trained in the very torrent and tempest of battle,
to wisely apply this generosity to the great and awful needs of
war--agents held to business rules, with calm accountability amid
distraction and panic, trained to protect material, to give and take
receipts, and at last to account faithfully for everything entrusted to
them, like the officers of a well-regulated bank.
The final adhesion of the United States to the treaty of the Red Cross
has created a lively sense of satisfaction in all its affiliated
societies wherever, throughout the world, its beneficent work is carried
on; particularly, by the International Committee of Geneva, has this
wise and simple act of beneficence and common sense and common humanity
been regarded with sentiments of gratitude and renewed hope. The
American National Association has received the following expression of
the sentiments of the noble and philanthropic president of the
International Committee, written upon the receipt from the United States
of the official documents of recognition:
COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE SECOURS
AUX MILITAIRES BLESSES,
GENEVA, _September 6, 1882_.
MISS CLARA BARTON, _Washington, D.C._:
MADEMOISELLE: I come to thank and congratulate you cordially upon
your new success. I have read your letters of the 11th and 14th with
the most lively interest, and I have also received, through the
medium of the United States consul at Geneva, all the official
documents which you have announced to me.
The position of your society is now entirely (_tout á fait_)
correct, and nothing more opposes itself; so that by a circular we
can now make it known to the societies of other countries. I am
already occupied in the preparation of this document, but I am
obliged to leave for Turin, where I go to attend the reunion of the
International Institute of Law, and it will not be until my return,
say about the twentieth of September, that I can press the printing
of the circular. In any case, it will be ready before the end of the
month.
Accept, mademoiselle, the assurance of my distinguished sentiments.
G. MOYNIER, _President_.
The circular alluded to in this letter of M. Moynier announces the
adhesion of the United States to the great international compact of the
Red Cross, and authenticates and opens the way for the voluntary
action of the people and the government in international humanitarian
action, through the medium of the American Association of the Red
Cross, and is in the following terms:
INTERNATIONAL CIRCULAR.
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE. FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF THE RED CROSS.
FIFTIETH CIRCULAR TO THE PRESIDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL
CENTRAL COMMITTEES.
GENEVA, _September 2, 1882_.
GENTLEMEN: When on the twenty-third of August, 1876, we announced to
you by our thirty-fourth circular, that the American society for aid
to the wounded had had only an ephemeral existence, and had finished
by dissolution, we still entertained the hope of seeing it revive,
and we asked the friends of the Red Cross to labor with us for its
resuscitation.
To-day we have the great satisfaction of being able to tell you that
this appeal has been heard, and that the United States is again
linked anew to the chain of our societies.
Nevertheless it is not the old association which has returned to
life. That which we present to you at this time has a special origin
upon which we ought to give you some details.
Its whole history is associated with a name already known to you,
that of Miss Clara Barton. Without the energy and perseverance of
this remarkable woman we should probably not for a long time have
had the pleasure of seeing the Red Cross revived in the United
States. We will not repeat here what we have said elsewhere of the
claims of Miss Barton to our gratitude, and we will confine
ourselves to mentioning what she has done to reconstruct a Red Cross
society in North America.
After having prepared the ground by divers publications, she called
together a great meeting at Washington on the twenty-first of May,
1881; then a second, on the ninth of June, at which the existence of
the society was solemnly set forth. On the same day President
Garfield nominated Miss Barton as president of this institution.
The International Committee would have desired from that time to
have given notice of the event to all the central committees, but
certain scruples restrained it.
Remembering that the first American society had been rendered
powerless by the distinct refusal of the cabinet at Washington to
adhere to the Geneva Convention, it took precaution and declared it
would wait, before recognizing the young society, until the
government should have regularly signed the treaty of 1864. Miss
Barton, understanding the special propriety of this requirement,
redoubled her efforts to attain this end, and we know that on the
first of March she gained a complete victory upon this point.
There remained another question with respect to which the
International Committee did not feel itself sufficiently informed.
Just how far was the American Government disposed to accept the
services of this society? We have often said, and we repeat it, that
a society which would be exposed, for the want of a previous
understanding, to find itself forbidden access to its own army in
case of war, would be at fault fundamentally, and would not be
qualified to take its place in the International concert. Further
upon this point Miss Barton and the members of the American Central
Committee, sought to enter into our views. They conferred with the
competent authorities. The desired recognition was very difficult to
obtain, for it was contrary to American customs and traditions. It
was, nevertheless, accomplished after considerable discussion. On
this point Miss Barton has stated to us that the government, in
acquiescing in the decision which had been expressed, was entering
upon a path altogether new, and that the official recognition of the
Red Cross Society was for the latter a very exceptional honor.
Certain documents resulted therefrom which have been communicated to
us directly by the Secretary of State, at Washington, showing:
1st. That the American Association of the Red Cross has been legally
constituted by an Act of Congress.
2d. That President Arthur has declared himself in full sympathy with
the work, and very willingly has accepted the presidency of the
Board of Consultation.
3d. That the principal members of the cabinet have consented to
become members of a board of trustees, empowered to receive
subscriptions and to hold the funds for the society.
4th. Finally, that Congress unanimously, without discussion or
opposition, has voted a sum of one thousand dollars, to be expended
by the government in printed matter, designed to inform the people
of the United States of the organization of the Red Cross. The
initiation of this last measure was not the work of the society but
of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; consequently it
bears witness to the spontaneous impulse with which the Houses of
Congress came into accord with the views of Miss Barton.
We must add that the International Committee attaches so much the
more importance to the fact that this society took an official
position, because there was created, at nearly the same time in the
United States, two other institutions, claiming to pursue a similar
object, but of which the Committee of Geneva is absolutely ignorant.
One, called "The Woman's National Relief Association," which
concerns itself with all public calamities, among other things with
the calamities of war, but more especially with shipwrecks, and has
for its distinctive emblem a blue anchor; the other has taken the
name of "The Order of the Red Cross." Dr. James Saunders is the
president of it, with the title "Supreme Commander." This order
proposes to organize more or less in a military way and appears
desirous of imitating the orders of chivalry in ancient times.
The American Central Committee of the Red Cross has its seat at
Washington, but has already founded branches in other localities, at
Dansville, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. Soon, doubtless, cities of the
first class will also take their turn.
We will give in our next bulletin the complete text of the
constitution and by-laws of the American society, which, as will be
seen, has not believed it ought to limit its program to assistance
in case of war, but has comprised within it, in conformity with a
suggestion of the conference at Berlin, the other great calamities
which might befall the country and its inhabitants.
As for ourselves, we have greeted with joy the addition of the
United States to the countries already enrolled under the Red Cross;
it is for our work an important and long desired reinforcement, and
we doubt not our impressions in this regard will be shared by the
twenty-eight central committees to which we address these lines.
We also hope that next year some representatives of the American
society will cross the Atlantic in order to fraternize with the
delegates of the other nations, who will certainly be happy to meet
them at the conference at Vienna.
Receive, gentlemen, the assurances of our distinguished
consideration.
For the International Committee of the Red Cross.
President: G. MOYNIER.
Secretary: G. ADOR.
The foregoing pages deal only with the official history of the Red Cross
and its inauguration in this country, closing with the accession of the
United States to the Treaty and its promulgation in 1882
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