CHAPTER I.

THE LAWS OF WAR.

PAGE

The prohibition of explosive bullets in war 2

The importance of the Declaration of St. Petersburg of 1868 3

The ultimate triumph of more destructive methods 4

Illustrated by history of the crossbow or the musket 5

Or of cannons, torpedoes, red-hot shot, or the bayonet 5

Numbers slain in modern and earlier warfare 8

The laws of war at the Brussels Conference of 1874 10

Do the laws of war tend to improve? 13

A negative answer suggested from reference 13

1. To the use of poison in war 14

2. To the bombardment of towns 15

3. To the destruction of public buildings 16

4. To the destruction of crops and fruit-trees 16

5. To the murder of prisoners or the wounded 17

6. To the murder of surrendered garrisons 18

7. To the destruction of fishing-boats 19

8. To the disuse of the declaration of war 19

9. To the torture and mutilation of combatants and non-combatants 20

10. To the custom of contributions 20

The futile attempts of Grotius and Vattel to humanise warfare 21

The rights of war in the time of Grotius 24

The futility of international law with regard to laws of war 26

The employment of barbarian troops 26

The taking of towns by assault 27

The laws of war contrasted with the practice 28

War easier to abolish than to humanise 30