On the Geneva Convention of 1864 : in relation to the aid afforded by volunteer societies to sick and wounded soldiers during the late Franco-German War, with a glance at the proper functions of national aid societies, particularly the British Aid Society, in the future : a lecture delivered at the Royal United Service Institution.

  • Longmore, Sir Thomas, 1816-1895.
Date:
[1872]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the Geneva Convention of 1864 : in relation to the aid afforded by volunteer societies to sick and wounded soldiers during the late Franco-German War, with a glance at the proper functions of national aid societies, particularly the British Aid Society, in the future : a lecture delivered at the Royal United Service Institution. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/18 (page 6)
    Treaty only comprehended the military ambulances and hospitals of the belligerents, the staff employed in attending the sick and wounded con- tained in them, and the materials necessary for their proper treatment; that its Articles did not provide for any Volunteer or Independent Staff of Hospital Assistants; that such persons could only participate in the provisions of the Treaty by being regularly admitted into the hospital service and forming for the time being, part of the military establishments of the armies engaged, and thus becoming subject to the ordinary rules and articles of war. These latter would then come within the provisions of the Treaty, because then they would be com- prised in the personnel of the military hospitals as laid down in the second Article of the Treaty. To show how strictly the Treaty entered into by the different Governments of Europe confines itself to an acknowledgement of neu-< trality for the military hospitals of the belligerent armies, and to an engagement on the part of the belligerents to protect and respect them and their concerns only, I may point to the following circumstance. Prior to the Congress of 1864, in November 1863, an official circular was sent from Switzerland to the Governments of all civilized countries, making the following request: *— Would the Government give its adhesion to an International Convention having for its objects : 1st. The neutralization in time of war of military ambulances and hospi- tals, of the personnel of the official medical service, of voluntary hospital assistants (hospitaliers volontaires) recruited by the Aid Com- mittee, of inhabitants of the country who will go to help the wounded, and of the wounded soldiers themselves. 2nd. The adoption of a dis- tinctive sign, &c. This circular formed the basis of the deliberations which subse- quently took place in the International Congress of Geneva, of August, 1864. After full consideration of the several subjects included in the circular which I have just quoted from, it was unanimously determined to exclude from the text of the Convention that part of the circular- note which suggested the neutralization of voluntary hospital assistants recruited by Aid Committees, and to confine the neutralization to the official sanitary personnel of the hospitals of the belligerents. This was done because it was plainly seen that the extension of the rights then proposed to be conferred by the Treaty,—not merely the right to be acknowledged neutral, and to be treated as neutral, but the right, also, to special privileges of respect and protection,—to volunteers not subject to military control, and perhaps not conversant with military arrange- ments, would very probably lead to incessant practical difficulties in field hospital administration which would interfere with the interests of the sick and wounded soldiers, and not improbably, also to disputes and embarrassments with foreigners belonging to countries with which the belligerents were on friendly terms. It was, moreover, known * Le Gouverncment adhGrerait-il ii line Convention Internationale ayant pour objet: A. La neutralisation en temps de guerre des ambulances et des hflpitaux militaires, du personnel du service sanitaire o'fliciel, des hospitaliers volontaires recrut6s par le comitfi do secours, des habitants du pays qui iront secourir lcs blesses, et des militaires blesses ? B. L'adoption d'un unilbrme ou d'un signer distinctif idmliquc pour les personnes attacliees au service de suite, &c.