PREFACE. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., April 12, 1911. The several conventions adopted by the Second Peace Conference at the Hague, 1907, which have been ratified or adhered to by the United States and proclaimed by the President, are published for the information and guidance of the Naval Service. The CONVENTION WITH RESPECT TO THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR ON LAND and the CONVENTION FOR THE ADAPTATION TO MARITIME WAR OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION OF AUGUST 22, 1864, both signed at the Hague July 29, 1899, are republished as they remain in force between the States which ratified or adhered to them, but which have not ratified or adhered to the conventions relating to the same subjects adopted by the Hague Conference of 1907. The CONVENTION FOR THE EXEMPTION OF HOSPITAL SHIPS IN TIME OF WAR FROM THE PAYMENT OF ALL DUES AND TAXES IMPOSED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STATE, signed at the Hague December 21, 1904, and the CONVENTION FOR THE AMELIORATION OF THE CONDITION OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED OF THE ARMIES IN THE FIELD, signed at Geneva July 6, 1906, are also republished. General Order No. 151, February 15, 1904, paragraphs (a) and (b), General Order No. 50, July 16, 1907, and General Order No. 54, September 4, 1907, being superseded by the present publication of the four conventions last named, are hereby canceled. G. v. L. MEYER, Secretary of the Navy. NOTE. The substance of the above preface is contained in General Order No. 110 dated April 12, 1911. NOTE. At the Geneva Conference of 1906 and at the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, the drafts of proposed conventions, when submitted to the Plenary Session of the Conference by the subcommission for final action, were accompanied by a report to the conference giving an account in detail of the evolution of each article with frequent explanations as to the intent and application of the rule; embodying, also, any declarations or reservations made by the several delegations. These reports are not signed by the delegates but they are the result of full and prolonged discussion and being published in the official text of the proceedings of the conference they may, in case of doubt, be reasonably accepted as a guide. The references attached to the quotations from the reports to the conference which are appended as notes to this publication, are to the official publication of the Swiss Government, Actes de la Conférence de Révision, Réunie à Genève du 11 Juin au 6 Juillet 1906, and to the official publications of the Netherlands Government, Conférence Internationale de la Paix, La Haye, 1899 (one volume) and Deuxième Conférence Internationale de la Paix, La Haye, 1907 (3 volumes). The Hague Conventions of 1907, I, THE PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES, and II, THE LIMITATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF FORCE FOR THE COLLECTION OF CONTRACT DEBTS, have been ratified by the United States, but are not published herein as their application does not devolve upon naval officers. The Hague Conventions of 1907, VI, THE STATUS OF ENEMY MERCHANT SHIPS ON THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES, and VII, RELATIVE TO THE CONVERSION OF MERCHANT SHIPS INTO SHIPS OF WAR, have not been ratified and proclaimed by the United States and are not published. The Hague Convention of 1907, XII, FOR THE CREATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE COURT, was ratified by the United States. Senate on February 15, 1911, but has not been proclaimed by the President and is not published. All of the above specified conventions may, however, be found in the International Law Situations, United States Naval War College, 1908, if desired for information. า |