INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PEACE CONFERENCE. 79 



the soldiery.* In pursuance of this commission, a code of rules 

 was prepared and adopted which has since been known as Lieber's 

 Manual; it was published in 1863, and proved a blessing to soldier 

 and civilian alike. So obvious, indeed, were its good results that 

 other nations rapidly followed the lead of the United States, and 

 similar manuals were issued by Great Britain, France, Germany, 

 Russia, and other powers. 



But while Lieber's Manual was thus taken as the model by 

 various nations, there were inevitably developed serious divergen- 

 cies in the rules and details. Recognizing the desirability of a com- 

 mon code, which should be binding upon all nations, Alexander II 

 of Russia attempted to secure the united action of the leading 

 states, and, pursuant to his initiative, the Conference of Brussels 

 was called in 1874. In the sessions of this conference the rules 

 already developed were carefully examined, and ultimately a series 

 of articles, well calculated to form the basis for an excellent inter- 

 national code, was adopted. As the delegates, however, had not 

 been given plenary powers by their respective governments, their 

 action was necessarily ineffective without subsequent ratification. 

 Upon this rock the conference was wrecked, and the rules which 

 it had formulated acquired no binding authority. 



But indirectly they had a most happy effect, for they worked 

 as a unifying influence in the preparation of subsequent manuals 

 and the amendment of existing ones. The increasing interest in 

 the subject thus stimulated led the Institute of International Law 

 to give the matter still further thought, with the result that that 

 eminent body of jurists in 1880 adopted a very full and excellent 

 code, which gave evidence of much advance in the knowledge of 

 the subject. 



But neither the Brussels rules nor the code of the Institute of 

 International Law possessed any binding authority, save in so far 

 as they embodied generally accepted usage; their influence, how- 

 ever, increased the tendency in the direction of a common manual 

 such as that which Alexander II had hoped to secure — a hope which 

 has now been realized, and in a manner worthy of the subject. 

 This logical step, too long delayed, is due to the Peace Conference. 

 It devoted most careful consideration to the various codes, and 

 has enriched, extended, and unified the rules and improved the 

 whole by many valuable provisions suggested by the intervening 

 experience. Altogether, the result is a splendid example of a natu- 

 ral evolution which, commencing with the distinction between 

 • " combatant " and " non-combatant " founded on the considerations 

 of mercy and justice pleaded by Grotius, subsequently recognized 



* See Pierantoni, Die Fortschritte des Viilkerrechts irn neunzehnten Jahrhundert. 



