PRISONERS OF WAR 



4829 



PRIVY COUNCIL 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 



the following articles in these volumes: 

 Convict Labor Juvenile Court 



Crime Parole 



Indeterminate Sentence Sociology 



PRISONERS OF WAR, those soldiers or 

 naval men who have been captured while en- 

 listed under the banner of a country at war 

 with another state. It is not necessary that 

 they be actively engaged in fighting; if they 

 are engaged in any capacity with an army, as 

 guides, sutlers or electricians, they are liable 

 to capture, though surgeons and chaplains are 

 usually exempt from seizure; any man in the 

 naval service is also liable to seizure as a pris- 

 oner of war, with the same exceptions. 



In ancient times, prisoners were treated with 

 great cruelty. An Assyrian inscription speaks 

 of crucifying 3,000 such unfortunates. But as 

 civilization advanced higher ideals slowly de- 

 veloped, until at present, among all enlight- 

 ened nations, they are treated even more con- 

 siderately than are prisoners in civil life. Ac- 

 cording to a convention of the Peace Confer- 

 ence at The Hague in 1907, they are simply 

 in the custody of the nation that captures 

 them, and while confined, are to be treated 

 as well as their own soldiers. They may be 

 put to work, but the work must not be ex- 

 tremely arduous, or such as the soldiers of the 

 power holding them would not be expected to 

 perform. They are to be paid for their labor, 

 and the money earned is applied to their neces- 

 sities. Officers are to receive the same pay that 

 was allowed them by their home government. 

 Their private correspondence, should they be 

 allowed to write, is passed through the mails 

 free. The captors have the right to prevent 

 any prisoner from communicating with any- 

 one whomsoever, and of reading all correspond- 

 ence sent or received by prisoners. 



Conditions in the field are different from 

 those laid down on paper at The Hague. Pris- 

 oners of war are now usually given only such 

 work as may be necessary. They must fetch 

 and carry their own food, help to build their 

 own barracks or prison, cut their own firewood, 

 attend to the cleanliness of their quarters and 

 may be employed on any necessary work of 

 a nonmilitary character. If a person tries to 

 escape he may be shot; if caught, he may be 

 disciplined. If, however, he succeeds in escap- 

 ing, rejoins his own forces and is again cap- 

 1, he cannot be punished for his previous 

 offense. The modern prisoner of war has to 

 make himself useful 



In the War of the Nations, which began 

 in 1914, many stories were circulated to the 

 effect that some of the warring nations treated 

 their prisoners of war very harshly. It is true 

 that the number of prisoners held by all the 

 warring nations exceeded a hundred times or 

 more the total number taken in any previous 

 war in history. The care of them imposed a 

 very heavy burden, and it is probable that 

 there was more suffering among the captives 

 than had ever before been recorded, from causes 

 not always possible to remedy. C.H.H. 



PRIVATEER, privateer'. When two na- 

 tions are at war with each other, the com- 

 merce of one is subject to attack from the 

 other. In early times, it was the custom for 

 hostile nations to commission privately-owned 

 ships of a neutral nation to assist them in war 

 on the ocean commerce of their enemy. Such 

 commissions were known as letters of marque, 

 and ships acting under them were called priva- 

 teers. But this practice was open to great 

 abuse, and was contrary to the developing sense 

 of justice among all peoples. Accordingly, a 

 conference at Paris in 1856, attended by rep- 

 resentatives of the leading nations, declared 

 that privateering should be abandoned. The 

 United States did not sign this convention, but 

 it was simply on the ground that its terms were 

 not wide enough; that it accepted the prin- 

 ciple as right was shown in its declaration of 

 war against Spain in 1898, when it was an- 

 nounced that privateering would not be per- 

 mitted. The navies of the nations are now tin 

 only instruments of offense and defense on tin 

 high seas. See NAVY. 



See Maclay's History of American Privateers. 



PRIVY, priv'i, COUNCIL, in Great Britain, 

 a council appointed by the sovereign, its origi- 

 nal function being to advise him on matters of 

 state. Its beginning can be traced to the coun- 

 cil of William the Conqueror. In subsequent 

 centuries, as Parliament increased its power, 

 the importance of the Privy Council decreased. 

 The contest between Parliament, which claimed 

 sole power to legislate, and the Crown, which 

 claimed power to legislate through the Privy 

 Council, was definitely settled only by the Bill 

 of Rights in 1689. 



The Cabinet of Great Britain is a develop- 

 ment of the Privy Council ; that is to say, the 

 former began as a select few of the larger coun- 

 whom the king especially trusted. The 

 Privy Council at present, besides the Cabinet, 

 is composed of a large number of eminent per- 



