irable to supplement what is said in the following
letters by mentioning that the Declaration of 1899 (to remain
in force for five years) was largely ratified, though not by
Great Britain; that of 1907 (to remain in force till the
termination of the third Peace Conference) was ratified by
Great Britain and by most of the other great Powers in 1909,
not, however, by Germany or Austria; that aerial navigation is
regulated by the Acts, I & 2 Geo. 5, c. 4, and 2 & 3 Geo. 5, c.
22; and that an agreement upon the subject was entered into
between France and Germany, on July 26, 1913, by exchange of
notes, "en attendant la conclusion d'une convention sur cette
matiere entre un plus grand nombre d'etats" (the international
Conference held at Paris in 1910 had failed to agree upon the
terms of such a Convention); and that Art. 25 of The Hague
Convention of 1907, No. iv., was ratified by Great Britain, and
generally.

THE DEBATE ON AERONAUTICS

Sir,--It is not to be wondered at that the Chairman of Committees
declined to allow yesterday's debate on aviation to diverge into an
enquiry whether the Powers could be induced to prohibit, or limit, the
dropping of high explosives from aerial machines in war time. The
question is, however, one of great interest, and it may be desirable,
with a view to future discussions, to state precisely, since little
seems to be generally known upon the subject, what has already been
attempted in this direction.

In the _Reglement_ annexed to The Hague Convention of 1899, as to the
"Laws and Customs of War on Land," Art. 23, which specifically prohibits
certain "means of injuring the enemy," makes no mention of aerial
methods; but Art. 25, which prohibits "the bombardment of towns,
villages, habitations, or buildings, which are not defended," was
strengthened, when the _Reglement_ was reissued in 1907 as an annexe to
the, as yet not generally ratified, Hague Convention No. iv. of that
year, by the insertion, after the word "bombardment," of the words "by
any means whatever," with the expressed intention of including in the
prohibition the throwing of projectiles from balloons.

The Hague Convention No. ix. of 1907, also not yet generally ratified,
purports to close a long controversy, in accordance with the view which
you allowed me to advocate, with reference to the naval manoeuvres of
1888, by prohibiting the "naval bombardment of por