he opinions of the compiler, as drawn from the
authorities cited."

3. The answer to Sir William Harcourt's unanswered question, "Were there
no rules settled at the Hague?" must be as follows. The Hague Convention
of 1899, upon "the laws and customs of warfare," ratified by this
country on September 4 last, binds the contracting parties to give to
their respective armies instructions in conformity with the _Reglement_
annexed to the Convention. This _Reglement_, which is substantially a
reproduction of the unratified _projet_ of the Brussels Conference of
1874, does deal, in Arts. 1-3, with guerilla warfare. It is no doubt
highly desirable that, as soon as may be, the drafting of rules in
accordance with the _Reglement_ should be seriously taken in hand, our
Government having now abandoned its _non possumus_ attitude in the
matter. It will, however, be found to be the case, as was pointed out by
Mr. Balfour, that the sharp distinction between combatants and
non-combatants contemplated by the ordinary laws of war is inapplicable
(without the exercise of undue severity) to operations such as those now
being carried out in South Africa.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND.
Oxford, December 7 (1900).

"Lieber's Instructions," issued in 1863 and reissued in 1898,
will doubtless be superseded, or modified, in consequence of
the United States having, on April 9, 1902, ratified the
Convention of 1899, and on March 10, 1908, that of 1907, as to
the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

The answer to Mr. Morley's enquiry in 1900 would not now be in
the negative. The present writer's representations resulted in
Mr. Brodrick, when Secretary for War, commissioning him to
prepare a Handbook of the _Laws and Customs of War on Land_,
which was issued to the Army by authority in 1904. On the
instructions issued by other National Governments, see the
author's _Laws of War on Land_, 1908, pp. 71-73.

The answer, given in the letter, to Sir William Harcourt's
question must now be supplemented by a reference to the
Handbook above mentioned as having contained rules founded upon
the _Reglement_ annexed to the Convention of 1899, and by a
statement that that Convention, with its _Reglement_, is now
superseded by Conventions No. iv. (with its _Reglement_) and
No. v. of 1907, of which account has been taken in a new
Handbook upon _Land Warfare_, i