And then are you certain that the idea of a society of nations is exactly a new one? Are you certain that there did not exist a society of nations before the outbreak of the present war? Have you never heard that, on the fifteenth of June, 1907, at The Hague, forty-four nations of the civilized world (and Germany was one of the number) assembled and met together to form such a league? Have you never heard of the treaty that was signed then which, according to the wording at the treaty's head, had for its object "fixing the laws and usages at war on the land"? Have you never read the terms of this convention, have you never glanced through the sixty-odd articles which today, in the presence of the nameless horrors in which we lend a hand, offer a prodigious interest to actuality? Glance over these articles--and let us see how they have been applied: ARTICLE 4 provides that "_prisoners of war must be humanely treated. All their personal belongings, except arms, horses, and military papers, remain their property_." Now all the prisoners held by Germany have, without exception, been spoiled of their money, of their portfolios, of their rings, of their jewels, of their eyeglasses. ARTICLE 6 says that "_the state may employ as workmen the prisoners of war_," but it is careful in stipulating "_that the work must not be excessive and must have nothing whatever to do with operations of war_." ARTICLE 7 says that "_prisoners of war shall be treated as regards board, lodging, and clothing on the same footing as the troops of the Government who captured them_." Each of these two articles has been violated since the beginning of the war by the Germans. After the Battle of the Marne, when the advancing French troops of Joffre arrived on the Aisne they found French civilians captured by the Germans and compelled by them to work in the trenches. Moreover, an official report emanating from Mr. Gustave Ador, President of the International Red Cross, now member of the Swiss Federal Council, called the attention of the belligerents as soon as October, 1914, to the bad treatment of the French prisoners in Germany. Each French officer had, as prisoner, a salary of one hundred marks per month, which was not even half of the pay of an under-officer. ARTICLES 23, 25, 27, and 28 are so interesting that they must be quoted _in extenso_: ARTICLE 23. In _addition to the prohibitions provided by special conventions, it is especially forbidden_: (a) _To employ poison or poisoned weapons._ (c) _To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defense, has surrendered at discretion._ (d) _To declare that no quarter will be given._ (e) _To employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering._