§ 148. Contribution is a payment in ready money demanded either from municipalities or from inhabitants, whether enemy subjects or foreign residents. Whereas formerly no general rules concerning contributions existed, articles 49 and 51 of the Hague Regulations now enact that contributions may not be demanded extortionately, but exclusively[289] for the needs of the army, in order, for instance, to pay for requisitions or for the administration of the locality in question. They may be imposed by a written order of a commander-in-chief only, in contradistinction to requisitions which may be imposed by a mere commander in a locality. They may not be imposed indiscriminately on the inhabitants, but must so far as possible be assessed upon such inhabitants in compliance with the rules in force of the respective enemy Government regarding the assessment of taxes. And, finally, for every individual contribution a receipt must be given. It is apparent that these rules of the Hague Regulations try to exclude all arbitrariness and despotism on the part of an invading enemy with regard to contributions, and that they try to secure to the individual contributors as well as to contributing municipalities the possibility of being indemnified afterwards by their own Government, thus shifting, so far as possible, the burden of supporting the war from private individuals and municipalities to the State proper.[290] [Footnote 289: As regards contributions as a penalty, see article 50 of the Hague Regulations. See also Keller, _op. cit._ pp. 60-62.] [Footnote 290: It is strange to observe that _Kriegsbrauch_, pp. 61-63, does not mention the Hague Regulations at all.] VIII DESTRUCTION OF ENEMY PROPERTY Grotius, III. c. 5, §§ 1-3; c. 12--Vattel, III. §§ 166-168--Hall, § 186--Lawrence, § 206--Manning, p. 186--Twiss, II. §§ 65-69--Halleck, II. pp. 63, 64, 71, 74--Taylor, §§ 481-482--Wharton, III. § 349--Moore, VII. § 1113--Wheaton, §§ 347-351--Bluntschli, §§ 649, 651, 662, 663--Heffter, § 125--Lueder in Holtzendorff, IV. pp. 482-485--Klüber, § 262--G. F. Martens, II. § 280--Ullmann, § 176--Bonfils, Nos. 1078, 1178-1180--Pradier-Fodéré, VI. Nos. 2770-2774--Rivier, II. pp. 265-268--Nys, III. pp. 220-223--Calvo, IV. §§ 2215-2222--Fiore, III. Nos. 1383-1388, and Code, Nos. 1525-1529--Martens, II. § 110--Longuet, §§ 99, 100--Mérignhac, pp. 266-268--_Kriegsbrauch_, pp. 52-56--Holland, _War_, Nos. 3 and 76 (_g_)--Bordwell, p. 84--Spaight, pp. 129-140--_Land Warfare_, §§ 414, 422, 426, 427, 434. [Sidenote: Wanton destruction prohibited.]