treated as spies; since spying can be carried out under false pretences quite as well as clandestinely. But special care must be taken really to prove the fact of espionage in such cases, for an individual carrying despatches is _prima facie_ not a spy and must not be treated as a spy until proved to be such. [Footnote 308: Assisting or favouring espionage or knowingly concealing a spy are, according to a customary rule of International Law, punishable as though they were themselves acts of espionage; see _Land Warfare_, § 172.] [Footnote 309: See below, § 356 (4), concerning wireless telegraphy.] A remarkable case of espionage is that of Major André,[310] which occurred in 1780 during the American War of Independence. The American General Arnold, who was commandant of West Point, on the North River, intended to desert the Americans and join the British forces. He opened negotiations with Sir Henry Clinton for the purpose of surrendering West Point, and Major André was commissioned by Sir Henry Clinton to make the final arrangements with Arnold. On the night of September 21, Arnold and André met outside the American and British lines, but André, after having changed his uniform for plain clothes, undertook to pass the American lines on his return, furnished with a passport under the name of John Anderson by General Arnold. He was caught, convicted as a spy, and hanged. As he was not seeking information,[311] and therefore was not a spy according to article 29 of the Hague Regulations, a conviction for espionage would not, if such a case occurred to-day, be justified. But it would be possible to convict for war treason, for André was no doubt negotiating treason. Be that as it may, George III. considered André a martyr, and honoured his memory by granting a pension to his mother and a baronetcy to his brother.[312] [Footnote 310: See Halleck in _A.J._ V. (1911), p. 594.] [Footnote 311: Halleck, _loc. cit._, p. 598, asserts the contrary.] [Footnote 312: See Phillimore, III. § 106; Halleck, I. p. 575; Rivier, II. p. 284.] [Sidenote: Punishment of Espionage.]