The first idea of internment of prisoners of war in a neutral country appears to have been suggested by Monsieur Louis de Tscharner in the Swiss Press nearly a year before the outbreak of war. In an article dated September, 1913, the writer suggested, curiously enough, the conclusion of a Convention between Switzerland and the neighbouring States relative to internment, though why or how the idea happened to occur to him does not appear. He proposed that these States should engage themselves to respect Swiss neutrality, and to provision her during the period of war, whilst Switzerland should, in exchange, take charge of the wounded, and, upon their return to health, restore them to their countries of origin. This new and interesting suggestion became the subject of numerous articles and was much discussed at the time, but the conclusion of a bargain, with a view to obtaining respect for Swiss neutrality in exchange for services rendered, was not agreeable to Swiss national pride, and the subject was allowed to drop. The following preliminary negotiations embrace two distinct questions: Direct Repatriation and Internment in Switzerland, which, in the process, intersect each other. I give them, therefore, in chronological order. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, the question of the direct repatriation of prisoners of war was brought forward by the Swiss Federal Council at the instance of the International Committee of the Swiss Red Cross, and the French and German Governments were addressed with a view to a direct exchange of such wounded prisoners as could no longer be made available for military service ("grands blessés"). A similar proposal also emanated from the Holy See which did much to promote an understanding between these Governments, and an agreement was reached in February, 1915, as a result of which between March, 1915, and November, 1916, 2,343 German and 8,668 French "grands blessés" were transported through Switzerland to their own countries. No sooner had this repatriation of the "grands blessés" commenced, than the idea of internment in Switzerland was revived, and in January, 1915, Monsieur Ador, the venerable President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, approached Monsieur Millerand, the French Minister of War, on the subject. He suggested the advisability of hospitalizing in Switzerland prisoners "petits blessés," wounded or suffering in a less degree than the "grands blessés"; all those, in short, who might benefit by the care they would receive at the hands of his Government. His suggestion was favourably received, and conversations at once ensued between the Federal Council and the French and German diplomatic representatives at Berne, with more special reference to men suffering from tuberculosis.