(1) The civilians who fired on the invaders in Belgium were irregular combatants wholly distinct from the recognised Belgian Army. They were in fact _francs-tireurs_ and nothing else. The men who are fighting against the troops of the Crown in Ireland constitute the only hostile force we have to meet. They are certainly not _francs-tireurs_: the question is, are they rebels or, as they have consistently claimed to be, combatants in civil war? If the former, they are technically outlaws and cannot claim belligerent rights. But the Prime Minister has himself definitely stated that "civil war" is being waged in Ireland and this statement appears to be in strict accord with international law, which makes a clear distinction between "rebellion" and "civil war."[1] Rebellion is action undertaken by sporadic groups of individuals with little organisation and hopelessly inferior in numbers to the forces of the existing Government. The Irish Republican troops on the other hand are organised in Divisions, Brigades and Battalions, are controlled by responsible leaders, and greatly outnumber the military and armed police forces opposed to them. Their claim therefore to be combatants engaged in civil war and, as such, to be treated in accordance with the rights and usages of war, seems well grounded. Had this claim been admitted from the commencement, the hideous death-reprisals indulged in on both sides would probably never have occurred. Such acts as the ambushing of troops in lorries or on foot are of course perfectly legitimate methods of offence in ordinary warfare. [Footnote 1: _Vide_ Sir T. Barclay, "Laws of War" (_Encyc. Brit._). Even rebels, when fighting for a political object, are, according to high authorities like Bluntschli and Fiore, entitled to belligerent rights, and must not be treated as a "crowd of criminals" (eine Masse von Verbrechern). _Cf._ Bluntschli (Das moderne Völkerrecht VIII. 512).--Wird sie dagegen nur strafrechtlich verfolgt, so wird dadurch der tatsächliche Kampf verwildert und es ist Gefahr dass die beiden streitenden Parteien in die Barbarei versinken und einander mit grausamen Represalien zu überbieten suchen. What a prophetic picture of Ireland in 1921!] (2) As far as can be gathered from the White Book, the _francs-tireurs_ who fired on Belgian troops were, even when caught _flagrante delicto_, usually accorded a drum-head court-martial or summary trial. But many instances have occurred in Ireland when unarmed men have been shot dead in or near their homes and sometimes in their beds, without even the semblance of a trial.