Thinking that the publication of this document might be of great utility
to those of the citizens of the United States who reside there, and whom
these regulations may concern, I have the honor, Mr. Secretary of State,
herewith to transmit to you a printed copy of said regulations, begging
you to be pleased to make such use of it as may seem to you most
conformable to the spirit and to the intentions which dictated them.
Accept, Mr. Secretary of State, the assurance of my very high
consideration.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The Bulletin of the Laws publishes in its No. 41 the following
imperial ukase, dated May 12:
In view of the state of war which exists between Russia and Turkey,
His Majesty the Emperor orders all the authorities and all military
and civil functionaries whom it may concern, to conform, during the
present war, to the following regulations in respect to Turkey and
her subjects, and to neutral states and their subjects.
I. Subjects of the Porte residing in Russia are authorized to
continue during the war their residence and the exercise of peaceful
occupations in Russia, under the protection of the Russian laws.
II. With regard to Turkish merchant-vessels, which were in Russian
ports and harbors at the time of the declaration of war, the order
is hereby confirmed in virtue of which they are at liberty to leave
such ports and put to sea during the time required to enable them to
load with merchandise not contraband of war.
III. The subjects of neutral states may continue their commercial
relations with Russian ports and cities, provided they observe the
laws of the empire and the principles of international law.
IV. The military authorities shall take the necessary measures to
secure the freedom of lawful neutral commerce, so far as this is
allowed by the conditions of military operations.
V. According to the terms of the Paris declaration of April 4/16,
1856, privateering is considered as abolished, and the delivery of
letters of marque is interdicted.
According to the same declaration, the following rules are to be
observed with regard to the commerce of neutrals:
- 1st.
- A neutral flag protects the merchandise of an enemy, with
the exception of contraband of war.
- 2d.
- Merchandise belonging to a neutral, with the exception of
contraband, is not liable to seizure under the flag of an
enemy.
- 3d.
- Blockades, in order to be valid, must be effective; that
is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to
prevent access to the shores of the enemy.
These provisions of the Paris declaration apply to all powers, not
excepting the United States of North America and Spain, which have
not as yet adhered to this declaration.
VI. The following articles are considered contraband of war: Portable
arms and artillery, whether mounted or in detached pieces;
ammunition for fire-arms, such a& projectiles, fuses for
howitzers, balls, percussion-caps, cartridge-boxes, tubes for
cartridges, powder, saltpeter, sulphur; explosive materials, such as
mines, torpedoes, dynamite, pyroxyline, and similar substances;
materials for artillery and engineering, such as gun-carriages,
army-wagons, cartridge-chests, field-forges, canteens, pontons,
&c; articles of military equipment and clothing, such as
cartridge-boxes, sacks, cuirasses, sapping-tools, drums, saddles and
harness, tents, &c, and in general all articles for land or
naval forces. Such articles, when found on board of neutral vessels
bound to a port of the enemy may be seized and confiscated excepting
such quantity as may be required by the vessel on board of which the
seizure is effected.
VII. The following acts, which neutrals are prohibited from
committing, are assimilated to contraband of war: The transportation
of hostile troops, dispatches and correspondence of the enemy, the
furnishing of vessels of war to the enemy. Neutral vessels taken in
the act of carrying such contraband may be seized, and even
confiscated according to circumstances.
VIII. During the continuance of military operations on the Danube and
on the shores
[Page 478]
of that
river, it shall be the duty of the commander-in-chief of the active
Russian forces to take all measures in his power to the end that the
navigation and the lawful commerce of neutrals on that river may be
as free as possible, and may be subjected only to such temporary
restrictions as are rendered necessary by the exigencies of war;
which restrictions are to be removed as speedily as possible.
IX. The military authorities, moreover, shall furnish their special
protection to the buildings, the labors, and the personnel of the European Danube commission, these being
covered by the special neutral flag of that commission.
According to the Geneva convention of August 10/22, 1864, relative to
wounded or sick soldiers the commanders of the belligerent armies
are bound to respect those stipulations of that convention which
provide for the inviolability of hospitals and ambulances belonging
to the enemy, and of the persons employed in his medical service, on
condition of reciprocity on the part of the enemy. Remark: When the
Turkish Government shall, with the previous consent of Russia, have
adopted, instead of the flag of Geneva, with the red cross, a
particular distinctive sign for its hospitals and ambulances, the
commanders of the belligerent armies will take all necessary
measures to secure the inviolability of the establishments and
persons placed under the protection of this distinctive sign,
according to the Geneva convention, if the stipulations of that
convention shall be observed by the Ottoman authorities.
XI. According to the St. Petersburg declaration of November 29
(December 11), the use of projectiles weighing less than 400 grams,
of an explosive nature, or charged with fulminating or inflammable
material, is absolutely interdicted.
XII. In order to lessen the calamities of war, and to reconcile, as
far as possible, and under the limitation of reciprocity the
exigencies of war with those of humanity, the military authorities
shall conform in their acts to the spirit of the principles laid
down by the conference held at Brussels in 1874, so far as they are
applicable to Turkey and in harmony with the special objects of the
present war.
