Refusal of England to attend the conference, &c, February 27, 1875
Refusal of England to attend the conference, &c.
The documents exchanged between the imperial cabinet of Russia and the English government, concerning the conference on the laws and customs of war, have been, on the part of the press, the subject of opinions which do not agree either with the sentiments which have suggested to His Majesty the Emperor this magnanimous initiative of humanity, or with the essential character of our relations with the cabinet of London.
We deem it as well to recall to mind that the desire to mitigate the horrors of war is not exclusively a Russian idea, and has not at all in view only the interests of Russia.
At different times private initiative, with a view of attaining this end, has made numerous attempts which have been recognized as a true advance.
The United States of North America found it necessary to publish a rule which should serve as a guide to the armies of the Union, during the war of secession, in order to render less sensible to the whole country the weight of that unhappy intestine struggle.
After the war of 1870, and on account of the considerable armaments which were made everywhere, the necessity of defining with precision the laws and customs of war was universally felt to such a degree that, at the very moment when the imperial cabinet proposed to submit this question to examination, certain private philanthropic societies had already taken it up, and one of them, which occupied itself in ameliorating the condition of the prisoners of war, had even proposed to convoke a conference at Paris. The project of this society was published, and the best proof that the need of overcoming the uncertainty of international law had become a general feeling, is the fact that this project embraced nearly all the questions which have reference to the laws and customs of war.
The imperial cabinet did not think it possible to leave to private initiative the examination of these important questions which bear on the immediate interest of governments, and which can only, therefore, obtain from the latter a practical solution.
Moreover, the imperial cabinet thought that the first step in calling together an official meeting of delegates from the various states, for the study of questions of general importance, devolved in the first rank upon His Imperial Majesty, by reason of the high moral position reached in Europe by the Emperor, who, thanks to his home and foreign policy during nearly twenty years, has given the pledge of pacific, humane, and enlightened tendencies, which have earned for His Majesty universal sympathy and respect.
But, we repeat, His Majesty the Emperor had solely in view to contribute by his initiative to the realization of an object, the utility of which is common to all humanity. Russia interested herself in it, for what concerns her personally, in proportion as she makes part of the whole of the great family of civilized peoples. No private or personal consideration prompted her to urge this or that means of settling the questions which she has submitted to the examination of the European governments.
Whatever decision may be taken, provided that it be really beneficial to humanity, Russia will support it with zeal. The cabinet only sought a calm, benevolent, and elevated discussion which would cast a ray of light and truth on those interests of great importance and concerning everybody.
It follows, as a matter of course, that in the study of these questions all sincere opinions, all loyal objections should be received and respected, and that the only thing to be regretted is a refusal which would deprive a great nation of the possibility of making its voice heard in the deliberations.