XVIII The Origin and Application of the Red Cross
BY
CLARA BARTON.
In no way, perhaps, is more clearly proven the just necessity for some explanation concerning the subject of the Red Cross than by the fact that I am asked to make these explanations as a contribution to woman’s work, when, in fact, every original idea of the humanities sought to be organized, and the methods of relief ordained, were, like the terrible and needless cruelties which led to them, the work of men, and have largely continued to be such.219
It would scarcely be conceded that, because many women have found a place to work, and work well, in the United States Treasury, Patent, and Pension Bureaus, that these departments themselves should be exclusively classed as woman’s work.
If, in our rapid march of progress over newly acquired territory, we should be found appropriating to ourselves some of the old landmarks and strongholds, a philosophical solution may perhaps be found in the familiar principles of the angles of incidence and reflection. It might be added that, presumably, the circumstance of the leadership (if so presumptuous a term may be allowed) of the Red Cross in this country having incidentally fallen to a woman’s hands has had a tendency to mislead in this direction.
Considering how very little has yet been definitely comprehended of the characteristics of this young child of their adoption, the tones of parental kindness and good feeling in which it is spoken by the people of the entire country, is touching to us who watch its course and destiny. Their very natural endeavors to square its habits and methods by those of ordinary charitable organizations, are not unfrequently perplexing to them and embarrassing to us; and their consternation at times, when this strange duckling suddenly takes to the water, is suggestive of other scenes.
The mass of correspondence constantly pouring in, asking how one shall become a member of the “order,” or proposing to organize a “chapter,” or a “branch,” or “corps,” or “section,” independent, for special use, calling for copies of the constitution and by-laws of the national to aid in forming their own, so they can go on by themselves, reveals a vagueness of ideas concerning the subject which a few words might serve to render more clear and definite. First, the Red Cross is not an “order,” and has no tendency in that direction any more than the medical department of an army, which it was instituted to assist, is an “order”; or the great movement toward the general peace of mankind through arbitration and kindly fellowship, to which it is both an advance guard and a stepping-stone, is an “order.” It is not a “secret society” any more than is the Association of Charities and Correction, Adams Express, the Western Union Telegraph, a railroad corporation or a fire company, all of which the nature of its work at times assimilates. While societies, as usually existing, seek the advancement of ideas and the general progress of the world intellectually, morally, or religiously, mainly by expression of thought and opinions analogous to their subject, the Red Cross, by its relation, must deal in active ways, mentally and physically, with people direct, and become responsible for their welfare as for funds and material for their use; and while it may properly have been designated as the culmination of the best humanities of the warring agencies of the past, finding possible expression in the latter half of the nineteenth century, it still needs to be explained that this medium of expression was the Treaty of Geneva of 1864 for the relief of the wounded and sick of armies. The Red Cross means, then, the people’s help for suffering through military necessities (a help hitherto mainly ignored), and it is the result and the direct outgrowth of an international treaty, entered into by the civilized nations of the world for the mitigation of the sufferings from war, by first eliminating from its code all needless cruelties and old-time barbarities; and, secondly, by rendering neutral and exempt from capture all disabled soldiers requiring aid, all appliances, all material, and all personnel designed for them.
It is to be borne in mind, and not for an instant lost sight of, that while other methods leading up to these points have been always the outgrowth of the grandest human sentiments of mankind, they still remained sentiments, usually individual, and, beyond this, binding on no one; or, if organized for the moment, were lost as soon; while the Red Cross, embodying all these humanities, organizes and pledges the entire world, through its governments, to the one purpose and effort, and binds the whole by the stern sacredness of an international treaty, which no government will ever be found reckless and indecent enough to violate. The non-fellowship of the world would follow such an act. Indeed, no nation has a treaty it would hold so sacred in time of need.
Following a preliminary conference of 1863, a convention, composed of delegates appointed by and representing the heads of all the governments of the world, was held at Geneva, Switzerland, for the purpose of considering some method for mitigating the horrors of war, if wars must be.
And however disdainfully we at the present moment may curl our lips over the uselessness of such a consideration in the light of better methods, however scorn every thought of any effort in behalf of the woes of those who consent to deluge the world in blood, it is to be remembered that we ourselves at that moment were not altogether exempt from the perplexing problem of war, and did not, as now, present to the world the grand and beautiful “Christian example” of arbitration and peace, of which we are at present the most advisory and conspicuous of advocates. Indeed, whoever will take down from the shelves one of the volumes of decisions of our then Minister of State, Mr. Seward, will find there recorded that the reason given for the United States having declined official representation in the Convention of Geneva was not on the ground of high moral elevation, advanced views and consequent disapproval, but rather in this wise, that we were ourselves in the midst of a cruel and relentless war, which did not admit of time for considerations of that kind. This decision was the first block over which a woman ungracefully stumbled, when, thirteen years later, an attempt was made to officially call the attention of our government to the knowledge even of the existence of such a treaty among other nations.
This convention, which occupied several days, discussed as never before the great question of an international agreement for the neutralizing of certain departments of all fields of battle, and the protection of all the personnel and material designed for them.
The establishment, as it were, of a goal in the midst of the most relentless field of animosity and strife, where those who could no longer run could touch and be safe; as if, in the midst of the wildest storm at sea, a haven could be established in mid-ocean where the disabled ships might find a harbor and rest.
The councils of this convention resulted in the formulation of a code of ten articles, which, upon solemn acceptance by the heads of each government, became the treaty of Geneva. These articles were as follows:
Article 1. Ambulances (field hospitals) and military hospitals shall be acknowledged to be neutral, and as such shall be protected and respected by belligerents so long as any sick or wounded may be therein. Such neutrality shall cease if the ambulances or hospitals should be held by a military force.
Article 2. Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances, comprising the staff for superintendence, medical service, administration, transport of wounded, as well as chaplains, shall participate in the benefit of neutrality while so employed, and so long as there remain any to bring in or to succor.
Article 3. The persons designated in the preceding article may, even after occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their duties in the hospital or ambulance which they may have, or may withdraw in order to regain the corps to which they belong. Under such circumstances, when the persons shall cease from their functions, they shall be delivered by the occupying army to the outposts of the enemy. They shall have specially the right of sending a representative to the headquarters of their respective armies.
Article 4. As the equipment of military hospitals remains subject to the laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, on withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private property. Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the contrary, retain its equipment.
Article 5. Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the wounded shall be respected and shall remain free. The generals of the belligerent powers shall make it their care to inform the inhabitants of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the neutrality which will be the consequence of it. Any wounded man, entertained and taken care of in a house, shall be considered as a protection thereto. Any inhabitant, who shall have entertained wounded men in his house, shall be exempted from the quartering of troops as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may be imposed.
Article 6. Wounded or sick soldiers shall be entertained and taken care of to whatever nation they may belong. Commanders-in-chief shall have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement, when circumstances permit this to be done, and with the consent of both parties. Those who are recognized, after they are healed, as incapable of serving, shall be sent back to their country. The others may also be sent back on condition of not again bearing arms during the continuance of the war. Evacuations, together with the persons under whose directions they take place, shall be protected by an absolute neutrality.
Article 7. A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for hospitals, ambulances, and evacuations. It must on every occasion be accompanied by the national flag. An arm badge [brassard] shall also be allowed for individuals neutralized, but the delivery thereof shall be left to military authority. The flag and arm badge shall bear a red cross on a white ground.
Article 8. The details of execution of the present convention shall be regulated by the commanders-in-chief of belligerent armies, according to the instructions of their respective government and in conformity with the general principles laid down in this convention.
Article 9. The high contracting powers have agreed to communicate the present convention to those governments which have not found it convenient to send plenipotentiaries to the international convention at Geneva, with an invitation to accede thereto; the protocol is, for that purpose, left open.
Article 10. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratification shall be exchanged at Berne, in four months, or sooner if possible.
The nations adopting the Treaty are:
France, September 22, 1864.
Belgium, October 14, 1864.
Italy, December 4, 1864.
Sweden and Norway, Dec. 13, 1864.
Baden, December 16, 1864.
Great Britain, February 18, 1865.
Prussia, June 22, 1865.
Wurtemberg, June 2, 1866.
Bavaria, June 30, 1866.
Portugal, August 9, 1866.
Russia, May 22, 1867.
Roumania, November 30, 1874.
San Salvador, December 30, 1874.
Servia, March 24, 1876.
Chili, November 15, 1879
Peru, April 22, 1880.
Bulgaria, March 1, 1884.
Luxembourg, October 5, 1888.
Switzerland, October 1, 1864.
Netherlands, November 29, 1864.
Spain, December 5, 1864.
Denmark, December 15, 1864.
Greece, January 17, 1865.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mar. 9, 1865.
Turkey, July 5, 1865.
Hesse Darmstadt, June 22, 1866.
Austria, July 21, 1866.
Saxony, October 25, 1866.
Pontifical States, May 9, 1868.
Persia, December 5, 1874.
Montenegro, November 29, 1875.
Bolivia, October 16, 1879.
Argentine Republic, Nov. 25, 1879.
United States, March 1, 1882.
Japan, June 5, 1886.
The United States of America was the thirty-second in order. This treaty has changed not only the methods of procedure of the medical and hospital departments of all armies, but their insignia, flags, etc. There is but one military hospital flag in the world to-day. The commander who knows his own, knows that of the enemy, and he breaks an international treaty if he knowingly turns even a gun or a stray shot upon it. The convoy of prisoners under escort bearing that sign is safe; no officer can fire upon that unarmed and defenseless body of men by “mistake”; no “mistake” can be made nor pretend to be made. No captured men can longer suffer for lack of food; the world is pledged to supply this want, and the way is opened to do it. No fields nor hospitals can lack attendance, nursing, nor the necessaries of life; to this relief the way is opened. No wounded men can lie unattended upon a field, and no attendant upon them can be captured. No distinction can be made in the care of the sick and wounded. By the articles of the treaty, all are non-combatants, all neutrals, and hence one common relation for all.
At the conclusion of the convention, the body of gentlemen of Switzerland who had convened it were designated by choice of the governments as the international head by whom all general intercourse between nations upon the subject of war-relief should be directed, and through whom all communications should be made. This is the “International Committee of Geneva.”
The first action of a country after the adoption of the treaty, is to form a National Society, or committee, through which the International Committee may communicate with the government of that country. To this National Society is committed the care of all communications from the International Committee to the government of a country, whether relating to the work of war relief in other nations, or to their methods of advancement, e.g. to observe if the provisions of the treaty are duly regarded by its military departments; if the suitable orders are given for the spread of such knowledge among the troops at the field; if the appropriate insignia is worn by them; the arrangement for attendance upon international conferences in which the government is represented, and reports to foreign powers on such occasions. Naturally, but one National Society or body of administration in a country is, or can be, recognized, either by the government at home, or the international authorities abroad, on the same principle that but one Department of War, or State, could be recognized. To this body is submitted the direction of such aid as shall be rendered by its country for the relief of suffering from the calamities of war in other countries, such aid always passing through the neutral hands of the “International Committee” for application; thus wisely avoiding national jealousies. The best inventions and most improved machinery and methods for the convenient handling, nursing, and treatment of disabled persons from whatever cause, in either military or civil life, for the last twenty-five years, are directly traceable to the thought and endeavors of the Red Cross, through its wise encouragement thereof, and the necessities revealed upon the fields of war which it sought to relieve.
To turn now to the little part taken by our government and people in this world-wide humanity, we shall find ourselves subjects for the adage of the “short horse soon curried.” As previously remarked, it was thirteen years, namely, from 1863 to 1877, before the attention of our government was awakened to the existence of such a treaty among nations, and its adhesion seriously recommended. Our great commissions, sanitary and Christian, had died and passed into history, and it was not realized that their embalmed memory would not be sufficient for all future exigencies,—old Egypt, relying upon its catacombs, great, but silent and past! It required five other years, namely, from 1877 to 1882, to bring the government to a clear comprehension of the subject, when, by a unanimous vote of both Houses of Congress, the Treaty of Geneva of 1864 was adopted and became a law, immediately receiving the signature of President Arthur, fully carrying out the decision of his lamented predecessor, Garfield, who had recommended it in his first message to Congress. The treaty was next sent to the Congress of Berne, Switzerland, which, by consent of all governments, is made the ratifying power for the treaties of the nations as they adhere. When ratified, it was proclaimed by the President of the United States, and directions duly given to the departments of the government to take the necessary steps for conforming to its provisions.
It is this which has changed all military hospital flags in our country to a red cross on a white ground; the same for ambulances, supplies, and attendants, and has instituted this insignia throughout the medical departments of the regular army, and gives the present impetus to the movement of the National Guard in that direction as well. Previous to the actual adoption of the treaty by the United States, but in view of it, our National Society had been founded at the instance of President Garfield, and the honor of its presidency unanimously tendered to him. This courtesy was declined by him in favor of its present president, who, without change of original officers, and with their concurrence, has conducted the affairs of the society from that time, July, 1881. In forming the constitution of the National Society of the United States, it was decided by the framers, in view of our liability to great national calamities, and non-liability to the exigencies of war, to ask of the ratifying powers of the treaty to accept the National Society of America, with power to extend its scope to the relief of great national calamities other than war. This was granted, constituting the only national society under the treaty having such privilege, and known among other nations as the “American Amendment to the Red Cross.” It is under this provision, or grant, alone, that the work of the Red Cross in national calamities in this country during the last nine years has been done. Within that time it has afforded relief at twelve fields of national distress. And while these scenes of active labor constitute mainly all that appears to the public eye as the work of the society, they are in reality the smaller and by far the less difficult and painstaking. The over-laden desks, translations from all languages, international correspondence, advices sought, and decisions to be wisely and delicately rendered, tell a different tale to the thought-burdened, weary officers at Red Cross headquarters.
In the early days, a few societies were allowed (but never invited) to form as auxiliaries, more for the purpose of familiarizing the people with the subject than for aid really expected; for after all, it is the entire people whom the Red Cross is designed to serve; they have direct and individual access to it; it is their servant at the moment of woe, which falls on all alike. With a National Red Cross on a field, the way is open to all; no special avenues are needed; and the capable personages as individual aids the country over, which it is constantly gathering to itself, ready for instant response to any call, leave no lack of help even for a day. However well auxiliary societies might do, and some have done grandly, it was the people at large, over the entire country, who solicited the Red Cross to become the almoner of their bounties in Johnstown. The great manufacturing companies which asked of it to put their tens of thousands of dollars worth of new furniture into the homes which had not one article left, were not Red Cross societies. The great lumber companies, shipping the material thousands of miles to construct new homes almost before the old ones had reached the bottom of the stream which bore them away, were not Red Cross societies nor ever sought to be. They wished to serve humanity, wanted their gifts to reach the needy in some direct and practical way, and chose their avenue. In this same spirit of self-forgetfulness, the Red Cross accepted and applied, faithfully we know, and acceptably we hope, with the only desire, under heaven, of safely and wisely transmitting those substantial tokens of sympathy and love from a pitying world to a homeless, bereaved, and terror-stricken people as a present help in time of trouble. It went to them in the same spirit, with the same regulations, and under the same discipline as if those thousands had fallen in human rather than elemental conflict. It found the military at the field, and reported for duty the same as at a field of battle. The relations thus at once established were incalculable in their benefits. Every courtesy from headquarters was extended; as by right, not favor; all passes, countersigns, and facilities of movement of any kind were given without asking. The character of the work was from the first understood to be in accord with the government and discipline of the field, and not a separate dynasty set up in its individual or ambitious and unskilled effort, to be guarded against, lest it commit some egotistical indiscretion which could not be tolerated. The same advantages over unrecognized aid were realized here as are enjoyed by the Red Cross on a field of battle. The work of the Red Cross in this country has thus far been rather a test than otherwise of its efficiency, usefulness, and possibilities; and so fully has it met, and even surpassed, all early expectations, that any limited description like the present seems rather an annoyance, leaving the subject where its best interests should commence; and although in our land we may never have need of its protecting arm on the fields of human warfare, it is enough for us to know that we have needed it as no words can tell. Only the low lonely graves, the desolate homes speak more eloquently than words.