The proceedings of the Conference at Brussels on the usages
of -war have been published in the London Gazette, but as they are not binding on anybody, they are of little interest. The only really humane proposal, that of prohibiting the bombardment of =fortified cities, was defeated by the resolute refusal of the German Envoy to accept it ; while the tricky proposal to make it -treason for the inhabitants of an occupied district to take up arms was modified till it meant nothing, except that volunteers must observe the usages of war. Espionage was formally allowed, and so were ruses de guerre, though treachery was prohibited. This means, we suppose, that it is quite lawful to decoy a regiment into .an impasse by a forged order from its own head-quarters, but quite unlawful to murder it after a capitulation.
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