stances irrevocable; circumstances subsequent to the granting of it may render its revocation imperative, but it must be so revoked that the grantee be allowed time and liberty to depart in safety, though a very urgent and supervening necessity may possibly authorise his temporary detention. But a safe conduct is not to be converted into a snare, the safety of the bearer is at all hazards to be secured.

Phillimore, vol. III, pp. 166, 167.

Construction of language.

Safe conducts are privileges, and therefore, if any doubt arise as to their construction, should be interpreted by the general rules applicable to such grants.

But inasmuch as the right of safe passage conveyed by the instrument of safe conduct is neither hurtful to a third person nor onerous to the grantor, it should always receive a liberal construction, and the instrument, whatever the language of it may be, must be so interpreted as to avoid the consequence of a manifest injustice or absurdity. Thus, for instance, a safe conduct granted to soldiers and sailors generally must be construed to extend to all officers of the army and the fleet. So a permission "to depart freely" must be holden to continue till the grantee arrives in a place of safety. The privilege is, in fact, always to be so construed, as not to be useless to the grantee. But the grantee allowed to depart is not necessarily allowed to return, and he who is allowed to come is allowed to do so once, and not oftener, unless there be some words relating to time which give rise to a reasonable conjecture that such was the intention of the grantor. If permission be given for other persons to accompany the grantee, describing them by some general name, such as companions, this must be construed to exclude those whose case, is, to borrow the expression of Grotius, more odious than that of the grantee himself; such, for instance, as deserters, refugees, pirates, or robbers. If the instrument speaks of companions, belonging to a certain nation, the expression operates to exclude all companions who do not belong to that nation. Phillimore, vol. III, pp. 167, 168.

A passport or safe-conduct is a privilege granted in war, and exempting the party from the effects of its operation, during the time and to the extent prescribed in the permission. It flows from the sovereign authority; but the power of granting a passport may be delegated by the sovereign to persons in subordinate command, and they are invested with that power either by an express commission, or by the nature of their trust. The general of an army, from the very nature of his power, can grant safe-conducts; but the permission is not transferable by the person named in the passport, for it may be

that the government had special reasons for granting the privilege to the very individual named, and it is presumed to be personal. If the safe-conduct be granted.not for persons, but for effects, those effects may be removed by others besides the owner, provided no person be selected as the agent against whom there may exist a personal objection, sufficient to render him an object of suspicion or danger, within the territories of the power granting the permission.

He who promises security, by a passport, is morally bound to afford it against any of his subjects or forces, and to make good any damage the party might sustain by a violation of the passport. The priv ilege being so far a dispensation from the legal effects of war, it is always to be taken strictly, and must be confined to the purpose, and place, and time, for which it was granted. A safe-conduct generally includes the necessary baggage and servants of the person to whom it is granted; and, to save doubt and difficulty, it is usual to enumerate, with precision, every particular branch and extent of the indulgence. If a safe-conduct be given for a stated term of time, the person in whose favor it was granted must leave the enemy's country before the time expires, unless detained by sickness, or some unavoidable circumstance, and then he remains under the same protection. The case is different with an enemy who comes into the country of his adversary during a truce. He, at his own peril, takes advantage of a general liberty allowed by the suspension of hostilities, and, at the expiration of the truce, the war may freely take its course, without being impeded by any claims of such a party for protection.

Kent, vol. I, pp. 177, 178.

Revocation of safe-conduct.

It is stated that a safe-conduct may even be revoked by him who granted it, for some good reason; for it is a general principle in the law of nations, that every privilege may be revoked when it becomes detrimental to the state. If it be a gratuitous privilege, it may be revoked purely and simply; but if it be a purchased privilege, the party interested in it is entitled to indemnity against all injurious consequences, and every party affected by the revocation is to be allowed time and liberty to depart in safety.

Kent, vol. I, p. 178.

Violation of passports.

A safe-conduct or passport contains a pledge of the public faith, that it shall be duly respected, and the observance of this duty is essential to the character of the government which grants it. The statute law of the United States has provided, in furtherance of the general sanction of public law, that if any person shall violate any

safe-conduct or passport, granted under the authority of the United States, he shall, on conviction, be imprisoned not exceeding three years, and fined at the discretion of the court.

Kent, vol. I, p. 196.

Laws of United States.

The Congress of the United States, during the time of the American war, discovered great solicitude to maintain inviolate the obligations of the law of nations, and to have infractions of it punished in the only way that was then lawful, by the exercise of the authority of the legislatures of the several states. They recommended to the states to provide expeditious, exemplary, and adequate punishment for the violation of safe-conducts or passports granted under the authority of Congress, to the subjects of a foreign power in time of war; and for the commission of acts of hostility against persons in amity or league with the United States; and for the infractions of treaties and conventions to which the United States were a party; and for infractions of the immunities of ambassadors and other public ministers.

Kent, vol. I, p. 197; Journals of Congress, vii, 181.

Passport, or safe conduct.

A passport or safe conduct, is a document granting to persons or property an exemption from the operations of war, for the time, and to the extent prescribed in the instrument itself. The term passport is applied to personal permissions given on ordinary occasions, both in peace and war, where there is no reason why the parties named in them should not go where they please; while safe conduct is the name usually given to the instrument which authorizes an enemy, or an alien, to go into places where he could not go without danger, or to carry on trade forbidden by the laws of war. The word passport, however, is more generally applied to persons, and safe conduct, to both persons and things. A passport is not transferable by the person named in the permission, for although there were no objections to giving the privilege to him, there might be very serious objections to the individual taking his place. It, however, generally includes the servants and personal baggage of the person to whom it is granted, unless there should be particular objection to the passage of such servants, or to the admission of the baggage; but, to save all doubt and difficulty in such matters, it is usual to enumerate with precision every particular with respect to the extent of the indulgence. A safe conduct for effects, without designating the person who is to introduce or remove them, may be introduced or removed by any agent of the owner, unless the agent selected should be per

sonally objected to, as an object of suspicion or danger. Instruments of this kind, are always to be taken strictly, and must be confined to the persons, effects, purpose, place and time, for which they are granted. But, if the person who has received a passport should be detained in an enemy's country by sickness or by force, beyond the specified time, he should receive a new instrument, or be considered as still under the protection of the old one. But no detention by business, or by circumstances not entirely unavoidable, will entitle him to such indulgence. If, for example, he should take advantage of a suspension of hostilities to remain, he will do so at his peril, and if he should be found in an enemy's country at the termination of the truce, the time named in his passport having expired, he will be subject to the ordinary laws of war, without any claim for special protection. Passports and safe conducts are of two kinds; those which are limited in their effects to particular places or districts of country, and those which are general and extend over a whole country. Those of the first class may be granted by military and naval officers or governors of towns, to have effect within the limits of their respective commands, and such instruments must be respected by all persons under their authority. The power to issue such documents is implied in the nature of their trust. But a general passport, or safe conduct, to extend over the whole country, must proceed from the supreme authority of the state, either directly or by an agent duly empowered to issue it. (Vattel, Droit des Gens, liv. 3, ch. 17, §§ 265-270; Rutherforth, Institutes, b. 2, ch. 9, § 22; Kent, Com. on Am. Law, vol. 1, pp. 162, 163; Wheaton, Elem. Int. Law, pt. 4. ch. 2, § 25: Grotius, de Jur. Bel. ac Pac., lib. 3, cap. 2, §§ 14–22; Phillimore, On Int. Law, vol. 3, § 101; Puffendorf, de Jur. Nat. et Gent., lib. 8, cap. 7, § 13; Wildman, Int. Law, vol. 2, pp. 28, 29; Rayneval, Inst. du Droit Nat. etc., liv. 3, ch. 9; Bello, Derecho Internacional, pt. 2. cap. 9, § 4; Пeffter, Droit International, § 142; Burlamaqui, Droit de la Nat. et des Gens, tome 5, pt. 4, ch. 11; Real, Science du Gouvernment, tome 5, ch. 3, sec. 4; Moser, Versuch, etc., b. 10, p. 452.) Halleck, pp. 663, 664.

Revocation.

A passport or safe conduct, may, for good reasons, be revoked by the authority which granted it; on the general principle of the law of nations, that privileges may always be revoked, when they become detrimental to the state. A permission granted by an officer may, for this reason, be revoked by his superior, but, until so revoked, it is as binding upon the successor as upon the party who issued it. The reasons for such revocation need not always be given; but permissions of this kind can never be used as snares to get persons or effects into our power, and then, by a revocation, hold the persons as

prisoners, or confiscate the property. Such conduct would be perfidy toward an enemy, and contrary to the laws of war. (Vattel, Droit des Gens, liv. 3, ch. 17, § 276; Kent, Com. on Am. Law, vol. 1, p. 163; Grotius, de Jur. Bel ac Pac., lib. 3, cap. 21, § 22; Phillimore, On Int. Law, vol. 3, § 101; Garden, De Diplomatie, liv. 6, § 16; Bello, Derecho Internacional, pt. 2, cap. 9, § 4; Burlamaqui, Droit de la Nat. et des Gens., tome 5, pt. 4, ch. 11.)

Halleck, p. 664.

Violation of instruments.

Any violation of the good faith and spirit of such instruments [passports and safe conducts], entitles the injured party to indemnity against all injurious consequences. Persons violating these instruments are also subject to punishment by the municipal laws of the state by which they are issued. Section twenty-eight of the act of congress, approved April 30th, 1790, provides that if any person shall violate any safe conduct or passport, duly obtained and issued under the authority of the United States, such person so offending, on conviction, shall be imprisoned not exceeding three years, and fined at the discretion of the court. If a soldier or subordinate officer should violate a passport, or safe conduct, issued by his superior, he would, probably, also be subject to be punished for the military offense under military law by a court martial. (Kent, Com. on Am. Law, vol. 1, p. 163; Vattel, Droit des Gens, liv. 3, ch. 17, § 276; U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. 1, p. 118; Garden, De Diplomatie, liv. 6, § 16; Dunlop, Digest of Laws of the U. S., p. 72: Brightly, Digest of Laws of the U. S., p. 41.)

Halleck, p. 665.

Safe-guards.

Safe-guards are protections granted by a general or other officer commanding belligerent forces, for persons or property within the limits of their commands, and against the operations of their own troops. Sometimes they are delivered to the parties whose persons or property are to be protected; at others they are posted upon the property itself, as upon a church, museum, library, public office, or private dwelling. They are particularly useful in the assault of a place, or immediately after its capture, or after the termination of a battle, to protect the persons and property of friends from destruction by an excited soldiery. Violations of such instruments are usually punished with the utmost severity. A guard of men is sometimes detached to enforce the safety of the persons and property thus protected. Such guards are justified in resorting to the severest measures to punish any violation of the safety of their trust. Article fifty-five of the rules and articles of war of the United States,