RIFLE CLUBS AND VILLAGE GUARDS.
[To TUB EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Srn,—We are calling a meeting early next week in this parish (a) to encourage enlistment in " Kitchener's Army," and (b) to form a Village Guard. But I was asked this evening : " What good will a Village Guard do, and who will dare join it ? For if the Germans come here and we shoot at them, they'll take us out against a wall and shoot us, same as they did the Belgians." I said that it was recognized that the inhabitants, if wearing uniform or badge, might lawfully defend their
homes, prior to occupation. But the reply was that Belgians had been shot for this very thing. Can you give us the rights
[Here are the words of Article I. of the Hague Con- vention :— "The laws, rights and duties of war apply not only to the army, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling all the following conditions :—
(1) They must be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates.
(2) They must have a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance.
(3) They must carry arms openly ; and (4) They must conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomina- tion 'army.'"
From this it will be seen that uniform is not necessary, though a distinctive badge, such as a coloured band on the arm, is. Whether the Germans would observe the public law of Europe (duly agreed to by them) is another matter.—En. Spectator.1
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