Paroling.... Flags of Truce.

ble exception is when individuals, properly separated from their commanders, have suffered long confinement without the possibility of being paroled through an officer.

745....No prisoner of war can be forced by the hostile government to pledge his parole, and any threats or ill-treatment to force the giving of the parole is contrary to the law of war.

746....No prisoner of war can enter into engagements inconsistent with his character and duties as a citizen and a subject of his state. He can only bind himself not to bear arms against his captor for a limited period, or until he is exchanged, and this only with the stipulated or implied consent of his own government. If the engagement which he makes is not approved by his government, he is bound to return and surrender himself as a prisoner of war. His own government cannot, at the same time, disown his engagement and refuse his return as a prisoner.

747.... No one can pledge his parole that he will never bear arms against the government of his captors, nor that he will not bear arms against any other enemy of his government not at the time the ally of his captors. Such agreements have reference only to the existing enemy and his existing allies, and the existing war, and not to future belligerents.

748.... While the pledging of the military parole is a voluntary act of the individual, the capturing power is not obliged to grant it.

749....Paroles not authorized by the common law of war are not valid until approved by the government of the individual so pledging his parole.

750....The pledging of any unauthorized military parole is a miliary offence, punishable under the common law of war.

SECTION 2.

Flags of Truce.

751....A flag of truce is, in its nature, of a sacred character, and is ever to be so regarded by all persons in the Navy of the United States. 752....To use it to obtain surreptitiously naval knowledge or infor

Flags of True.

mation against the interests or wishes of an enemy, is to abuse it, and to subject the bearer of it to the punishment of a spy.

753.... The senior officer present is alone authorized to despatch, or to admit communication with, a flag of truce; but a vessel in a position to discover the approach of a flag of truce earlier than the rest, is, whenever one appears, to communicate promptly the fact by signal.

754....A flag of truce is always to be admitted with great circumspection, and should never be allowed to approach so as to be a means of acquiring useful information. The firing of a gun, with a blank charge, by the flag or senior officer's ship, is generally understood as a warning to a flag of truce not to approach any nearer.

755....Unnecessary frequency in the use of a flag of truce is to be carefully avoided.

756....A flag of truce on the water should be met at a suitable distance off, or at the point previously agreed upon, by a boat or vessel from the senior officer's ship, in charge of a commissioned and discreet officer, and having a white flag kept plainly displayed forward from the time of leaving until that of return.

757.... And in despatching a flag of truce the same precaution as to a suitable officer to be placed in charge, and as to keeping the white flag displayed, is to be observed.

758....Whenever the white flag is used, the en-ign is also to be

exhibited.

759....No flag of truce can insist on being admitted; and as a rare exception only should a flag of truce be admitted during an engagement. If then admitted, it is no breach of faith to retain it. Firing is not necessarily to cease at the appearance of a flag of truce in battle, and if any one cornected with it be killed, no complaint can be made. If, however, the white flag be exhibited evidently as a token of submission, then, of course, firing should cease.

760....An attacking force should avoid firing on hospitals whenever they are designated by flags or other symbols distinctly underderstood; but it is an act of bad faith, amcunting to infamy, to hoist the hospital protective flag over any other building than a hosĮ ital, unless the attacking force should request or consent that it might be used in order to spare edifices dedicated to science or literature, or containing works of art.

Quarantine.

ARTICLE XVII.

Quarantine.

761....Commanding Officers in going into port, whether foreign or domestic, are to comply strictly with all its regulations regarding quarantine.

762....In boarding vessels just arrived care is to be taken that it is not done in violation of the rules of the port, and, in case they are subject to quarantine, the Boarding Officer is to obtain the information he desires without going alongside of them; and in boarding vessels at sea care is to be observed not to do so, unless absolutely indispensable, if there be any cases of an infectious disease among their crews, or if they come from places without a clean bill of health, or be otherwise liable to be subjected to quarantine. No concealment is to be countenanced with regard to anything that may have been done by a vessel of the Navy subjecting her to quarantine.

763....If a vessel of the Navy should arrive in any port with an infectious disease among her crew, or if a disease of the sort should break out among her crew while lying in port, her Commanding Offi. cer is to have the quarantine flag hoisted, and to prevent all communication at all liable to engender the disease elsewhere, until the proper authorities of the place may extend to her the privilege of pratique. To prevent the spreading of an epidemic on board a vessel of the Navy, the Commanding Officer is authorized to arrange with the authorities of the port for the care and treatment of the invalids, either on shore or on board a hulk in the harbor.

764....If a vessel of the Navy should be at sea in company with other vessels, and an infectious disease should exist or appear on board of her, the Commanding Officer is to keep her quarantine flag exhibited until it ceases, and to do all in his power to prevent its dissemination.

765....Commanding Officers, whether liable to quarantine or not, are, on arriving in the waters of a port, to extend every facility to health-boats in making their visits, and to afford all the information they may require. If the vessel be under way she is to heave to, if necessary, on their approach.

Transfers.... Discharges.

766....Commanding Officers will direct the Medical Officer of the vessel, on leaving ports, to procure bills of health whenever they may think that such will prove of service elsewhere.

ARTICLE XVIII.

TRANSFERS, DISCHARGES, AND DESERTIONS.

SECTION 1.
Transfers.

767....No Commander of a vessel of the Navy is ever to transfer any person belonging to his vessel to any other vessel or station, unless specially authorized by competent authority. The Commanding Officer of a squadron may authorize transfers from one vessel to another under his command, when on a foreign station, and when, in his judgment, the good of the public service shall render it expedient or necessary.

768.... An officer transferred from a vessel, navy yard, or station to any other vessel, navy yard, or station, or to any prize, is to be furnished with his account at the time, signed by the Commanding Officer and Paymaster of the vessel, navy yard, or station from which he goes, specifying his rank, the sums paid, and the balance due.

769.... When any person other than an officer shall be transferred from one vessel, navy yard, or station to any other vessel, navy yard, or station, or to any prize or hospital, the Commanding Officer of the vessel, navy yard, or station from which he goes shall take care that he is accompanied by his account, signed by himself and the Paymaster, specifying the date of his entry, the period and term of service, the sums paid, the balance due, and the quality in which he was rated; and also by a complete descriptive, transcript, and clothes list.

SECTION 2.
Discharges.

770....Persons enlisted for the naval service, and serving on board vessels within the United States, may be discharged by order of the Commanding Officer of a vessel acting singly, squadron, or station, for either of the following reasons, but not otherwise, except by the

Discharges.

authority of the Department: Expiration of service, sentence of a general or summary court-martial, or unfitness for service from causes ascertained by survey to have existed prior to enlistment.

771....Enlisted persons found by survey unfit for the naval service from causes originating subsequent to their enlistments may, at their own request, if judged expedient, be discharged in the United States by the authority of the Department, but not otherwise.

772.... As a prerequisite for granting a discharge to any enlisted person in the naval service, under any circumstances, before the expiration of his time, a favorable recommendation from the Commanding Officer of the vessel or station to which the person belongs is indispensable, else no application to the Department on the subject will be entertained.

773.... Persons claiming to be legally entitled to their discharge, on the score of being minors or aliens, must apply to the courts having cognizance of such cases.

774....No person enlisted for the naval service shall be discharged whilst absent from the United States, except by order of the Secretary of the Navy, or by the sentence of a general court-martial: Provided, however, that upon the expiration of the term of his enlistment, any person whose detention on board may not be very essential to the public interests" may be discharged upon his own request in writing, by order of the Commander-in-Chief or of the senior officer present; and the fact that the request was so made shall be stated on the face of the discharge. Whenever a discharge shall be given for any of the reasons above mentioned, a report of all the circumstances shall be made to the Navy Department, and information shall be given to the nearest Consul of the United States, that he may regulate his conduct towards the person so discharged, with a full knowledge of the facts. 775.... Every discharge paper, whether honorable or otherwise, issued to a person of the Navy must contain upon its face or back (see forms 22 and 23) a full and complete descriptive list of the indi. vidual to whom it is given.

776... Petty officers appointed by the Commanding Officer, or with his approval, shall not be discharged before the expiration of the term for which they agreed to serve, except by sentence of a court-martial, by order of superior authority, or for good and sufficient reasons, of