On the record
But I go further, and think the softening of manners can alone bring about this result, which cannot be attained by a codification of the law of war.
Said by
Thomas Erskine Holland
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Holland believes that the softening of societal manners is essential for improving the conduct of war.
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More from Thomas Erskine Holland
If in our own day a law recognised by the civilised world forbids, in a general way, the soldier to make booty in warfare on land, we have here a great advance in civilisation, and the jurists have had their share in bringing it about.
It is surely desirable that henceforth Great Britain should know, and that other nations should at least have the means of knowing, for certain, whether she is at war or at peace.
Without war the world would stagnate, and lose itself in materialism.
It is impossible for the soldier who endures sufferings, hardships, fatigues, who meets danger, to take only 'in proportion to the resources of the country.' He must take whatever is needful for his existence.
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