The wages of these prisoners, the law says, must go toward improving their condition, and the balance must be paid them after their release, with the proper deduction for their board and keep.  When officers of hostile armies who are captured are put to work they must get the same wage rate as is paid to the corresponding officers of the government whose captives they are.  All these moneys must be ultimately refunded by their own governments to their captors after the war is over, peace is declared and the intricate problems of indemnities come up for solution.

A prisoner of war may even be paroled by his captors, and this is done sometimes when he is disabled or there are circumstances that prompt his enemies to let him go to those who are near and dear to him.  When parole is granted to a prisoner he makes a solemn pledge and promise that he will live up to the terms under which he is released, and even his own nation may not ask him to perform a service that is inconsistent with that pledge.

BREAKER OF A PAROLE

It goes hard with the prisoner on parole who is caught fighting against the nation that released him, for he is not entitled to be treated as a prisoner of war, and the judgment meted out to him is as terrible as it is sure.  Certain codes of honor are supposed to be observed even in international warfare, and a soldier who breaks his word of honor is considered the most despicable of men.

CHAPTER XXI

HORRORS OF THE WAR

American Relief for War-Stricken Peoples of Europe—­Millions of Dollars Contributed in Cash and Gifts—­Canada Aids the Belgians_—­Devastation of Poland Even Greater and More Terrible them that of Belgium_.

Soon after the world became aware of the fact that the German army’s progress through Belgium on its dash to Paris in August of 1914 had resulted in the absolute devastation of the little buffer state, an enterprising and sympathetic American citizen, Mr. James Keeley, editor of the Chicago Herald, penned a remarkable open letter “to the Children of America,” in which he suggested the sending of a “Christmas ship” to Europe, filled with gifts of a useful character for the little ones of all the belligerent nations.  The response was immediate and most truly generous.  Newspapers and civic organizations all over the United States joined in gathering from young and old the contributions that freighted a United States warship with a cargo of gifts worth over two million dollars, and at Yuletide these gifts were systematically distributed among the innocent victims of the war in all the countries concerned.

The idea of the Christmas ship was nobly conceived and splendidly executed.  Rulers of the belligerent nations recognized the beauty of the idea and paused awhile in their martial activities to welcome and thank the American commissioner who enacted the role of an international Santa Claus.  But the slaughter on the fighting lines of eastern and western Europe went on unabated and the peaceful symbolism of the Christmas ship was soon forgotten in the daily recurrence of battle and bloodshed.  AWFUL CONDITIONS IN POLAND