position with other nations, and may, in view of senatorial hostility, defeat a treaty as to the League of Nations or at least render it impotent.

“With these thoughts in mind and with an opposition known to exist among certain European statesmen and already manifest in Washington, I take the liberty of laying before you a tentative draft of articles of guaranty which I do not believe can be successfully opposed either at home or abroad.”

I would interrupt the reader at this point to suggest that it might be well to peruse the enclosures, which will be found in the succeeding pages, in order to have a better understanding of the comments which follow.  To continue: 

“I do not see how any nation can refuse to subscribe to them.  I do not see how any question of constitutionality can be raised, as they are based essentially on powers which are confided to the Executive.  They in no way raise a question as to the Monroe Doctrine.  At the same time I believe that the result would be as efficacious as if there was an undertaking to take positive action against an offending nation, which is the present cause of controversy.

“I am so earnestly in favor of the guaranty, which is the heart of the League of Nations, that I have endeavored to find a way to accomplish this and to remove the objections raised which seem to me to-day to jeopardize the whole plan.

“I shall be glad, if you desire it, to confer with you in regard to the enclosed paper or to receive your opinion as to the suggestions made.  In any event it is my hope that you will give the paper consideration.

   “Faithfully yours

   “Robert Lansing

   “The President

   “28 Rue de Monceau”

It should be borne in mind in reading this letter that I had reached the conclusion that modification rather than abandonment of the guaranty was all that I could hope to accomplish, and that, as a matter of expediency, it seemed wise to indicate a sympathetic attitude toward the idea.  For that reason I expressed myself as favorable to the guaranty and termed it “the heart of the League of Nations,” a phrase which the President by his subsequent use of it considered to be a proper characterization.

The memoranda contained in the paper enclosed in the letter were as follows: 

The Constitutional Power to provide Coercion in a Treaty

“December 20, 1918

“In the institution of a League of Nations we must bear in mind the limitations imposed by the Constitution of the United States upon the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Government in defining their respective powers.

“The Constitution confers upon Congress the right to declare war.  This right, I do not believe, can be delegated and it certainly cannot be taken away by treaty.  The question