=The League of Nations.=—­High among the purposes which he had in mind in summoning the nation to arms, President Wilson placed the desire to put an end to war.  All through the United States the people spoke of the “war to end war.”  No slogan called forth a deeper response from the public.  The President himself repeatedly declared that a general association of nations must be formed to guard the peace and protect all against the ambitions of the few.  “As I see it,” he said in his address on opening the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign, “the constitution of the League of Nations and the clear definition of its objects must be a part, in a sense the most essential part, of the peace settlement itself.”

Nothing was more natural, therefore, than Wilson’s insistence at Paris upon the formation of an international association.  Indeed he had gone to Europe in person largely to accomplish that end.  Part One of the treaty with Germany, the Covenant of the League of Nations, was due to his labors more than to any other influence.  Within the League thus created were to be embraced all the Allied and Associated Powers and nearly all the neutrals.  By a two-thirds vote of the League Assembly the excluded nations might be admitted.

The agencies of the League of Nations were to be three in number:  (1) a permanent secretariat located at Geneva; (2) an Assembly consisting of one delegate from each country, dominion, or self-governing colony (including Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and India); (3) and a Council consisting of representatives of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan, and four other representatives selected by the Assembly from time to time.

The duties imposed on the League and the obligations accepted by its members were numerous and important.  The Council was to take steps to formulate a scheme for the reduction of armaments and to submit a plan for the establishment of a permanent Court of International Justice.  The members of the League (Article X) were to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all the associated nations.  They were to submit to arbitration or inquiry by the Council all disputes which could not be adjusted by diplomacy and in no case to resort to war until three months after the award.  Should any member disregard its covenants, its action would be considered an act of war against the League, which would accordingly cut off the trade and business of the hostile member and recommend through the Council to the several associated governments the military measures to be taken.  In case the decision in any arbitration of a dispute was unanimous, the members of the League affected by it were to abide by it.

Such was the settlement at Paris and such was the association of nations formed to promote the peace of the world.  They were quickly approved by most of the powers, and the first Assembly of the League of Nations met at Geneva late in 1920.