Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-07-11
CONCLUSIONS
Amendments

AutCluIlGnfS
Article XVI, the last in the Cove
nant, deals with amendments; and it
is ~singulariy free from detail 1t does
not prescribe n procedure what
ever, but merely that amendments
shall take effect when ratified by the
members of the League whose repre-
sentatiYes compose the Council n by
a majority of the members of the
League whose representatives compose
the Assembly. No doubt proposed
amendments would be discussed by the
Council, and probably also by the As
sembly, but his is not obligatory. the
only essential thing being that they
| should be ratified by the nations them
| selves as stated.
Two facts about this method of
| amendment may be observed. One of
them is that the unanimous assent is
| required not only of the five large
states, but also of the smaller states
| associated with them on the Council,
these last having, so long as they re-
tain their seats on that body all the
privileges of the five large nations.
The other fact to be noted is that the
Independent sovereignty of each mem-
Der of the League is wholly preserved,
because ii is not bound by any amend
ment to which it does not freely con-
sent, no matter how overwhelming the
majority by which it is adopted. Yet
the difficulty met with at the Hague,
whereby a few small DIRECTORS could
block a plan, is avoided by providing
that a state which is unwilling to con-
sent to an amendment duly adopted
oeases to be a member of the League.
1t cannot be a party to a Covenant
that does not bind all equally, and
hence it goes out. This is in accord
with the general principle which runs
all through the Covenant; that the
members as Independent sovereign
states certain definite obliga-
tons specifically described, and fur
Their concert of action is wholly VOL
untary on their part.
Plan BasicaIIy Sound
Probably no two nations, and per-
haps no two men. would have drafted
the articles for a League of Nations
precisely alike and any such document
must ineathe nature of things involve
much compromise. There is album
dant evidence Of this In the Covenant
Of Paris, not least in the amendments
made to meet objections raised in
America, latter the draft agreed upon
by the representatives of fourteen
countries had been presented to the
Peace Conference. Those objections
seem to have been fully covered by pro-
visions whose meaning cannot reason |
ably be doubted by any one that be-
lieves sincerely in such a League. The
principles on which the League Is
based are sound, and impose the least
obligations consistent with the pre-
pention of future wars. The question
for a citizen of the United States is
not whether the Covenant represents
his views precisely, but whether On the
whole it is good or not, and whether
this country had better accept it or |
not
Covenant Basis Of Treaty
1t has been argued that peace with |
Germany ought to have been made |
first. and a League of Free Nations |
organized afterwards. But, quite apart |
from the fact that a League must be
made at the close of this war or the
one great opportunity of centuries
would be lost, the treaty of peace has
made clear, what shrewd observers
had foreseen, that the terms of the
treaty depend for their maintenance
upon a League strong enough to en- |
force their observance. Beside the
articles of the Covenant itself, the
treaty of peace contains many provi-
sions for action by the League, and