Treaty. This preamble declares that the ratification is not to
take effect until three of the four chief Allies have accepted by an exchange of Notes the "reservations and understandings" which the Senate may append to the Treaty. The first reser- vation, passed by 50 votes to 35, would enable America to with- draw from the League at any moment, and to "be the sole judge whether all its international obligations under the Covenant had been fulfilled." The long fight in the Senate is not at an end, and it may be that the Republicans will content themselves after all with a demonstration of their hostility to the President. Clearly the ratification of the Treaty with reservations that would be in effect serious amendments would place the President in a most difficult position, and would cause the Allies considerable embarrassment. It is of course the Covenant—President Wilson's own favourite idea—which, apart from Shantung, has caused, or is the chief pretext for, all this bitter controversy.
