government placed in it, and one of the evidences of that sovereignty is the power to do the wrong thing, is the power to dishonor its obligation legally made. That choice of right or wrong is what constitutes freedom and sovereignty, but it does not render invalid the original obligation entered into ‘as the constitution directs, by the power given in the Constitution to promise and contract for the government with foreign nations.
No Power to Compel Congress
Therefore, what we do here is to enter into this covenant and promise and contract that under certain conditions, we will do certain things; and Congress is in honor and legally bound to do them but there is no power to compel Congress to do anything; it may do what it chooses, and it may dishonor that obligation, but that does not render the original promise or treaty that we propose to make invalid, any more than when a man lets his note go to protest, he can plead that the note was invalid because he could let it go to protest. And when you get that fundamental conception, then you see how erroneous is the view that a treaty like this is invalid because honor and law—international law limits the power of Congress to do what it may do, although it cannot be prevented from doing as it chooses within its constitutional discretion. Unless you follow that course of reasoning, there was no need of making a treaty-making power, because the treaty-making power could not contract for anything, as Congress is with few exceptions the only performing power under the Constitution.
Reduction of Armaments
What is the object of this League and what does it propose to do? The object is to avoid war as far as possible. It is to make peace as permanent as it can be made. How does it do it? Why, it does it by four great steps. The first is Article VIII. Article VIII is the armament article. It declares it to be in the interest of peace that there should be a reduction of all the armaments of the world as far as possible, consistent with national safety and the obligations of the League. It directs the Council to prepare a plan for that reduction and the Council is to take a military commission to assist it. The Council then takes up the matter of receiving information which the nations covenant to give as to all existing armaments. Then the council makes the plan, reduces the armament and fixes the limit for each country.
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