e question as
to the reason why he wished me to deliver to him a draft resolution. In
fact it suggests another question--What, from the President's point of
view, was to be gained by having the resolution in his hands?

I think the answer is not difficult to find when one remembers that Mr.
Wilson had disapproved a resolution of that sort and that the Council of
Ten had seemed disposed to approve it. There was no surer way to prevent
me from bringing the subject again before the Council than by having the
proposed resolution before him for action. Having submitted it to him I
was bound, on account of our official relationship, to await his
decision before taking any further steps. In a word, his request for a
draft practically closed my mouth and tied my hands. If he sought to
check my activities with the members of the Council in favor of the
proposed course of action, he could have taken no more effectual way
than the one which he did take. It was undoubtedly an effective means of
"pigeonholing" a resolution, the further discussion of which might
interfere with his plan to force through a report upon the Covenant
before the middle of February.

This opinion as to the motive which impelled the President to pursue the
course that he did in regard to a resolution was not the one held by me
at the time. It was formed only after subsequent events threw new light
on the subject. The delay perplexed me at the time, but the reason for
it was not evident. I continued to hope, even after the Commission on
the League of Nations had assembled and had begun its deliberations,
that the policy of a resolution would be adopted. But, as the days went
by and the President made no mention of the proposal, I realized that he
did not intend to discuss it, and the conviction was forced upon me that
he had never intended to have it discussed. It was a disappointing
result and one which impressed me with the belief that Mr. Wilson was
prejudiced against any suggestion that I might make, if it in any way
differed with his own ideas even though it found favor with others.

CHAPTER X

THE GUARANTY IN THE REVISED COVENANT

During the three weeks preceding the meeting of the Commission on the
League the work of revising the President's original draft of the
Covenant had been in progress, the President and Colonel House holding
frequent interviews with the more influential delegates, particularly
the British and French statesmen who h