that any treaty or international engagement entered into between States members of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Chancellor, and as soon as possible published by him. ARTICLE 22.-The High Contracting Parties severally agree that the present Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations inter se which are inconsistent with the terms hereof, and solemnly engage that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms hereof. In case any of the Powers signatory hereto, or subsequently admitted to the League shall, before becoming a party to this Covenant, have undertaken any obligations which are inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Power to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations. DOCUMENT 17. Official French plan for a League of Nations Annex 2 to Minutes of First Meeting, League of Nations DRAFT ADOPTED BY THE FRENCH MINIS- STATEMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES TO BE TAKEN AS BASIS The problem of the League of Nations is one which forces itself upon the consideration of every Government. Historically, the idea is a very old one, which took shape when the civilized States assembled at the two Hague Conferences in 1899 and 1907. Practically, during the present war, it has been taken up afresh under various forms by the Allied Governments in their official declarations, by President Wilson in his note of December, 1916, and even by our enemies in their replies to the Papal Note of the 16th August, 1917. It is, therefore, impossible to avoid the study of the question; it can and must be considered quite apart from the questions which form the subject proper of the Treaty of Peace. 1. In declaring that a sense of justice and honor compelled them to carry on the war thrust upon them by the aggressive action of the Central Powers until a joint and decisive victory had been gained, the Allies intend to convey that one of the results of that victory should be (a) to protect the world in future against any recur rence of the employment of brute force and attempts on the part of any nation to obtain universal supremacy, and (b) to establish the reign of justice on sure foundations throughout the world. They declare that, in order to secure conditions which will exclude the existence of a mere dangerous truce and guarantee real peace, it is necessary to provide for the contractual and permanent organization of international relations, by the constitution between States of the association to which universal public opinion has given the name of "the League of Nations." 2. The object of the League of Nations shall not be to establish an international political State. It shall merely aim at the maintenance of peace by substituting Right for Might as the arbiter of disputes. It will thus guarantee to all States alike, whether small or great, the exercise of their sovereignty. 3. The scope of the League of Nations is universal, but, by its very nature, it can only extend to those nations which will give each other all necessary guarantees of a practical and legal nature, and which, in loyal fulfillment of their given word, solemnly undertake to be bound by certain rules in order to maintain peace by respecting Right, and to guarantee the free development of their national life. Consequently, no nations can be admitted to the League other than those which are constituted as States and provided with representative institutions such as will permit their being themselves considered responsible for the acts of their own Governments. 4. The League of Nations shall be represented by an international body, composed of the responsible heads of Governments or of their delegates. This international body shall have the following powers: (1) It shall organize an international tribunal. (2) It shall effect the amicable settlement of disputes between the States members of the League by means of mediation, preceded, if necessary, by an enquiry in the terms of The Hague Convention of 1907. (3) In the event of an amicable settlement proving impossible, it will refer the matter to the International Tribunal, if the question at issue is open to a legal decision; otherwise it shall itself decide the matter. (4) It shall enforce the execution of its decisions and those of the International Tribunal; at its demand every nation shall be bound, in agreement with the other nations, to exert its economic, naval, and military power against any recalcitrant nation. (5) Every nation shall likewise be bound, at the demand of the International Body, to exert, in common accord with the other nations, its economic, naval, and military power against any nation which, not having become a member of the League of Nations, shall attempt, by any means whatsoever, to impose its will on another nation. 5. The International Tribunal shall pronounce on all questions submitted to it, either by the International Body or by a State having any dispute with another. It shall decide and pronounce upon questions of law at issue between States, on the basis of custom or of international conventions, as well as of theory and jurisprudence. In cases of violation of such law, it shall order the necessary reparation and sanctions. II. DIPLOMATIC, LEGAL, AND ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. (1) DIPLOMATIC SANCTIONS. These sanctions, the result of which will be to place the delinquent State for a shorter or longer period under the ban of the member nations, fall under three headings: (a) The suspension or breaking off of the diplomatic relations existing up to that period between such State and other member States of the League of Nations; (b) The withdrawal of the exequatur granted to the consuls of such State; (c) The exclusion of the State in question from the benefit of any international conventions to which it may be a party. (2) LEGAL SANCTIONS. On the other hand, certain sanctions of a legal nature will enable the League of Nations, according to circumstances, to enforce respect of the principles which it is called upon to protect. (a) Thus offences committed, encouraged, or tolerated by one of the member States may render it liable to pecuniary sanctions which will be applied to it by the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the general principle laid down by Article 3 of The Hague Convention of the 18th October, 1907, as to the laws and customs of war. (b) There are, moreover, other sanctions of a legal nature which, without entailing the direct pecuniary responsibility of the State concerned, will exert a very marked and immediate influence on the attitude and decisions of its representatives, by reason of the sacrifices it will impose on the private interests of the citizens themselves. There will be no question of depriving the latter of the advantages of common law, or of punishing them for acts for which they are not directly answerable; but that national unity which confers responsibilities as well as benefits, will doubtless permit of the temporary withdrawal from them of the exercise of a faculty which, although not indispensable to existence, nevertheless tends to facilitate it. The following may be instanced as particularly efficacious measures from this point of view: the suspension, as regards subjects of the recalcitrant State, of all Articles of Association, conventions relating to the protection of author's copyright and of industrial property, and conventions under private international law concluded between that State and the other States, members of the |