r of the
reservations proposed by Senator Lodge, insisted that American cooeperation
ought not to be refused because conditions were attached. His views were
unofficial, but it seemed clear that they were approved by the British
Cabinet, and they received a chorus of endorsement from the French and
British press.

The publication of Grey's letter opened a path to peace to both Senate
and President had they been willing to follow it. The Senate, by very
slight verbal softening of the language of its reservations, the
President by taking the British Ambassador at his word, might have
reached an agreement. The Lodge group, however, which had shown some
indications of a desire for compromise, was threatened by the "die-hards"
who were determined to defeat the treaty; fearing beyond everything to
break party unity, Lodge finally refused to alter the language of the
strong reservation on Article X, which stated that the United States
would assume no obligation to preserve the independence of other nations
by military force or the use of its resources or any form of economic
discrimination, unless Congress should first so provide. Inasmuch as the
economic outlawry of the offending state was the means which Wilson
chiefly counted upon, the reservation took all practical significance
from Article X, since the delays resulting from congressional
deliberation would prevent effective action. The President, possibly
believing that imperialist elements abroad were not sorry to see Article
X nullified, refused to accept the resolution of ratification so long as
it contained this reservation. "The imperialist," he wrote, "wants no
League of Nations, but if, in response to the universal cry of masses
everywhere, there is to be one, he is interested to secure one suited to
his own purposes, one that will permit him to continue the historic game
of pawns and peoples--the juggling of provinces, the old balance of
power, and the inevitable wars attendant upon these things. The
reservation proposed would perpetuate the old order. Does any one really
want to see the old game played again? Can any one really venture to take
part in reviving the old order? The enemies of a League of Nations have
by every true instinct centered their efforts against Article X, for it
is undoubtedly the foundation of the whole structure. It is the bulwark,
and the only bulwark of the rising democracy of the world against the
forces of imperialism and reaction."