Colonel House to Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne Cecil (Lord Robert)

There seems to be as many opinions concerning a league of nations as there are groups working at a solution.

To me there is something pathetic in the faith which the people of nearly every country have in the ability of their statesmen to work out this problem in a way that will insure an enduring peace.

I believe we should use as our guide the experience which mankind has gathered in solving the questions of law and order between individuals. The more advanced states of the world have worked out a fairly satisfactory civilization. But, internationally, thanks to Germany, we are thrown back to the Stone Age.

One of the most essential features of any league seems to me to be the installation of a moral standard such as that maintained among individuals of honor. Even before Germany smashed the international fabric, reprehensible action was condoned under the broad cover of patriotism; actions which in individuals would have been universally condemned and the perpetrators ostracised from society.

I believe that the most vital element in bringing about a world-wide reign of peace is to have the same stigma rest upon the acts of nations as upon the acts of individuals. When the people of a country are held up to the scorn and condemnation of the world because of the dishonorable acts of their representatives, they will not longer tolerate such acts.

To bring this about will not I think be so difficult as it would seem, and when this condition is realized, a nation may be counted upon to guard its treaty obligations with the same fidelity as an individual guards his honor.

I do not believe at the start it would be possible to form any court or to have an international force at the disposal of the court to enforce its decisions. It seems to me that in forming the league we could not go further than to agree that:

(1) Any war, no matter how remote or how insignificant the country involved, is the concern of ann nations.

(2) Some country like Switzerland or Holland should be selected for a centralized peace ground. The ministers sent there should be ipso facto peace delegates.
(When there is a rumor or murmur of war these delegates should by previous agreement automatically meet and
(a) Insist that the proposed belligerents agree to settle their differences by arbitration according to the agreement, which as members of a League of Nations, they have signed.
(b) The arbitrators to be selected as follows: one by each belligerent and these two to select a third. In the event the two could come to no agreement as to the third, then the selection of the third arbitrator should be made by the League.
(c) Either nation to the arbitration may, if dissatisfied with the findings, have the right to appeal to the League.
(d) The finding shall be set aside only by a three fourths vote.
(e) If the belligerent against whom the finding is made insists upon going to war, then it shall become obligatory upon every nation in the League to immediately break off all diplomatic, financial and economic relations of every character and, when and where possible, also exert physical force against the offender.

(3) One of the fundamental principles of the League shall be a declaration that each signatory nation shall bind itself forever to maintain the same standard as that maintained among people of honor so that any nation that failed to live up to the letter and spirit of this agreement shall be held up to public condemnation.

(4) The members of the League shall guarantee each other's territorial integrity. Any violation of this guarantee shall be visited by the same penalties as sent forth in Paragraph (2), section (e)
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These are my personal views at the moment and do not represent either the President or the groups over here that are working at the problem.

I would appreciate your letting me know what you think of the plan I have proposed.

I am, my dear Lord Robert,


Magnolia, Massachusetts.