Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Today -100: July 24, 1919: Of interpretations


Lenin has supposedly offered to cede Bessarabia to Romania if it prevents Ukrainians and Adm. Kolchak’s forces crossing through Romania.

William Howard Taft offers some “interpretations” of the League of Nations Covenant that he thinks will make it acceptable to the Senate, including no ban on war, the US being able to impose tariffs or racist immigration bans, the Monroe Doctrine, etc. Taft proposes these interpretations in a letter to Will Hays, chairman of the RNC, suggesting that the former president’s name be kept out of it, since some R. senators don’t like him. Taft thinks Wilson would accept the reservations, which is not the impression Wilson is giving to the senators he’s meeting.


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2 comments:

  1. Thank heaven today's legislators don't practice freelance diplomacy (I'm looking at you, Tom Cotton.)

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  2. The senators claimed it was part of their ratification powers. I think it's one of those questions about the boundaries between the powers of the executive and legislative branch, like the War Powers Act, that have never been resolved.

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