the peace negotiations and especially his presence there as a delegate
to the Peace Conference; the fundamental principles of the constitution
and functions of a League of Nations as proposed or advocated by him;
the form of the organic act, known as the "Covenant," its elaborate
character and its inclusion in the treaty restoring a state of peace;
the treaty of defensive alliance with France; the necessity for a
definite programme which the American Commissioners could follow in
carrying on the negotiations; the employment of private interviews and
confidential agreements in reaching settlements, a practice which gave
color to the charge of "secret diplomacy"; and, lastly, the admission of
the Japanese claims to possession of German treaty rights at Kiao-Chau
and in the Province of Shantung.

Of these seven subjects of difference the most important were those
relating to the League of Nations and the Covenant, though our opposite
views as to Shantung were more generally known and more frequently the
subject of public comment. While chief consideration will be given to
the differences regarding the League and the Covenant, the record would
be incomplete if the other subjects were omitted. In fact nearly all of
these matters of difference are more or less interwoven and have a
collateral, if not a direct, bearing upon one another. They all
contributed in affecting the attitude of President Wilson toward the
advice that I felt it my duty to volunteer, an attitude which was
increasingly impatient of unsolicited criticism and suggestion and which
resulted at last in the correspondence of February, 1920, that ended
with the acceptance of my resignation as Secretary of State.

The review of these subjects will be, so far as it is possible, treated
in chronological order, because, as the matters of difference increased
in number, they gave emphasis to the divergence of judgment which