The subtlest sophisters and most hypocritical draftsmen were set to
work, and produced many ingenious exercises which might have deceived
for more than an hour a cleverer man than the President.

Thus instead of saying that German-Austria is prohibited from uniting
with Germany except by leave of France (which would be inconsistent with
the principle of self-determination), the Treaty, with delicate
draftsmanship, states that "Germany acknowledges and will respect
strictly the independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be
fixed in a Treaty between that State and the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers; she agrees that this independence shall be
inalienable, except with the consent of the Council of the League of
Nations," which sounds, but is not, quite different. And who knows but
that the President forgot that another part of the Treaty provides that
for this purpose the Council of the League must be _unanimous_.

Instead of giving Danzig to Poland, the Treaty establishes Danzig as a
"Free" City, but includes this "Free" City within the Polish Customs
frontier, entrusts to Poland the control of the river and railway
system, and provides that "the Polish Government shall undertake the
conduct of the foreign relations of the Free City of Danzig as well as
the diplomatic protection of citizens of that city when abroad."

In placing the river system of Germany under foreign control, the Treaty
speaks of declaring international those "river systems which naturally
provide more than one State with access to the sea, with or without
transhipment from one vessel to another."

Such instances could be multiplied. The honest and intelligible purpose
of French policy, to limit the population of Germany and weaken her