is. Nothing in Articles CCXCVI., CCXCVII., or in any of the annexes thereto or in any other iaticle, sec tion, or annex of the treaty of peace with Germany shall, as against citizens of the United •States, be taken to mean any confirmation, ratification, or approval of any act otherwise illegal or in contravention of the rights of citizens of the United States.
z3. The United States withholds its assent to Part XIII (Articles COCLXXXVII. to OCCCXXVII. in clusive) unless Congress by act or joint resolution shall hereafter make provision for representation in the or ganization established by said Part XIII. and in such event the participation of the United States will be gov erned and conditioned by the provisions of each act or joint resolution.
, 24. The United States assumes no obligation to be bound by any 'election, decision report, or finding of the Council or Assembly in whi!ch any member of the League and im self-governing dominions, colonies, or parts of empire, in the aggregate have cast more than one vote, and assumes no obligation to be bound by any decision, report, or finding of the Council or As sembly arising out of any dispute between the United States and any member of the League if such member, or any self-governing dominion, colony, empire, or part of empire united with it politically has voted.
- On 19 Nov. 1919 the treaty was rejected by the Senate. It was reintroduced 10 Feb. 1920 at the regular session. Substantially the same reservations were adopted together with a new one advocating self-deterrnination for Ireland. Substitute reservations concerning Article X were offered. The treaty. with amended reser vations again' failed of ratification when the final vote was reached on 19 March 1920. It was then withdrawn from the Senate and re turned to the President.
After the-Senate adjourned on 19 Nov. 1919 without ratifying the Treaty of Versailles, the representatives of England, France and Italy at Paris proceeded to make arrangements for the final ceremonies that would put the treaty into operation.
The chief steps to be taken were the formal exchange of ratifications and the deposit of the ((instruments') in the archives of the French Foreign Office, the drawing up of the- prods verbal or formal record of the deposit of these instruments, and the promulgation of the treaty.
On 10 Jan. 1920 ratifications were formally exchanged at Paris between the signatory powers, and the Proces-Verbal was signed by Baron Kurt von Lersner for Germany, Premier Clemenceau for France, Premier Lloyd George for England, Premier Nitti for Italy and Baron Matsui for Japan. These were followed by the delegates of the following nations, who signed in the order named: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Poland, Siam, Czechoslovakia and Uruguay. The United States, Greece, Roumania and China, not having ratified the treaty, did not sign.
The treaty vvent into effect at 4:15 p.m. (Paris time) 10 Jan. 1920. On 16 Jan. 1920 M. Leon Bourgeois became first president of the Council of the League of Nations and Sir Eric Drummond was made secretary.
The Treaty of Peace with Austria, which was handed to the Austrian delegates at Saint Germain on 2 June 1919, is in many respects identical with the peace treaty with Germany. The Austrian treaty consists of a preamble and 14 parts. The Austrian National Assembly ratified this treaty 17 Oct. 1919. The complete text follows the text of the Treaty with Ger many.
The Bulgarian Treaty follows that of Aus tria. Two of the subsidiary treaties are in cluded, that with Poland and the Franco American Treaty. A summary of the short lived Brest-Litovsk Treaty, so often referred to in the war articles, is also included.