In any event it is my hope that you will give the paper consideration.
"Faithfully yours "ROBERT LANSING "THE PRESIDENT "28 _Rue de Monceau_" It should be borne in mind in reading this letter that I had reached the conclusion that modification rather than abandonment of the guaranty was all that I could hope to accomplish, and that, as a matter of expediency, it seemed wise to indicate a sympathetic attitude toward the idea.

For that reason I expressed myself as favorable to the guaranty and termed it "the heart of the League of Nations," a phrase which the President by his subsequent use of it considered to be a proper characterization.
The memoranda contained in the paper enclosed in the letter were as follows: _The Constitutional Power to provide Coercion in a Treaty_ "_December_ 20, 1918 "In the institution of a League of Nations we must bear in mind the limitations imposed by the Constitution of the United States upon the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Government in defining their respective powers.
"The Constitution confers upon Congress the right to declare war.
This right, I do not believe, can be delegated and it certainly cannot be taken away by treaty.

The question arises, therefore, as to how far a provision in an agreement as to a League of Nations, which imposes on the United States the obligation to employ its military or naval forces in enforcing the terms of the agreement, would be constitutional.
"It would seem that the utilization of forces, whether independently or in conjunction with other nations, would in fact by being an act of war create a state of war, which constitutionally can only be done by a declaration of Congress.

To contract by treaty to create a state of war upon certain contingencies arising would be equally tainted with unconstitutionality and would be null and inoperative.
"I do not think, therefore, that, even if it were advisable, any treaty can provide for the independent or joint use of the military or naval forces of the United States to compel compliance with a treaty or to make good a guaranty made in a treaty.
"The other method of international coercion is non-intercourse, especially commercial non-intercourse.

Would a treaty provision to employ this method be constitutional?
"As to this my mind is less clear.