There were others which persisted, but the improvement was so marked that the gross defects in word and phrase largely disappeared.

If one accepted the President's theory of organization, there was little to criticize in the report, except a certain inexactness of expression which indicated a lack of technical knowledge on the part of those who put the Covenant into final form.

But these crudities and ambiguities of language would, it was fair to presume, disappear if the articles passed through the hands of drafting experts.
Fundamentally, however, the Covenant as reported was as wrong as the President's original draft, since it contained the affirmative guaranty of political independence and territorial integrity, the primacy of the Five Great Powers on the Executive Council, and the perplexing and seemingly unsound system of mandates.

In this I could not willingly follow President Wilson, but I felt that I had done all that I could properly do in opposition to his theory.

The responsibility of decision rested with him and he had made his decision.