It was based on the power to compel obedience, on the right of the powerful to rule.

Its chief merit was its honest declaration of purpose, however wrong that purpose might appear to those who denied that the possession of superior might conferred special rights upon the possessor.

It seemed to provide for a rebirth of the Congress of Vienna which should be clothed in the modern garb of democracy.

It could only be interpreted as a rejection of the principle of the equality of nations.

Its adoption would mean that the destiny of the world would be in the hands of a powerful international oligarchy possessed of dictatorial powers.
There was nothing idealistic in the plan of Lord Robert Cecil, although he was reputed to be an idealist favoring a new international order.