INSTRUMENTALITIES FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS. 405 



is emphasized by the remarks of M. Nelidow of Russia, president 

 of the conference, in his closing remarks : ^^ 



" We are the agents of our governments and act by virtue of special 

 instructions, based before all other considerations upon the interests of our 

 respective countries. The higher considerations of the good of mankind in 

 general should no doubt guide us, but in applying them we must have upper- 

 most in our minds the intentions of those who direct our Governments. But 

 the direct interests of different States are often diametrically opposed. It 

 was in endeavoring to bring them into agreement with the theoretical re- 

 quirements of absolute law and justice, that the spirit of good understanding, 

 which I have just mentioned, came into play." 



A similar thought in the Congress of Versailles led to the establish- 

 ment of the League of Nations and in this institution the problem 

 of, to a certain extent, merging national official delegates with true 

 representatives in an international institution was consciously con- 

 fronted. Thus said President Wilson in presenting the first draft 

 of the Covenant to the Peace Conference on February 14, 1919:^* 



" When it came to the question of determining the character of the 

 representation in the Body of Delegates (Assembly), we were all aware of 

 a feeling which is current throughout the world. Inasmuch as I am stating 

 it in the presence of the official representatives of the various governments 

 here present, including myself, I may say that there is a universal feeling 

 that the world can not rest satisfied with merely official guidance. There 

 has reached us through many channels the feeling that if the deliberating body 

 of the League of Nations was merely to be a body of officials representing 

 the various Governments, the peoples of the world would not be sure that 

 some of the mistakes which preoccupied officials had admittedly made, might 

 not be repeated." 



232. National Military, Naval and Administrative Offices. 



From the standpoint of foreign relations the most important 

 national agencies are the Army, Navy and Department of State. The 

 Constitution puts the organization of the Army, Navy and militia in 

 the hands of Congress. The President, however, exercises con- 

 siderable independent power as Commander-in-Chief in the detailed 

 organization of the military forces and in the organization of mili- 



Hague Conference, 1907, Scott ed., Instructions to the American Delegates to 

 the Hague Conferences and their Official Reports, 1916, p. 72. 



" Ibid., p. 200. 



'♦League of Nations, II, special No., p. 17. 



