The " sanctions " Article, as it is called, is
the most flagrant illustration of the fears and hatreds, bred by the War, which dominated the minds of the statesmen at the Peace Conference. And these fears and hatreds, aided by Article 16, continue. The Article provides in effect for concerted punitive measures, economic, financial and (or) military, against an aggressor State, i.e., any member of the League who resorts to war in disregard of its obligations under Articles 12, 18, or 15. In theory such an arrangement appears to be making the punish- ment fit the crime, and that, no doubt, was the sublime object of the jurists. For the sake of a perfectly articulated system even the lawyers' darling, " national sovereignty," was to be sacrificed. There were some fainthearts, however, who clung to the raft of national sovereignty, lacking the imagination to understand how the League of Nations was going to transform inter- national relations. To these a sop was thrown in the form of the explanation that it would be the duty of the Council to recommend what forces each member should contribute to maintain the covenants of the League.
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