The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-02
MISSION WOULD. INSTILL FRANCES
 THOUGHT IN U. s.
Joffre's Expedition has 9th CT Than Military Aims
 For America.

Washington, May 2.-The French Commission contemplates not only coordination of all efforts now De- ing made in this country to help France in a social and economic way but cultivation of intellectual rela- tions with the United States. Emile Havelaque, Minister of the French Commission, to whom the further ance of these plans has been com mitted by the French government expects to remain in the United States for some time on this work. He said to the Washington correspondents to- day:
 Except for few rich Americans, some of whom have purchased fake works of art in France, or have mere ly skinned a little of the cream off the top of French civilization, there has been little in common between the peoples of France and the United States up to this time. Your univer- sites have been filled with German
 methods and thought, and I do not
 wish in any way to minimize the debt this country owes to Germany in an intellectual sense. The curse of Ger
 man intellectualism, however, is utll1- 1 tarianism-it is devoid of humanity. It is characteristic of France. on the contrary never toNthink of itself, but always to think of common humanity. France has always been ready to lay down it's life in the Interest of demo- cracy.'
 .Is this to be a war on German intelIectua1ism % was asked.
 s'Not at all,'' replied MT. Havelaque. We merely propose to place our own intellectual relations with the Ameri-
 can people on more intimate basis and we have no fear of the result af- ter the two have been compared. France, you know, has been the bat tie ground of centuries. The French repelled the Hun and the Saracen, and now the modern Huns. It is the con meeting link, intellectually, between | the Byzantine and Italian and the peoples of northern Europe. We must
 now cultivate America and England
 to understand our love of pure, learn ing. Our leaders in the expression of
 scientific thought have been the
 dearest and most definite of any, and
 the Germans have utilized our
 thoughts in terms of common money
 plutocrats alone, to get in touch with
 France life as it is, with our thoughts
 and our methods of thought
 .In this connection we have con cluded that our French universitie.
 would afford a happy medium. fol
 this exchange of ideas. To do thi! we must broaden our own rules anl
 make it possible for American stu dents to take all degrees in our insti
 tutions as they have been able to de in Germany; we must change oul courses of instruction from those
 suited to France alone to meet, ths Requirements of a broader field. w must abandon many of our old tra ditions and make it possible that tn, privileges we interchange shall no be for the rich alone, but shall in clude all those who desire to avai
 then1selves of the opportunities of lfered.'.
 Mr. Havelaque said that the inter
 change of ideas would not be one ] sided at all, but that France ha } much to learn from the people O this country as well. In closing, h,
 emphasized the thought that German
 .kultur'' rapidly transforms the nain' into the service of the state whil French intellectualism not infre
 quently becomes the hotbed of -insur 1 rection against the state when it doe mot meet the popular will.