The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-01-24
AMERICAN SPIRIT
 IN MANY LETTERS
All Races and Births Repre- scented In Collection of 300 Communications Which May Be Preserved In Book Form, and Express. the Sentiments of American Soldiers and Sailors In the Great War.

Otto H. Kahn, in addressing the Rutgers Alumni Association, proposed that steps be taken to preserve in book form 500 letters from American soldiers and sailors that best be- speak the American spirit in the war. Mir. Kahn said:
 The book of American glory con- tains no nobler pages than those which record the superb heroism of our fighting men in the war now so happily concluded, and the passion of patriotic devotion which everywhere exalted the men and women of many ra ces who make up America
 We have seen humanity at it's highest and greatest We may not indulge the hope that we shall be able permanently to maintain our selves at the level of thought, feeling and action to which we were lifted by the force of lofty inspiration. Put we do earnestly hope, and sure ly we shall not fail to strive, that some, at least, of the things the na- tion has gained spiritually will re- main as enduring attainments And we trust we shall find, many of us, as these solemn years recede, that in | our individual souls we have stored up assets which will remain perman- l ent possessions.
 T have had occasion to read nu- | merous letters written by officers and men of our army from their canton ments here and abroad, from the | steamers which carried them to l Europe, from hospitals and from the ] firing lines. These letters bear the l stamp and impress of a great time. They are touched with a great spirit, Some of them in their sentiment. 1 their views, and their expressions are of exalted and touching beauty.
 ''The boys who wrote them were on their way to look death in the face or had just come from encoun- tering him without f1irching. They saw things differently from what they had ever seen them before or will ever see them again. All the petti- ness, the make-'believes, the conven- | tonalities of existence, had fallen | away. They recognized true mean 1 ings, true values and true propor- 1 tions. They were lifted out of and l above themselves. Things were re- veaIed to them. They struck depths,
 they found words. they rose to
 heights which were not accessible to
 them before, and probably will not
 be accessible to them again.
 These letters are not only in the
 true sense of the term human docu-
 ments. of the rarest value, but ema-
 mating as they do from writers Of the
 widest diversity of birth, upbringing,
 occupation and race. they are a su-
 preme demonstration of the workings
 of the crucible which is America, and
 of the irrisistibly compelling power of
 It's appeal and spirit, upon those who | are brought within its orbit. They
 are proof conclusive of the theory Of America; they are both assurance
 and admonition for the future.
 '-They are spontaneous and moving
 manifestations of the noble qualities
 latent in American youth, unknown, | sti1ed, suppressed or denied expres-
 sion too often, unfortunately, in the
 ordinary routine of life, but leaping | forth eagerly in response to a great 1 call. They ought to be made known
 and accessible as widely as possible in form which will make them per ] rranent national possessions, so that