After the debacle of the Franco-Prussian war, Frenchmen began to consider seriously and searchingly how far their country’s defeat by Germany could be attributed to past neglect in organizing education. As a result of this inquiry many changes were subsequently introduced into the educational system, and among the innovations there was one which should be of peculiar interest to Americans of today. A group of private citizens started the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, the object of which was to train students for public administration and to apply scientific methods to the subject matter and the problems of politics.