AMERICAN PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS RESENT CHARGES AGAINST FRENCH PEOPLE

In an endeavor to offset what seems to be propaganda for dissuading American students from going to France, on the ground that living there "is very expensive and that they are coldly treated and badly received by the French people, two letters were recently forwarded to this country by Americans in France. One is signed by a group of notable American professors in French universities and the other by several American students there. Copies of these letters were forwarded to the ColumbiaAlumni News in the hope that they would be brought to the attention of University people and that they would discredit information to the contrary which has been appearing in the public press.

The first letter, from several prominent educators who are now teaching in French universities, follows:

Paris, January 20, 1921.

To THE EDITOR:

Whether as a result of deliberate propaganda, as many are persuaded, or as a result of misinformation based on irresponsible gossip, the notion that France is now an impossible place for American students because of the high cost of living, and the notion that American students in France are coldly received and badly treated, find expression in the American press, and are vocal here and there in university circles in America. These notions are false. Life for Americans in Paris is, considering the rate of exchange, easy, and our students are received in and out of university circles with a cordial warmth that delights them. We are glad of the opportunity of denying statements, springing either from malice or ignorance, which might tend to turn away from French universities foreign students who might otherwise have profited richly by what French culture, at once so substantial and so alluring, now offers — and has immemorially offered — with such generous hospitality to her scholar-guests. France, despite the prestige of her heroic victory, now faces more than her share of difficulties, and those who feel this will not be content to see her deprived at this trying moment, through misstatements or misunderstanding, of the band of loyal friends which students at her universities almost invariably become.

To show that at present, life in France is not difficult from the financial standpoint for American students, and that their welcome is of the warmest, we beg to cite a few figures, and to submit a brief statement that voices American student-opinion here.

As regards the cost of living for a student in Paris, the French society "Les amis du Quartier Latin" in its Petit Guide de I Etudiant Etranger (Paris, 1920) states that 700 francs a month is sufficient for health and comfort, and it submits an itemized budget, based on student experience, in evidence. That 700 francs is enough as a monthly budget is vouched for also by the American University Union in Paris, an organization controlled by ,some 50 of the leading American universities and colleges, and daily in closest contact with American students in France.

At the rate of exchange which has long prevailed — say roughly 15 francs to the dollar — this means that a student can now live in Paris for about 46 dollars a month. Can he do better in New York, New Haven or Cambridge?

Below are given the prices of a few articles of wearing apparel and of shoes, which may prove of interest. We rely again for the figures in the Guide above referred to, and on the American University Union:

Clothing and Shoes (the estimate in dollars is at the rate of 15 francs to the dollar) : A suit ready made, 200-300 frs. ($13.33-$20.00) ; a suit made to order, 350-600 frs. ($23.33-$40.00); overcoat, 350-500 frs. ($23.33 35.33); shoes, 60-150frs. ($4.00-$10.00). In referring to the monthly budget of 700 francs, the Union assures us that the students bent upon economy can even cut well under this estimate.

The cost of living given above is the cost in Paris. At the provincial universities, a student should be able to get on comfortably for a third less.

As regards the notion that American students are not well received and treated, the American University Union which, as we have said, is in daily touch with many of the 300 to 400 students at Paris institutions of higher learning, made this statement to us: "We are in a position to speak from first-hand knowledge of the state of mind of American students in France, and we have never yet talked with a man or woman who was not warmly welcomed in France, or who has failed to receive the most cordial and friendly treatment during his French sojourn. The universities and other institutions of learning are delighted to receive Americans."

We may add that the general health of the students in Paris has been extraordinarily good, and that from the intellectual and scholarly standpoints they find the life here highly stimulating and every way profitable.

It should not be assumed that American students are treated with greater friendliness than other Americans. The reports of cordiality and courtesy toward our compatriots come from those who have traveled in all parts of France. Occasional exceptions to this pleasant experience do not in the least offset the substantial impression of the sustained appreciation of what America did for France in her critical hour.

EARLE B. BABCOCK, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Head of the Department, New York University; Director, 1920-21, of American University Union (Continental Division, Paris).

HERMAN BABSON, Professor and Head of Department of Modern Languages, Purdue University.

WENDELL T. BUSH, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University.

JAMES W. GARNER, Professor of Political Science in the University of Illinois; Lecturer in the University of Paris and Hyde Lecturer in the Provincial Universities of France.

RICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Professor of Semitic Languages, Columbia University; Visiting Professor, University of Strasbourg, 1920-21.

F. H. HANKINS, Professor of Sociology, Clark University.

CHARLES DOWNER HAZEN, Professor of History, Columbia University ; Exchange Professor, 1920-21, University of Strasbourg.

HORATIO S. KRANS, Ph.D., Columbia University, Assistant Director, American University Union (Continental Division, Paris). Concerning the cost of living in France and

the cordial reception accorded to Americans there, the students from the United States have this to say:

Paris, January 20, 1921.

To THE EDITOR:

We the undersigned wish to express our indignation at the propaganda in the U. S. which is trying to discredit France in the eyes of Americans and is working to discourage students from going to France to study, claiming that Americans are not welcome in France, and that living is so high, despite the advantageous exchange, that a student would find it impossible to get along on even a generous allowance. Without giving many figures, we think it is only too evident that with the dollar averaging at between 12 and 17 francs, and with the best boarding houses in the University section of Paris charging 22 francs a day, it is not difficult to see that living in France is very much cheaper than in New York City. It should be added that life at provincial universities is cheaper by at least one third than life in Paris.

As for Americans not being well treated, we can testify to the fact that the contrary is the truth. The French authorities are doing their utmost to make us comfortable and happy both at the University and socially, and they are succeeding beyond all expectation. We hope that the American public will pay no heed to the insidious articles published in some American newspapers, or to rumors set afloat in University circles, and that this testimony from American students in France will go a long way to dispel those false reports.

The signatures to this letter might easily be increased in. number to three or four hundred, but suffice it to say that feeling expressed above is that of the American student body in general in France.

Very truly yours,

(This letter was signed by eighteen students whose bachelor's degrees had been obtained at Columbia, Harvard, Yale, M. I. T., Wisconsin, California, Dartmouth, Virginia, and elsewhere.)