FRANCE PLACES IMPLICIT FAITH IN JUSTICE OF U. S. PUBLIC OPINION SAYS ROZ

"We feel in France that public opinion in the United States is so sincere that when the American people have complete information about the problems of the day they will realize and act upon the truth", declared M. Firmin Roz, famous author, and assistant director of the Office National des Universities et Grandes Ecoles Franchises, in an interview with a CRIMSON reporter.

"This faith of ours in the justice of American public opinion," M. Roz continued, "has been one of the principal reasons why we trust the United States. There is but a handful of French people in this country, there are few Americans in France, and our national life differs from the American, but nevertheless we know that this is true.

"During the war there were, beside the American army, a great number of American men and women in France serving in the Red Cross, Knights of Columbus and other organizations. These people entered our homes, and we really did not look upon them as foreigners. We marveled ourselves at the common feeling of friendship which developed so quickly.

"We were of course disappointed in all of our allies after signing of the armistice, when that 'unity of front', which was so marked during the War, no longer existed. We were especially disappointed in the disagreement of the United States Senate with the President over the treaty. We could not see why America should be unwilling to help solve the great post bellum problems. But there was in France no deep or widespread ill-feeling for the United States because we realized that the United States had entered the conflict with such disinterested motives and under such unusual conditions. Above all, there was such a deep feeling of gratitude for America's help in the War that minor disappointments became insignificant. Then too, the memory of our aid in the American Revolution, of the glorious part played by America in the Great War, and of the long record of friendship will always be a bond between the two peoples.

It is my opinion that the best way to preserve and strengthen this friendship is the exchange of students and professors. This system of exchanges is already being carried on and might well be extended. The French Ministry of Education makes it possible for 30 American young women to study in France each year. They are entered in the best women's colleges in various parts of France. Perhaps the most interesting and valuable feature of the practice is that it is so arranged that on holidays and during vacations the American young women may visit private families in different parts of the country. In this way they come into intimate contact with French private life, and when they return to America, are in a better position to help the American people form a true estimate of the French.

"The American Field Service, by means of contributions, has established 20 fellowships for American students to study in France. M. Clemenceau, upon his return to France from America, contributed all of the money he had received for speaking, some $45,000, to this Service to establish further fellowships of this nature and to establish one fellowship for a French student studying in America. This is an example of the exceptional interest the French people are taking in these exchanges. Professors are also exchanged between Harvard, Columbia, and other American universities and the French universities.

"In this way", concluded M. Roz, "by the exchange of students and professors, will the American and French people come to know each other better, and the old friendship will be maintained."