New-York tribune., 1908-01-20
STUDENTS FROM INDIA.
Il Protest against the Tendency to
Pauperi1e Them.
To the Editor of The Tribune.


Sir: The interest which has lately been awakened
in behalf of Oriental students visiting this country
Is in every way a worthy one; but unless 1t is
wisely manifested, it is fraught with great danger
to the Oriental student himself and with harm to
the country to which he may return. Speaking
especially for India, with the education of whose
youth / have had personal experience for many
years, the types of students coming TO this country
need TO be recognized. and the interest manifested
in them to be governed accordingly
There those who with government
scholarships. picked men, who have had to pass
high tests of scholarship and moral character be
fore leaving India. From the very fact OF thelf
choice they earnest students and their con-
tact with American thought and life will in all
probability strengthen their character and fit them
for effective work their return Failure 10
maintain their high standing in scholarship anu
moral character would be fatal to their future
careers
OF another type are those students who come
from India with their means, and VINO are
sent at the expense of their friends. These are
not necessarily picked men. They may or may
not take seriously the opportunities aorded py the
institutions of this country. The experience ol
Indian youths sent oxford or Cambridge Is thaI
some return with the highest possible honors'
while others return physical and moral wrecks
through the seductons of London life one OF ehe
great reasons why Indian parents of wealth. 90
in large numbers send their sons TO Iolti6H
lands lis the sad example of these many worse iildh
wasted lives In their own land the influences oL
home and caste are guard to the moral lie OF
youth.
Students of the above two types. although need-
ing no financial aid do. however, need close con
tact with our best American home Hfe' IN orueI
that it's purity and attractiveness. its refinement
and high ideals may help to counteract what III
isolation they may find to degrade them. Here Is
wide field in which kindly, sympathetic interest III
Indian students be shown which Will eThoble
them and return them to their land the better 1or
their experiences.
There is another type of Indian student-the one,
namely, who comes America without adequate
means either expecting to work his way by manly
effort hoping that American frlends-"lth the
generosity of which he has heard-will supply him
with funds while he prosecutes his studies with
more or less seriousness. Manly independence that
scorns to receive money without its being earned is
Indian characteristic, and the expectation
that American sympathy can easily be drawn upon
is enticing inducement for many to try thelr
fortunes in this country
The truth of this sympathy becomes so apparent
to even those who have left India with the best
intentions of manfully earning their way while
gaining their education. and money comes so much
easier by begging it from generous minded men
and women than by way of earning it by manual
other labor, that many yield TO this form OF
seduction, and lose what little manly Independence
they may have possessed when they fell among
friends-kind, but mistaken in their method of
kindness
for helping Oriental students in their laudable ef-
forts at education ought to feel the seriousness
of the guilt of destroying in them or hinderlng
in them the noble principle of manly independence
To give money to Indian student without eX-
acting an equivalent of work is degrade one
especially susceptible to such degradation, and the
friends either individuals or in organizations
who render help In this form are the enemies OF
that young man and of his country. 1t is the
universal experience of those who know Indla
@t, -l.c ain, heir Europe
America at the expense of those TO whose gener-
osity they appeal. and without equivalent, return
to India useless weight upon that country. Gen
erous Americans must learn that If they yield TO
pathetic appeals for pecunary help and give WITH
out exacting full equivalent of work they are
doing the Indian youth inCalculable harm II IS
far better that the Indian youth who comes to
this country should suffer keenly with hunger II
It drives him to manly work than that he should
suffer the degradation of receiving dollar given
to him in mistaken sympathy
1t is doubtless far easier to give a dollar than
to supply the work to fairly earn it, but if in
diyiduals or organizations wish to help impecu-
uious Indian students and not to degrade them
their energies must be turned into securing Tor
them opportunities for manual or other employ
nent India has the unfortunate idea tha' hilhudi
work degrades man. Begging carries with 1t no
shame II should at least be of the results
of being in a land where work Is hOnored that an
Indian youth has learned to work for all ne re-
ceives Only such man will De OF value 10 lhdla-
The American young man whose nome cannot
suDr,lv the means for his education earns his way
through college by doing even the humnles1
manual work, and is both honored for it and him
self becomes nobler man. Why VIII well meaning
hut mistaken friends Of poor Indian students de-
prfve them by their unwise generosity OF the hohor
and nobility of an education gained by self-effort
tt,,,eb +ona JUSTIN e. ABBOTT.
New York Jan. 1G 1908