The Washington herald., 1920-10-21
CHANGE VIEWS
ON j. S. WOMEN
Efficient War-Workers Are
Mainly Responsible for
Better Ideas Of u. S.
OFFICIALS ALSO SWITCH
Ministry of Education Be-
lieves Girls Would Profit
By Sojoun Here.
OFFICIALS ALSO SWITCH
BY III. w. FRANCIS.
Washington Herald-Cross Atlantic Service,
Special Gable Dispateh.)

opecial Gable Dispatch.D
Paris, Oct. 20.-One result of the
world war strikes the American
visitor in the by-ways Of the tinlest
French villages and on the boule-
wards Of the biggest cities. 1t is
the change which has come about in
the French view of American girls.
Before the war, the average French
mother held up as a horrible ex-
ample to her daughters the "frivol-
Gus, liberty-lOving, noisy" American
girl 1t was the custom to regard
the daughters Of America as idlers,
untutored in the practical side of
hOme-making, too often the spoiled
idols OF rich parents and generally
speaking not serious"
Then came the war and the pur-
pOseful, efficient, sacrificing army of
American women and girls enlisted
in relief organizatIons-"an army of
super-women" as Foch called it. The
revision has been made and the
change of opinion is remarkable to
all who knew the France Of pre-war
days.
Changed Manner Apparent.
1t is seen in the changed manner
of walters toward American women
diners in restaurants, in the attitude
Of salespeople to American shoppers
in the department stores. in the re-
speCtful reply of the farm laborer
to a woman motorists request for
direction.
The French ministry of education
is an example Of the change. The
official view is that French girls
would profit TO a great extent by
a sOjOurn at American colleges.
Fifty scholarships have been award
ed for study in American univer-
stiles this year and it is planned
to award a far larger number next
year. This years quota of students
have arrived in the United States.
More Than 800 Sought Chance.
The girls come from Paris and
other French cities. from the small
towns and the crossroads villages
They were chosen by a specially ap-
pointed committee of American edu-
Gators who judged their proficiency
in English and their adaptability to
changed surroundings. More than
800 girls sought the chance to go
to American schools. That means
that 800 fathers and mothers be-
IleNeu so greatly IN American
schooling that they were willing to
give up their children for a year
to allow them to run what they
still regard as the danger Of leav-
ing home" to profit by it, That
could not have happened before the
war.
The chosen girls all have what
corresponds to an American high
school degree, the "brevet super
ieure-' Many are college graduates.
All are eager to extract the best
possible advantage from their stay
in America and then return to their
homes. No more than three girls
will go to any one American uni
versity or college. 4 few will stay
in the East at Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe
and Mount HOlyoke. but the ma
jority will go as far West as Iowa.
Minnesota and Michigan. They Will
become a part Of the American life
about them whether il is the phase
offered by the State university, the
small endowed college or the big
Eastern school
Copyright, 1920. Cross-Atlantic Newspaper
Service, Inc.)