The Press Saturday, November 12, 1937. A British Institute in Paris.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19156, 12 November 1927, Page 16

The Press Saturday, November 12, 1937. A British Institute in Paris.

The progress of the scheme for the j establishment of a British Institute in 5 Paris is a matter of considerable in- . terest, not only to Britain, but also to the oversea Dominions. So far as > New Zealand is concerned, there is , hardly a time at which there are not one or more of our young graduates I taking advanced French courses at the University of Paris or some other French University. "What they and their fellow-Britishers have always wanted has been some central bureau of information and some common hall of residence. The present Institute scheme contemplates supplying both these needs. It was inaugurated last year, mainly through the enthusiastic efforts of the British Ambassador in Park, Lord Crewe, a former Ambassador Lord Derby, and the French Ambassador in London. Then came promptly a donation of ten thousand pounds from a private individual; and the scheme was formally launched at a meeting at the London Mansion House. According to the latest report the amount subscribed to date was fifty thousand pounds; but it is probably much more than that now. So far we have not heard of any contributions from New Zealand or Australia. But, as is probably known to many of our readers, Canada has put up in Paris a substantial hostel, or hall of residence, which was formally opened by the Prince of Wales last year. The British Universities are coming in tentatively, and seem to be feeling their way as to the allocation of their proposed contributions. In fact, the bifurcation of the scheme is already leading to ear-marking of contributions, and may have the effect of splitting the fund into two. On the one hand there is the scheme of a residential hostel, where British students might have a common home and centre of association, instead of trusting to the tender mercies of Parisian lodging-houses. To many people this part of the proposal appeals strongly; and it is to this part only that the generous donor mentioned above has assigned his contribution. On the other hand there is strong objection to spending a large sum of money on housing a small British colony, who would thereby be completely shut off from any participation in the "vie intime" of French cultured society. The University of Oxford has led the way in support of the other half of the scheme, the setting up of an Institute properly so-called, consisting of a bureau of information, a library, and a meeting-room. And the committee' of management in London, realising that the funds at present at their disposal do not warrant an energetic policy over the whole scheme, are concentrating mainly on this latter. They have taken over an institution well-known to former New Zealand girl graduates in Paris, called La Guilde Internationale, a kind of hostel-college, run by two educated ladies, and in convenient proximity to \ the Sorbonne. With certain structural alterations and additions, this has been , found admirably suited for immediate requirements; and it was expected that the Institute would be a going concern i by the middle of October. A bureau of : information has been set up under the i direction of M. Desclos, Assistant- 1 Director of the Office National des 3 Universites et Ecoles Francaises. The two ladies who conducted the former Guilde (one English, the other French) will take charge of the English and French sides respectively. A new library is being erected, which will be available for lectures, conferences, and other Buch gatherings. The committee are lucky in securing the cooperation of If. Desclos. His office is jin direct communication with all the >

public institutions of learning in France; and he himself is personally acquainted with the administrators and professors of all the colleges and | schools. Meanwhile the residential part of the scheme is in abeyance. A site has been secured close to the j Canadian block, in a region devoted to I hostels; and the Prince of Wales has ! given his benediction by laying the foundation stone. This system whereby one nation plants an "Institute," or national cultural centre, in the heart of another nation, has interesting possibilities. It tends more than any other method to break down barriers, and bring each people into direct contact with the spirit, the culture, and the modes of thought of the other. The benefits conferred are reciprocal. Take the case of the French Institute in London. Scores of French students come there, not only to get lectures on English literature and history from English lecturers, but also to breathe English air, and to participate in the actual conditions, social and otherwise, under which that literature and history grew up. And, on the other hand, English students go there, not only to

get lectures on French literature from French lecturers, but to breathe a French atmosphere, to get into touch with a French spirit, and obtain as from a fountain-head full and reliable information as to all movements in the French world of ideas, education and culture. In fact, each such Institute is a bit pf the country which it represents, planted in a foreign country; and in this way it is analogous, in the domain of culture and learning, to an Embassy in the domain of high international relations. The analogy fails in one or two important respects. For the Institute does not enjoy some of the exalted privileges which pertain to an Embassy; such, for example, as es-tra-territoriality, whereby the premises of an Embassy are really a piece of the country which it represents. If a man in London, "wanted" for a crime, flees for refuge into the French Embassy, and is admitted, English law ceases forthwith to have any jurisdiction over him; he becomes amenable

to French law; and, if the English authorities want to get possession of him, they must apply to the French Courts for extradition, by the recognised methods of procedure, exactly as if he were in France itself. Needless r to say, the Institute offers no such sanctity of asylum. If an escaped criminal in London found his way into ; the French Institute, he would find his t security of tenure very precarious.