Show Farm Life Has No Appeal to Peasants of France Children Prefer City Life People leave farms in France largely for the tile same reasons as everywhere everywhere ev ev- else Ever since the foundation foundation foundation foun foun- dation of the Third republic nominally nom 1870 peasant children have been getting gelling education though the number of illiterates as shown by bythe bythe bythe the army conscript examinations is surprisingly high With education the ambition of the average peasant has been to make his son a gentleman gentleman gentle gentle- man a monsieur which means generally to get him a white collar job His daughter likewise he prefers prefers pre pre- fers to marry of off to a city desk worker rather than to a young farmer observes a writer in the Chicago Tribune By a process which has gone on in other languages even the word peasant has fallen into bad repute It is now never used in the news reports of the Paris press When a word must be used a peasant is called colled a The word fermier ferm ferm- ier farmer has never been used extensively and not often would it be an accurate translation of our word farmer Even if he cannot annot get a coveted job with wilh the government the young peasant usually prefers to come to the city and take a chance He may get on the chain in an auto mobile factory or punch tickets in ina a subway station The average French farm has not been improved as the American one has within the last generation The radio is rare automobiles are even rarer The standard of living is undoubtedly higher than before the war and currents of life now flow freely through the French countryside country side but the peasant still thinks of his life as a dull one as compared with that In the city cily |