1908年留美学生严同学--美国档案

西人资料中搜寻关于中国的点滴
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还是那份档案,三个部分的最后一部分,中国利用庚款退款来派遣留学生到美国留学,前面两个分别是退款过程,唐绍仪访美。
留学生事本来想一起发,但是其中有两个内容比较突出,拿出来单发,一个就是本博发严同学,也许严同学身上,可以看到今天中国学生的影子--关心政治,放眼天下,指点江山。本博同样,括号里的数字是档案里的页数,供参考。

1908年7月30日,迈阿密大学校长(却不在迈阿密,而是在俄亥俄州的牛津:Miami University,Oxford,Ohio)Guy Potter Benton给老罗斯福总统写信(356),附上一封他们校里某中国学生A. S. Yim的信,校长问,一部分的赔款是否可以用到在美国的中国学生上。Yim似乎是“严”。严同学给校长的信是7月28日手写的(357-9),严说:如果你能帮忙,受益的不仅是我,也是所有在美国的中国学生,以及中国的下一代。据报导,美国归还的赔款基金(indemnity fund)(据我所知约1百万美元),是否将其中一部分用来派留学生到美国,以及给已经在美国的留学生作奖学金,还是用于中国海军的重组【元注:联想到建颐和园时,就是挪用海军款。】。我认为应该用来作留学生奖学金,因为唯一能救中国的是派遣更多的留学生到美国而不是海军。我希望通过你给北京施加压力,我想要求你给罗斯福总统写信,把赔款基金用于中国学生而不是别的事。其他中国留学生也在给他们的校长写信。严又加了PS:越多中国学生到美国学习,美国就会从中国获取越多的商业机会。
好厉害严同学!在那个年代,就有胆量给校长写信,直接让他给总统写信,而校长居然真的按他说的,给总统写信。下面是他的信,3页纸(357-9),好像是作业本子撕下来的:内容如下(原件图片附后):
抬头上有图章:Guy Potter Benton Jul 29, 1908 Answered, President MIAMI UNIVERSITY,显然是校方文档管理章,表示校长已经在7月29日回信了。边上还有Official字样。

642 W. Madison Street, Chicago
July28, 1908
My Dear Dr. Benton:
       May I ask you to do us a great favor? If you will do so,  you will not only benefit me, but also you will benefit all Chinese students in America, and the next generation of China as well.
       Through the Chinese newspapers I learned that there is, before the Peking Government, an important question that whether of the indemnity fund (about $1,000,000 I think) which returned by the good will of the United States should be appropriated annually a certain sum of money for the sending out of Chinese students to America and give scholarship to those already in the colleges and universities in America, or the same fund should be entirely spent for the reorganization of the Chinese navy. I believe that the indemnity fund should be used as a Chinese-American students scholarships fund; for I believe that sending out more Chinese students to America is the only salvation of China, not a navy.
        I like through you to bring pressure upon the Peking government; that is, I like to ask you to write a letter to President Roosevelt and ask him see to it that the indemnity fund should be spent for the benefit of the Chinese students in American colleges and universities-- not any thing else.      
      There are other Chinese students individually asked his own college president for doing the same. 
       Kindly let me hear from you on this matter.
                          Very respectfully yours
                                   A.S. Yim
P.S. the United States government should insist that the indemnity fund returned by the United States should be invested for the benefit of the Chinese students in America; for more Chinese students study in this country, more commerce America will secure from China.  


1908年8月14日,助理国务卿Alvey A. Adee给迈阿密大学校长回信(363-4):来信及严同学的信都收到,中国政府就退还赔款用于派遣留学生事与美国领馆一直在讨论,想每年派学生来美国,中国外务部还请求美国公使参与学生的选择并提供他们在美国受教育具体细节问题上的建议。

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