The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-08-14
SWISS Put U OUT
OF PARIS HOTELS
Forced to Give Places to Heroes
:, of War.
FIGHTERS ORGANIZE UNION
Under Threats Of Disturbances En-.
!. ployers Had to Give Way and Clear
Out All Foreigners From Their
i Piaces-Fear Prices viii Be Raised
60 High That Foreign Visitors viii
Stay Away. .-Er ~. "a

After q three months campaign set
afoot by French hotel workers to have
all French hotels run by purely
French personnel, Gustave Schwenter
the manager Of the Hotel keurice'
and all other Swiss managers in Paris
have been forced to resign.
Schwenter Is one of the best known
hotel managers in Europe. He was
put in to manage the Meurice when 1t
opened 13 years ago, and his methods
attracted American travellers. Royalty
also was attracted to the Meurice, 1t
being the favorite hotel of the Queen
Of Spain, the ci-devant king Of Mon
tenegro and others of princely blood.
In statement announcing his resig'
nation, Schwenter said: ..
II am Swiss, and the French hotel
workers don't want any Swiss en-
ployees round their hotels. I want no
trouble at the Meurice, SO I have quit.
40 Give Heroes Jobs.
I'm justice to myself, however, l
wish 1t to be known that all my men
who have been demobilized have been
reinstated In their old places, with
double their prewar pay; those still
in the army had Arm promise from
me that they could come back just as
soon as they were free. We had per-
sonnet Of 260 here and 225 of these
people were French"
Following Mr.. Schwenters move, all
other hotel managers In Paris not OF
French nationality have resigned.
The whole movement began when
certain French managers, on being lib
Grated from the colors, found that
while they had been In the army Swiss
hotel men had taken their places, and
as they had given satisfaction to the
financial interests concerned there was
no disposition to remove them from
their Jobs. 3-S. ....'"
The same state of things applied on
a bigger scale to all classes of hotel
workers cooks, kitchen hands, por.
tiers, bellboys, walters, etc.
Fighters Form Union.
Thereupon "Union of Fighters Of
the Hotel Industry" was organized,
with the object Of sweeping all the
Swiss, Spanish and Italian hotel
workers out Of Paris, and, under
threats of disturbances, employers
have had to give way. The same
pressure is being brought to bear on
restaurant men, and there is no doubt
that it win be equally successful.
I have talked over the situation with
hotel and restaurant men and also
with some we'll known chief walters
and chefs in Paris. They recognize
the claim Of all demobilized men to be
able to return to old jobs, but there
is very nervous undercurrent of
opinion that the movement is being
carried too far and with Interior mo-
tives. D.
One view expressed by a hotel man
is that once the French hotel work.
ers have matters completely in their
own hands there will be all kinds OF
claims for concessions in regard to
pay and working hours, that service
in the hotels and restaurants will suf-
fer, that prices will 60 still higher,
and that the inevitable result will be
that foreign visitors, and particularly
Americans, will think twice about
coming to Paris If, as is feared, the
hotels are to become yet more expen.
sive and the service loose and gen.
orally inefficient. M1
Any attempt to bludgeon the hotel
and restaurant men is bound to lead
to an atmosphere of discomfort in just
those places where hospitable at
mosphere is most valuable as busi-
ness asset. ,..m... D..