The Washington times., 1920-01-11
Switzerland Faces Era
OF Fantastic Finance
While in First-class Economic Condition, Finds
Money of Adjacent Countries Flexible
and Goods Medium of Exchange.

czecho- -slovak crowns, or 10000 more
than the original 10000.
Here 10 another-and which Is
ma tier OF official record.
Several months ago company was
organized at Berne for launching
big illustrated political weekly mag
zine at Vienna. Swiss capitalists VINO
had made a fortune out of the war
and switzerland's neutrality pAckeo
the enterprise and paid up the capi-
tai In advance-namely 100000 SWISS
francs.
The, total amount was deposited In
a Berne bank to be changed INTO
Austrian crowns for meeting the eh
penses OF the new magazine at
Vienna as soon as the latter could De
In the me lktime the prospective
editors. publishers and business man
ayers began meeting with eohsioer
able difficulty in getting the ma
chinery together for the plant, In
making sure OF an adequate supply
OF paper, etc.
Exchange Decreases.
Foreign exchange on Austrian
money has since decreased TO such
an extent that the 100000 SWISS
francs now on deposit in the Berne
bank win bring 10000 more Austriap
crowns than at the moment they were
paid in for launching the magazine
This is believed to be the only case
on record where a magazine or news
paper has made money by not pup
lishing-or In any event mas made
more money than IL could possibly
have hoped to make by actually doing
business. And the longer IL Keeps
from starting up, the more money IL
makes-in Austrian crowns.
The only way TO avoid this fantas-
tic finance now going on In switzer-
land Is to do business by direct par :
ter and without the interchange OF
money. AS a matter OF fact THIS also
is being developed by the force or
circumstances TO an astounding de-
gree, Here is perhaps the most re-
markable recent example:
A former high official in the Ger
man navy has just completed the dip
lomatic negotiations Lecessary with
entente diplomats at Berne to permit
him to pass through the Dardanelles
with a shipload of goods. The ship
is his own purchase which he has
bought outright. In addition he now
has 1t laden at Hamburg with cargo
of 100000 marks worth of German
manufactured products.
Exchanged In Goods.
This shipload of stuff he will take
through from Hamburg to Odessa via
the Dardanelles. AS German money,
figuratively speaking, is Low worth
nothing and as Russian(is worth con-
siderably less, this shipload of fine
German manufactured products Will
be exchanged at Odessa for whatever
there Is on the market there in the
way of raw material, foodstuffs. min
eralss or anything that has high
value in Germany.
Not a mark or a ruble will be ex.
changed in the whole transaction, and
the German ex-naval officer will load
up his ship with the stuff he gets in
exchange at Odessa, bring it back to
Germany and exchange ii there for
more manufactured products without
taking the trouble to bother with a
money intermediary, and keep up his
business until he has whole fleet
Of ships doing business or. this basis.
OF course, should money ever come
to have an established value again he
will cash in and buy a continent or
something.
In the meantim his present trip
with 30,00O.000 marks worth of Ger
man merchandise is believed to be
the biggest bartering expedition that
has takeI. place since Christopher Co
lumbus exchanged with the Indians
the gift of firewater for the Americap
continent.