The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1921-03-08


question ut close quarters, Switzer.
land is The place. SUjOurning there
tOl pleasure are to be found persons
" all natiOnalitleS, and among these
the condition of their respective ex-
changes Is the constant topic Of con.
ersdtiOn. An exchange eau I've u very
vital matter, Indeed, when fail la
thG value Of your cOuntry's currency
may make a difference OF 10 to - per
cent IN your hotel bill. This, Ia fact,
was the unfortunate experience OF
many Greeks living In Switzerland
when their country threw over Yenize-
los and declared for Constantine.
In the days before the war one civil
Hed c0untry's money was as good az
dnOlher's for all practical purposes.
The Engilshman, Frenchman and Ger
pian In Switzerland got just as good
value for their respective currencies
as the American got for his dollar.
Now the table OF quotations from
Geneva or Zurich tells very differ
ent story. In table representing -
countries the exchange of all but three
Is at u discount.
Americas Above Par.
These three countries are the United
States, Japan and the Argentine Re
public. The Argentine exchange Is ut
par, while those of the United States
and japan are at a premium.
All these unfayOrube exchanges
mean 50 many countries unable to
trnde with Switzerland. Who now In
France and Italy, to say nothing OF
countries with worse exchanges, can
buy the famous watches OF Geneva or
the well-knOwn brands of Swiss chOco-
lBtei No wonder that Swiss Industries
ar" In Il bad way and that there Is un-
employment. Not u single industry is
fiourishing except the electrical, and
this last Is prospecting only because
the state railways are In process or
elCctrification.
The industry which has been affect
ed above all U.s.. of course. the hotel in,
dustry, which In some respects Is the
leading trade of Switzerland. Nu-
nervous though Switzerlnnd's foreign
visitors are these days. they are only
fraction of those of former times.
Last summer, with one or two excep-
lions, the usual tourist centerS were
virtually empty the whole season. Be
fore the war the most numerous visit
ors were Germans. How many Ger
mans are likely to visit Switzerland
now either for pleasure or for bust
ness with the mark worth about one
thirteenth of its pre-war value? one
meets Germans certainly, but they are
very few. They must be either ex-
ceedingly well of or else persons who
were tnrseeing enough to deposit
funds In Switzerland before the big
depreciation In German values began
Russians Pitied.
For the Russians who are, or rather
were, numerous body there, the ex.
change has been a terrible tragedy.
For most of them 1t has meant abso.
lutte restitution. Some are supported
wholly or In part by various charitable
bodies. One meets with cases OF Rus
slnns OF noble family who had never
done an hours work In their lives
earning small sums by teaching Ian
gunge Or music or by needlework
II Is NJ the mountain health resorts,
such as DavOs and Leysln, that the ex.
| change tragedy Is at its grlmmest.
Leysln. for example, used to be the
| place chiefly favored by the. French for
| the cure Of tuberculosis in all It's
| forms. Nowadays the French colony
| there Is mbre remnant of what Il
once was. The disastrous fall 'lh ex.
! change last winter nearly emptled the
! place Of French people, and'the bitter
! ness Of IL Is that so many OF these
! returned 10 their homes half cured,
| probably to die. For those who re-
main II is often a terrible financial
struggle.
II am spending all my dot on my
cure" French girl will tell you with
a sad smile. What that means those
who know French life Will appreciate.
Before the war IL was difficult enough
for French girl without a "dot" to
| get a husband. Now, with the enor,
nous surplus of women, the dowerless
girl Is condemned to lifelong spinster,
hood.
The exchange has its humorous side
also. An EnglshwOman or, TO be pre-,
else an IrishwOman, who came out "a
Switzerland recently, was much puz,
zlod 10y the fact that while In pre.war
days she got - francs at least for her
| 81 sterling she nD\V gat only ~ francs
"Yho gets the differenceY" she asked
NJ the bank where she was changing
her money. II would have taken a
cleyerer man than this stolld Swiss
bank clerk TO answer the question.