Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-12-04
GREECE NOW FACES
BIG FINANCIAL AND.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Premier Fails in His Quest
of Funds Throughout
Europe.
POPULAR REACTION MAY
OVERTURN MONARCHY
Situation Declared Extremely
Bad as Feeling Against Con
stantinists Grows.
ny Clarence X. STREET.

ROME, Dec. 3.-"Faccd with n f.
nancia1 and economic crisis which
each day liz becoming more critical.
The one hopc of Greece Is in the sue
cess of Premier Gounaris. II he re-
turns empty handed from his tour of
the allied capitals. rs all foreigners
here convcrsant with the real situa-
tlon believed will be the case. the
Cabinet will not only totter. but the
news OF his failure IL likely To cause
sudden revul3ion Of feeling similar
20 that In November. last year. when
Ncnizclos was expelled and Constan-
tine recalled to the throne, with re-
suits which We cannot forcscc At
present. Meanwhile the drachmn con
tinucs to fall and American business
IS virtually at a stnndstill."
Such Is the dark picture OF tho sit
uation today in Greece. skctchcd for
your correspondent by Il most reliable
craftsman. an American business man
long resident In that country. The
details he gives In the written state.
ment which follows do not Include
any rays OF sunlight:
situation Extremely nnd.
Your understanding that the pres.
ent financial and economic gItua,Ion
in Greece is extremely critical is cor
rect In fact. II Is worse than IL has
ever been. The drachma has lost
iour-fifth OF it's par value. The gov
eminent. in its efforts to keep the
drachrua from falling, has established
a consortium, which has the inonoplv
Of all exchange operations. However.
.s might have been expected by any
,1itt
the world. there has been consider
able amount OF illcGitimate dealing in
foreign moneys and checks. and a.
far az know. there has been no great
effort made to stamp out this traffic
or to punish offenders. The street
rates for dollar exchange are uo,c
40 drhchmas higher than the bani.
rate of $3.50. established by Tn. CON
soFtium' Then. there is curious
amendment to the law which permits
me export of Greek paper money.
inc result Is that much of the deal
me IN drachmas and the purchase OF
iorcifn exchange by those in need ,ns
hcon done on the ConstantinopIe or
smyrna markets.
The situation affects American
sellers in Greece adversely. of coursc
my trade with America that is MOI
for the basic neccssarics Of life ts
almost out OF the question for tho
moment. And even in these cases
business is not always possible. Take
oil. for instance. On account Of bor
lack Of coal. Greece is largely do.
pendent on oil for engine fuel. Iubri-
cation and lighting. AS oil js 90
basic need. one can always find
buyers for 1t. no matter what tho
price, as long as there is spark az
economic or social life In the conn
try. AS a proof OF this, the market
reports Will show that shortly after
You con imagine. then. what the
gasoline. mind you--sold i'm Athens
for the equivalent of $3.50 gold pcr
gallon.
Business liz Strnngled.
tainly Is not lessening the State's AL
situation in the country must be now
when tho Standard Oil COMPANY.
which dominates the Greek market.
was forced recently to stop selling
oil for period OF twenty DAYS. AS
1 understand II. the Standard took
this extraordinary action, not because
The Greeks refused to pay tho huge
price in drachnas for oil, but because
with the drachmas carcerine down
wards every day and the consorti,,m
practically forbidding exchange on
erations. it could not legally make
its remittances- to America. AS n
could not afford to hold largo
amount of drachmas. there was
nothing left to do but stop selling
You may ask: What did The
Greeks do during this period for the
oil which they needed SO much? For
Kerosene the exchange did not en-
ter into the situation, us IL is n gov
crnment monopoly In old Greece
I've heard. by tho way that the gov
eminent is now selling Kerosene for
about 81 n case less than II costs
them. No doubt this is for political
reasons-the government can't at
ford to let the people know how bad
the situation really is-but 1t GER
,ainly is not iessening the State. n.
ready great financial burden, AS
Tor the other oil products, the twcn.
tyday stoppage Of sales was for
tunatciy not long enough to exhaust
the supplies In the hands of retail
ers who continued selling. But If |
Premier Gounaris fails and the hot
tom drops out OF the drachma OK
change, the Standard will probably
have to stop sales of oil for an even
longer perion anu then the Qucs-
ton: What are the Greeks going 10 |
do for this basic necessity will be |
Il live one indeed.
Tobacco buyers Active.
"Thc Standard has now resumed
sales. Just how they have managed
10 do 1t, do not know. But since
so big company as the STANDARD.
W hich has been in Greece for wears
and has a well-organized system, has
bee forced 10 take such measures |
You can easily sec, how tho res. OF us
continued on Second 7PaEoJ