The Washington herald., 1922-11-19
Switzerland Holds the
One Inn pre- gnab le
Financial p o sition
among the coun-
: tries on the Com
tinent-lts People
Do Not 90 I'm for
Baccarat and There
Is Very Little Gam
bling There.

BY BASIL w0ON.
LuCERNE. Nov. Ia.

CwilAEht-AND IL tne one
solid rock in the founda-
tions of Europe.
Thanks to It's impregnable po-
sition In the Alps and its un-
rivaied political construction.
whereby the minority as well rs
the majority rule. IL Is certain
that even should the economic
structure Of the remainder Of
Europe crumble Switzerland will
not succumb.
The, moment one crosses the
frontier one gains an impression
Of soivency-en impression one
viii not get anywhere else in
Europe. except perhaps in Hol-
land or the Scandinavian coun-
tries. With the rest Of Europe
paper money mad. Switzerland
alone remains sane.
GOLD FOR ASKING.
One OF the first surprises the
traveller accustomed to the un-
stable .currencies In the Cont
nent gets when he arrives In
Switzerland is that gold has free
circulation. Anyone can get his
change In gold IL he so desires.
Curiously enough this gold Is
French-the ten and twenty
goldpiece. or louis, which France
has not itse.f seen for eight years.
Millions OF these coins have
found their way to the mountain
confederation.
A French boy born In 1915 was
taken by his parents to Berns
this year for a holiday. When
his uncle gave him a gold louis
to play with 1t was the first gold
coin OF any kind he had ever seen
though gold Is still supposed to
be the basis of the French franc.
PASSING OF WORD GOLD"
In France anyone who took a
hundred-franc note to the Bank OF
France and requested it's equiva-
lent in gold would be considered
mad. Long ago the words "re-
deemabIe In gold" disappeared
from French banknotes. To re-
deem in gold all the paper money
circulating in France would take
fourteen times the amount Of
bullion in the Golfers Of the
treasury.
Even Switzerland could not re-
deem in gold all its paper cur
rency. But the mere fact that
anyone wanting gold can obtain
It has a tremendous psychologi-
cal effect on the. country's fl
nances.
Switzerland obtained French
gold for the simple reason that q
twenty-franc goldpiece. worth
only twenty francs in France,
could be exchanged In Sw1tzer-
land for twenty francs Swiss.
which could be Immediately ex-
changed for fifty paper French
francs
In spite Of strict laws prohibit
ing the export of gold from
France hundreds of people made
large fortunes In the traffic.
SWITZERLAND SANE
Switzerland is sane In more
ways than one. i came to Lu-
eerns direct from Deauvine,
where millions were spent nightly
for luxury and amusement and
millions more tossed to the god
dess Of baccarat. do not say
goddess of chance" for there is
no chance about Deauville. Out
of a thousand persons who go
there with money nine hundred
and ninety-nine return efficiently
broke. The largest European
business in American letters-of-
credit is done in Deauville Casino.
The business of Deauville Is
uniquely to get the money. The
only value given for 1t is the SEN
satioual thrill a man gets from
seeing somebody else take his
bank roll.
In Switzerland there is no bac-
carat and very little gambling.
What there Is 10 Of the piker kind
that would Be disdained by the
highflyers OF Deauville and Monte
Carlo. In the kursaal there is a
species Of roulette called "Petits-
Chevaux." where a minimum OF I
franc and a maximum Of francs
can he bet and where the winner of
a s-to-l chance is paid only 5-to-1.