SWITZERLAND TO-DAY

Kaikoura Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 37, 12 May 1947, Page 4

SWITZERLAND TO-DAY

OASIS IN EUROPEAN DESERT.

Switzerland generally is regarded as an oasis of normalcy in present-day devastated Europe. Apart from accidental war damage at Schaffhausen,, everything is intact, and the 1 standard of living reminds one of the almost forgotten era. Shop windows are unbelievably full of good things in food and materials, and with money it is possible to buy almost anything. (But you want a lot of money, at present prices). Automobiles are filling the roads. Some- are the latest American models. Swiss business continues to show no signs of diminishing, although many are continuing to ask how long this prosperity can last in an impoverished world. This is not, however, a complete picture of life for a large number of Swiss today. Nearly two years after the end of the war Switzerland still is burdened with wartime restrictions, especially in food and fuel. People, there are proud of their rationing system, evolved during the state of siege after 1939, and of the way in which the hardships and sacrifices it entailed were accepted cheerfully by the majority.

A Swiss traveller still will point out from the train window cultivated fields stretching far up the hillside and talk of the hard labour demanded, mostly of women and children, at a time when the men were away on the frontier defence.

Fuel Still Short.

This, perhaps, is one of the few .countries where the hotel guest is better warmed and fed than the average citizen. Apart from a short supply of butter and sugar and two meatless days a week, he knows little of the system of rationing and its month-to-month variations. The butter ration is no higher than that in Britain and the sugar is little more than half of it. But the Swiss housewife makes light of this and points to the existence of ration-free sugar from Czechoslavakia, although at a much increased price. No one expects rationing to end soon, since he realises the enormous feeding problems which have to be faced elsewhere in the world. The newly arrived tourist is surprised at having to give coupons for meals in restaurants, and even for pastries in cafes, but he soon discovers that he has been given enough to go round quite comfortably. Fuel still is in short supply, though the position has improved this winter, with wood, peat, and some processed fuels’ off the ration. Many tenants prefer to rely still on the efficient stoves they installed during the war rather than on the central heating system, which too often only makes the house coJi, not warm.

But by far the greatest shortage at the moment appears to be that of houses and flats in the larger cities. There was no large scale building for over six years; costs of labour and material are fo-day so high that private enterprise is unwilling to launch new construction.

Boost for Tourist Travel.

Swiss tourist traffic was helped greatly immediately after the war ended by the appearance of American troops coming to the country for their leave from Germany. Their numbers have fallen off considerably of late, but in their place have appeared civilian tourists, especially from Britain. Money restrictions, considered irksome by the foreigner, arc defended by the Swiss authorities as the only effective way of curbing excessive spending. Many local persons still talk of the locust-like descent by thousands of war-weary Britons last summer, when they inundated the shops and bought up things which were unobtainable at home.

The influx of British winter-sport tourists did not reach expectations round Christmas, largely because of last-minute financial arrangements between Britain and Switzerland whereby the permitted allowance of £75 was apportioned with two thirds for use in hotels, cafes, and travel inside the country, and only one third in cash for small purchases-

Americans are free from such restrictions, but are bound by regulations which allow the cashing of travellers’ checks and bank drafts only to a certain amount (125 dollars a week) except for special purposes. Tourists can cash dollar and sterling bills, however, to any amount, but then the exchange rate is very much lower.