THE MILLENNIAL CITY 



l D 



to the Millennial City, nor the city to 

 them. 



GENEVA IS FRENCH IN LANGUAGE AND 

 CUSTOMS 



Of the 25 Swiss cantons, the German 

 language is spoken by a majority of the 

 inhabitants in 19 : but Geneva is one of 

 the five where French is not only the 

 popular language, but French customs 

 and French habits of thought prevail. 

 In the remaining canton Italian is the 

 dominant tongue. 



Geneva Canton is not naturally pro- 

 ductive, but the frugal industry of its 

 people causes it to yield a very respect- 

 able harvest of fruits, grain, wines, and 

 vegetables. In extent, the canton meas- 

 ures 108 square miles, compared with the 

 70 square miles comprising our District 

 of Columbia. Four-fifths of this area is 

 cultivated — a far higher average than ob- 

 tains throughout Switzerland, as indi- 

 cated by the fact that before the war the 

 little republic depended upon the outside 

 world for five-sixths of all its wheat and 

 a fourth of its meat. 



From a material and physical stand- 

 point, Geneva will make an ideal world 

 capital. Its industrial activities are con- 

 siderable, yet neither noisy nor sordid. 

 Famous for its watches, the manufacture 

 of which was introduced by Charles 

 Cusin, of Autun, in 1587, it is also the 

 home of the music-box. 



Industrial statistics, which show that 

 there are more than five hundred fac- 

 tories in the Canton of Geneva, convey 

 a wrong impression to an American, for 

 under the Swiss system of classification 

 every workshop, even though it employ 

 only two or three people, is called a fac- 

 tory. In these numerous small establish- 

 ments chocolate, preserved fruits, syn- 

 thetic perfumery, cigars and cigarettes, 

 parts of watches, and jewelry are made. 



The manufacture of watches, espe- 

 cially the wrist-watch type, condensed 

 milk, and chocolate flourished during the 

 war, and many a Genevan would have 

 amassed a large fortune had it not been 

 for the fact that the cost of materials as 

 well as the cost of living increased from 

 100 to 300 per cent. In the manufacture 

 of chocolate, the Swiss were greatly 

 handicapped by the fact that their nor- 



mal sources of raw materials were Africa 

 and South America. 



As typical of the minutiae of Switzer- 

 land's manufacturing industries, it is the 

 boast of one important firm that it con- 

 ducts an international trade in the sale of 

 the small bows which are attached to 

 leather bands inside our hats. 



HANDICAPPED BY DEARTH OF COAL 



Heavy manufacturing establishments 

 have never found a home in Geneva, as 

 Switzerland lacks mineral resources, es- 

 pecially coal. More than half a century 

 ago coal was mined in the adjoining can- 

 ton of Yalais, but the industry was aban- 

 doned owing to the inferior quality of 

 the output. During the war, however, 

 when the price of fuel mounted to un- 

 heard-of heights, even necessitating radi- 

 cal curtailment of the State - operated 

 transportation facilities, this Yalais mine 

 was reopened. 



Though poor in coal, Geneva and her 

 sister cities have a wealth of water power, 

 and it is highly probable that the republic 

 will electrify its 3,700 miles of State- 

 owned railways in the near future. 



One practice which will seem strange 

 to most of the representatives of the 

 League of Xations will be the 24-hour 

 clock, which the Swiss Federal Council 

 last year decreed should be adopted upon 

 the return of normal conditions. 



The 24-hour system of time-keeping, 

 beginning at the midnight hour, has been 

 in use by astronomers and in one or two 

 European countries for a number of 

 years, but it is unfamiliar to the western 

 lay world. According to these regula- 

 tions, the Swiss transportation system,, 

 telegraph lines, customs service, and all 

 institutions under Federal control will be : 

 operated by the new-style timepiece, one 

 o'clock in the afternoon being designated 

 as the thirteenth hour. etc. 



THE SITE FOR THE LEAGUE'S PERMANENT 

 HOME 



Geneva has set aside as a site for the 

 permanent home of the League of Na- 

 tions a beautiful wooded park bordering 

 on the lake some five miles from the cen- 

 ter of the city. Behind the park tower 

 the snow-clad Jura Mountains. While 

 there are many villages in the vicinity of 



