Letter to the Editor – Poor Liechtenstein? – Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, the daily newspaper for Liechtenstein
puns; Poor is not the same as miserable, yet often not a µ wide apart. Not long ago, the Liechtensteiner was still so poor that he had to transport the liquid manure out to Riet with the manure cart because he could neither afford an ox nor a cow. The only help was his wife, who helped with a rope, pulling the karette in front. It is depressing to leaf through the poverty reports in the historical encyclopedia. As early as 1850, the stamp accompanied the history of the country and for a long time later, together with the emerging industrialization, it helped to escape poverty and it is said that the sale of stamps was once sufficient to finance the state. Industrialization later replaced the postage stamp as the main source of income, but its ideological value increased immeasurably. Liechtenstein was soon famous and known all over the world thanks to the postage stamp as an ambassador and the postage stamps still sold well in large numbers to collectors all over the world. Until the day the government destroyed reputation and business with its illegal annulment. The NZZ wrote at the time: «The death knell for Philatelie Liechtenstein? Liechtenstein’s reputation as a country of postage stamps has been severely damaged by the invalidity of postage effective January 1.» And the President of the International Association of Dealers, Carl-Heinz Schulz, wrote: “Here, the mass destruction of valuables is accepted on a large scale, which every postal customer has already paid for in advance.” It’s time for the government to correct the mistakes made, finally return the stolen money and put the country’s image back in perspective with the help of the postage stamp, which is still our best ambassador. The fiduciary system has also corrected itself for the benefit of the country. And the questionable casino boom urgently needs a moral counterbalance.
Jo Schädler, Eschnerstrasse 64, Bendern