SOCIALISM REJECTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 259, 1 November 1932, Page 6

SOCIALISM REJECTED.

The "Chilian merry-go-round" is the term applied by an American writer to recent happenings in that country. It seems justified. In the Chilian Presidential election, just concluded, Senor Allesandri, representing the Centre parties, has defeated his Socialist opponent by a majority of nearly three to one after a revolution designed to establish a Socialist State. It is less than five months since the government of President Montero was overthrown as the result of a comparatively bloodless revolution, headed by Senor Davila, former Chilian ambassador to the United States. The. Government which the new Socialist republic displaced had lasted exactly six months, and during that time President Montero had wrestled courageously with Chile's economic problems in the midst of ceaseless agitation. He did not, however, succeed in pacifying the agitators, and he resigned before a show of force. It was declared that the new Government was Socialistic, and that it intended to modify the capitalistic system by the "fiscalisation" of industries. It was said that Chile intended to confiscate all bank deposits and repudiate the foreign debt, but Davila denied that this was so, and he said that they merely wanted to impose "collective economy." But the new Government actually did expropriate foreign deposits and declared all credits and deposits in foreign currency in Chilian banks to be the property of the State. Protests were made by Great Britain and the United States, the investments, of these two countries in Chile being about £200,000,000. It was agreed that voters in Chile were to have an opportunity of expressing their opinion of the new Socialist republic at an election to be held at the end of October, and they have just given their opinion by inflicting a crushing defeat on the Socialist candidate for the Presidency. The revolutionary process, destined to change the economic, social and political structure of the nation has not been approved by public opinion. The merry-go-round has returned to the starting-point, but it remains to be seen whether it TriD-stav^iheie,