Evening star., 1932-01-28
BY ARMANDO MATTE.

BY ARMANDO MATTE.
Copyright, 1892, by the Associated PressD
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, January
7s.-While other countries have eX-
perimented with national monopolies to
insure foreign loans, Uruguay has ma
tionaliZed one industry after another
with domestic benefits as the objective.
Since the first monopolistic venture
Of Uruguay in 1911, the wisdom OF state
ownership has never been major po-
litical issue. The leaders and the
people of the Republic are as single
minded in their approval Of the pro-
gram as in their approval of the gov
ernment-and the country is one of
two in South America COLOMBIA is the
other, which has not participated in
the Latin American revolutionary wave
of the last two years.
Uruguays ventures into the sale Of
life insurance; the packing OF meats;
the manufacture Of chemicals, electric
power, and cement; the refinement OF
petroleum and industrial alcohol; the
operation Of railways, hotels, casinos
and a cabaret. and the conduct OF port
services are in the hands Of separate
boards.
Each board Is an autonomous group,
collecting its own revenues, controlling
its own expenditures, and taking what
ever steps Of expansion Of retrench-
ment it deems wise. Members OF the
boards are accountable only to the
Elective National Administration Coun-
Gil, which helps the president run the
country. The council appoints them
for four-year terms.
Share in Profits.
Members of these boards and their
subordinates, don to the least en-
ploye, receive a portion Of profits de-
pending upon the Importance of their
posts and their length of service.
The national treasury, which expects
ultimately to profit as Uruguay's pro-
gram of monopolization natures, has
not vet benefited from its investments
in naturalization Of industry, but
neither has it been embarrassed by ltS
expenditures in that direction.
In most fields the monopolies have
met interest and repaid invested prln-
cipal regularly and have had enough be-
side to expand steadily. One OF the
original objectiveS-the finding OF new
sources Of national revenue-has been
waived while UruguayanS reap what the
government regards as compensatory
benefits in improved service and lower
prices.
The first and oldest state monopoly,
the National Insurance Bank, has been
the most profitable. Starting with
minor branches and advancing steadily
into the more lucrative fields OF llfe
fire and maritime insurance, 1t has
shown a steadily favorable balance and
has made some profits for the treasury.
But Uruguay counts these OF less I'M
portance than. for instance, the $780,
900 recently distributed among hoIders
Of frost insurance policies after late
cold-wave The money is credited with
having averted economic failure for
scores Of farmers.
Good Power Record.
The national light and power bust
ness also has a coed record. 1t has
lowered prices of electricity in and
around Montevideo and has carried cur
rent to interior villages where govern
ment officials doubt that private enter
prise would have ventured. Three years
ago the Electrical Board paid S6OOO,-
900 for the largest powerhouse in
Uruguay. The fall of the peso lately
has embarrassed the board, however,
and it wishes it had 1oated first mort
gage bonds instead of paying cash so
its reserves would not be so depleted.
The only definitely Improbable en-
terprise, officials say, has been the op-
Grafton Of some 900 miles of secondary
rail lines, and this has not deferred the
country from expectation Of railway
profits when larger private lines revert
to the government.
The general Uruguayan opinion about
government business ventures is eplt-
omized by Baltasar Brum. President OF
Uruguay from 1919 to 1928, whose ad-
miration for Woodrow Wilson and
whose internationalism are so well
known that his nickname is Little
Wilson"
Contrary to general opinion the
state is an excellent manager when
ordinary business methods are applied"
he told the Associated Press THE
state monopolies, whose good effects are
now being felt, have prevented the an
nual exodus Of large sums which have
been used instead to benefit the COM
monwealth, placing Uruguay in better
position than any country in South