Evening star., 1934-09-16
TORN BY EXPERIMENTS.
CHILE ATLAST HAS PEACE
National Day Next Tuesday to Find
Republic Enjoying Quiet, but
Facing Uncertain Prospects.

aroused the class consciousness OF the
laboring elements and raised the flag
of social Justice" great undercur-
rent had been going on for the aboli-
ton of class distinctions, so pro-
nounced in the Chilean society, for
the betterment Of the lower classes
and for the propagation of q new
political creed, distinctly different
from the old party lines. In other
words. the seed of socialism had been
in Chile.
President Montero and the Con-
servative leaders who backed his gov
ernment did not fully appreciate this
They confused it with
Red propaganda and made
themselves believe that the very seri-
BUSINESS Of the economic crisis would
prevent the discontented from or
ganizing and preparing themselves
for a fresh struggle.
Stunned Many Problems.
In the meantime his administra-
tion was unable, or did not have the
courage, to tackle the outstanding
problems left by the Ibanez die
tatorship. Especially in the two most
insistent demands of the people-the
abolition of the famous Cosach nitrate
combine and the dissolution of the
spurious Congress, both left over by
the Ibanez regime-the well-meaning
but timid chief executive failed to
heed the clamor of public opinion.
Unemployment, general destitution.
fiscal penury grew worse. President
Montero failed to realize that labor
outbreaks, military and naval mu-
TIMES and other manifestations of
serious and deep unrest were the di-
rect consequence of his laissez faire
attitude at time when action. and
not words of hope, was needed"
And action was Carlos Davila's pro-
gram. Upon his return from WASH
ington, where he had been Chilean
Ambassador for several years. Davila
had taken up the aspirations of those
groups who believed in a social
and economic readjustment. Organic
ing their lines, he became the cham
pion of that social justice" which, in
Chile, as elsewhere, was the goal Of
progressive thought.
From his political hiding Davila is
sued a manifesto entitled, "An Aggres-
sive Policy Against the Crisis" in
which he advanced a plan to heal the
economic and social wounds Of the
nation. The new leader Of the oppo-
sition condemned vigorously the con-
servative administration, charging it
with "opportunistic individualism,
and declared openly for state socialism
as the only cure for the social and
economic ills of the republic.
He advocated "a collectivized econ
omy paralleling individual economy"
"a socialist experiment" he stated,
adapted to our national peculiarities,
is justified not only by what this doc
trine has Of human superiority, but
because it offers an economic solution
for an economic crisis
And he set forth his plans for the
creation of government organizations
to prepare the way for state monopo-
lies to control the banking, agricul-
tural, mining, industrial, commercial
and transportation activities of Chile.
When it became apparent that the
Montero regime was deaf to these de-
mands of economic readjustment, the
use Of violence appeared inevitable.
Davils sought, then, the support Of
certain high officers of the army and
navy, and, with their cooperation,
had little dificulty in forcing the
resignation of President Montero and
open the way for the establishment
of a new system along socialistic lines.
Socialistic Experiment Fails.
Unfortunately, the socialistic ex-
pertinent did not last long. Embar-
rassed from the beginning by bitter
attacks from the conservatives and
liberals of the old school and by crit
icism from the more radical, extreme
left elements, who considered its poll
cies too mild, the Davila administra-
ton was unable to cope with the per-
picking economic problems confront
ing. AS a matter of fact, it was not
given a chance to do 1t, for most Of
its efforts had to be devoted to the
maintenance of domestic peace and
the suppression of revolutionary at
temptS. One Of these succeeded in
unseating Davila and his friends and
substituting even more radical leaders
in their place. Although Davila made
sudden comeback and restored his
rule, it was only for another short
period. His prestige had already been
undermined, and the masses had lost
confidence. When a military coup
forced him out for the second time, 1t
appeared evident that the short-lived
socialistic experiment in Chile was at
an end: at least, for the time being.
A series of military, directorates en-
sued, each of shorter duration than its
predecessor. The instability, confu-
sion, and unrest which these repeated
changes caused. finally gave rise to a
sentiment of reaction in the Chilean
people. Craving for internal peace,
they turned their eyes toward the once
powerful Alessandri, and persuaded
him to inaugurate a constitutional
government which would put an end
to military dictatorship and return the
county to normalcy. Elected by a
considerable majority of votes, land
with the support of the armed civilian
militia of avowed Fascist leanings,
President Alessandri has been trying
his best. He has succeeded, tempo
rarily at least, in preserving domestic
peace, but he is far from having even
started to solve the fundamental eco
nomic and social problems of today's
Chile. The task is still ahead; and
that promises the Chilean days even
more exciting, and more crucial, than
the ones they have witnessed in the
past three years.
(Copyright 1934)