Strength for the Shoestring

For the first time in 20 years, Chileans last week elected an out-and-out conservative as their President. He is Jorge Alessandri, 62, an austere businessman with an enlightened touch and a man who counts himself a friend of the U.S. Alessandri's victory over the second-place candidate, Socialist Salvador Allende, was a close (387,292 votes to 352,915) but clear triumph of the conservative right over the Red-lining left. The defeated Allende was backed by Chile's newly legalized Communists. They were not enough to elect him for the next six years.

Poverty Ticket. Behind him, Alessandri left three other also-rans, who had little chance. All told, they polled only 40% of the total 1,227,575 vote. Chile's staggering economy provides the kind of black-and-white issues that favored Conservative Alessandri and Socialist Allende. Though outgoing President Carlos Ibanez struggled to hold the shoestring republic's frayed economy together, he leaves 170,000 unemployed out of a 2,000,000-man labor force, 1,000,000 homeless, a 10% slump in industrial production, an external debt of $718 million. Defeated Socialist Allende missed not a drumbeat. He promised welfare statism for all and an escape from "foreign capitalistic imperialism" into the never-never land of steak and wine that trade behind the Iron Curtain would bring.

Businessman Alessandri offers Chile no such paradise. He believes in close economic ties with the West, a soundly managed private enterprise at home. He expects to run a strong government, one that will press for much-needed increases in production per worker without an inflationary jack-up in wages. One of his first goals is to reform the costly, featherbedding social-security system. And he also hopes to save some of Chile's vital copper income produced in times of high prices to tide the country over inevitable slumps in world copper markets.

No-Nonsense World. The program is a tough one for any nation to follow, especially in Latin America. But Alessandri's credentials are convincing. A son of Chile's late great "Lion of Tarapaca," three-time President Arturo Alessandri, he grew up in a world of hardheaded business. He took over Chile's paper monopoly, ran it on the no-nonsense theory that what is good for the company is bound to be good for the workers, made both himself and his employees prosperous. Aside from a term as a Santiago Congressman when he was 30 and a dutiful stint as Finance Minister in 1947-50, he steered clear of politics until last year, when he became convinced that Chile had to be saved from politicians. Businesslike as ever, he ran for a Santiago Senate seat, won it.

With four candidates splitting the vote as they did last week, there was no chance that Alessandri could poll more than 50% of the vote, as required by the constitution. Congress will have to choose between him and Runner-Up Allende within 50 days. But the voters clearly chose Businessman Alessandri, and Congress traditionally backs the people's choice.

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