CHILE: Drunkards' Revolution?
Stronger than most other South American governments is that of President Carlos Ibanez, a dictator so fearless of revolution in his bailiwick that he chose last week to tamper with the drinking habits of Chileans, potent topers.
General Ibanez prefaced his dramatic action by weeding in the Presidential Palace gardens, his usual daily exercise. Then, stamping the dirt from his shoes, he went in to sign what was swiftly nicknamed the "Drunkards' Decree."
Main proviso: The employer of an habitual drunkard shall pay half his wages to his wife or family.
Dictator Ibanez's definition of an "habitual drunkard": one whom the duly constituted courts of Chile shall have convicted of being drunk five times in six months or eleven times within the space of one year.
Argentine wits, who particularly like to poke fun at Chileans, promptly predicted a "Drunkards' Revolution."
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