White Guard

After a delirious period that produced ten Chilean regimes in 17 months. Chile has had the same chief executive since December, compact, blue-eyed Arturo Alessandri, the "Lion of Tarapaca." There have lately been rumors that Lion Alessandri was slipping.

Last week President Alessandri silenced rumors and his critics with a great surprise: a review from the balcony of the Presidential palace of the "White Guard."

All Chileans knew that a secret Fascist Chilean organization existed whose purpose was to uphold the Republican regime of President Alessandri. Even members of the individual cells did not know its full strength. Last week they were out in the open, in uniform, pounding down Santiago's broad Boulevard Alameda from the Jockey Club to the Plaza de Armas. Chileans grew round-eyed as they passed, line after line, 10,000 strong, to the music of 24 bands. Most of the units wore blue overalls with overseas caps and belts, country regiments were in khaki or grey. None bore arms, but newspapers learned that the Fascist White Guard had collected $360,000 from its members and spent it on tanks, field guns, rifles, revolvers, trucks, planes and hospital supplies.

Beaming broadly, the Fascist Commander-in-Chief Eulogio Sanchez Errazuriz led the parade past his President; behind him came his general staff, which to the general surprise contained many

One official who neither marched with the White Guard nor reviewed them from the Presidential Palace was Premier and Minister of the Interior Horacio Hevia. Possibly with an eye on the Presidency himself, he resigned in protest at the parade.

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