SAXON ELECTIONS A SHOCK FOR RUSSIA

Chronicle (Levin), 6 September 1946, Page 5

SAXON ELECTIONS A SHOCK FOR RUSSIA

( Six'cial ' 'i i i i'rs] K)ii 1 ■ n t . i

FAVOTTRET) PARTY POI.LS LF.SS THAN iiAf !

Tcfci vi'mI Thur.-tlny, 7 p.m. l.OXljnX, Sc]it . 5. The S:i\nu flt'ct itjii r(,v- >1 ! 1 s nrc a! sliock for tlie ( 'mai. iui1 mt tuiti :i set 1 iji - k for liu-t-ian jiro[>ai;anila, repnrt.s' l ln* Berlin eori'e-poinleiit oi' tiie Manchester (Jiiartlian. Ul a tolal oi 3,322,342 votes *a-' . 1 1st* I'niti'tl Social- j i.us sot-urot! 1 or iusl over LS ppr ff*n 1 . of tlie p >11. Liberal Dotnoeruts sct-urfil t > 7 1 7 i votes or 20 per i-cal ., aatl tlie • 'iiri- ; in 11 Demoerats (555. 117 or 19.7 poi ct iil. Spoiled vot"ig papt'is lolalif'l • 2.7,0 i tir '.i.S per f*Ilt. "llowever tlu-v ay --'ek to ltide their l'eeliugs ia io.i-' -huuts of victory, tlu* rcsull of tlu* .^a\on municipal eleclions intist foint' a- a vcry real sliock to German ( 'oiMi'Uiit is aml tliose wlio have tlirown ia timi. !ot \\ilh tlieni as ' Uriiled Kocia iist s ' ' ' says tlie correspondent. ''Eipiallv tlic K'ussians wlio have clioscn tlic i'.iitctl Socialist 1'arty as thcir i n-t runictit for maintaining llicir lioltl on ioraia ny, iiiibl l>c doing soinc prelly liard thinkiiig as they studv tlic resui's. These rcsults show aiiniistakalily tiiat with a scerct poll, tio aiuoiint of propnganda caa crcut c atiyt lii ug approat'hing whulehearl cd tuipport for llicir Uriited Socialist iiomiiiccs. ' ' lic atMs. ''lnvalid votes tmabled ihe I'uitcd Socialists to claini ari alisolutc niajority but il is not ti vcry happy oue. Whai tlic ligures sliow most clcarly is that, in spitc of thcir lieing allowcd no indepcndeiit political cxistcncc, tlic So'-ial Dcmocrats in Saxony can still lie, in fact, :t decisive Mttfpcpyc- in tlic poiitit-a] tlcvclopment, ^^^atlyfcc. givcrt to iii'liviihval; Social ^lcfflocrats hy tho I'.crlin lonitniftce of tlic Social bciuocrat i* Party tP spoil thcir votinn papcr^ in these clcctions rathcr tlian votc for any otlicr i>arty, has shown thcrc a rc still snnic hundreds of thousands of Social Dcmocrats wlio are readv to ahidc loyally by tlic iustructions of thcir comradcs wlio are still allowed to speak. lbit tlic advice to spoil thcir \otin^ papcrs was obviouslv followcd by only a niinority of individual Social Dcmocrats aml perhaps imtinly by thosc in districts whcrc thcrc was only onc list of candidatcs aml no rcal choicc in the election. In sonie villages whcrc tliere vvcrc only I'nitcd Socialist candidatcs Ihe nunibcr of spoilcd papcrs is said to have exceeded the nunibcr of valid votes. ' •' The corrcs])ondcnt eontinues that these rcsults- — which incidcntally are a tribute to the intcgrity of the poll — show plainly that not even in industrial areas can tlic Ilussians coiint on mass support for thcir ))olicy of ruling (iennany through tlic United Socialists. Thr. rcsults of tlic coniing clcctions in 'f gia, -Mccklcuburg, Brandenburg' av j i'oruicr Drussian provincc of .Sixony, nmst bc awaitcd bcforc there was li'kcly to bc any markcd Ihissian reac'tion but if ihe ITiited Socialists gcnerally fare no hetter at the polis than thcv did in Saxony, the cffcct on Kussian poliev in Gcrmany may be grcat.