Leftist Limited

A onetime driver of the crack Sydney-Melbourne express became Prime Minister of Australia last week. By a 3-to-1 vote, Joseph Benedict ("Chif") Chifley was chosen by the Parliamentary Labor Party to succeed the late John Curtin.

In the 18 years since he left the engine cab for politics, Chifley has not lost his capacity for hard work or his liking for the dark suits all Australian engine drivers seem to wear off duty. As wartime Treasurer, he and his wife set Australians an example in austerity by living on $8 a week. A bone-&-marrow union man, he regards capitalists as "ordinary blokes" who will embrace socialism of their own free will. With Chif at the political throttle, the Commonwealth looked set for another long haul on the leftist limited.

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