MITTERAND'S NATIONALIZATION PLANS.

The new Socialist government of President of France Francois Mitterand has announced that it will nationalize a group of both foreign and domestic enterprises in the most ambitious plan ever carried out by a Western democracy. The idea has generated considerable opposition in spite of already extensive government holdings in the economy. Mitterand defeated former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing last May 10th, and for the first time in over twenty years a Socialist took the presidency. In legislative elections held June 21, the Socialists also won a majority in the French Parliament, though they have allied themselves with the smaller Communist party to quell dissent from the left. There thus seems little doubt that the government has a broad mandate to carry out social welfare and employment policies and to transform existing structures. In a speech to the new Parliament, Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy announced that the government "would proceed quickly to honor the promises made during the electoral campaign."