Variety
Impractical Man
T
HE WORLD
will never get it i?to
its head that to call a man Im–
practical is, under certain condi–
tions, to bestow upon him the high–
est of praise. I say "under certain
conditions" for I, too, am practical.
But when something is at stake–
honor and politics-! admire the
man who will concede nothing–
and spoil nothing-Gaetano Salve–
mini.
He has been called, I should
imagine, one of the greatest liv–
ing Italians, one of the truest and
the best anti-Fascists and, if noth–
ing else, the only liberal who lends
dignity and pride to that diminish–
ing name. But it is for others, who
know him better, to praise and
evaluate. I know Salvemini only
as an impractical man.
I met him at an informal gather–
ing of press and radio represen–
tatives-men who have the drop
on history because they get the
news ten minutes before everyone
else. They were to ask questions
about developments in Italy (it
was shortly after the invasion of
the Italian mainland) and Salve–
mini was to answer and lead the
evening's discussion.
He came late, which, as the
world will never understand, is
something of a virtue in itself. The
discussion began. The audience
asked questions and Salvemini sat
in a straight chair in the front of
the room and answered them.
There were many interruptions of
considerable heat; it was a good
evening.
Among those present was a com–
patriot of Salvemini's, a certain
public official and leader in the
community whose anonymity I had
better preserve, but whom, for the
sake of substance, I shall call
Squarcigalupo. Squarcigalupo-it
i5 an occupational facility- has a
way of establishing himself. He
brooded over the discussion, shook
head and jowl, and made it plain,
simply by sitting there and not
saying a word, exactly what his
position was. When he came to clear
his throat before asking his first
question, we all stopped speaking
of our own accord, knowing what
to expect, and he had a moment
of perfect silence to himself. An
official can do something with a
simple throat-clearing in a silent
moment which we should all ad–
mire. You hear readying sounds,
a meshing of gears, the 'A' of the
administrative instrument,
the
moving of cabinets and desks into
place over smooth floors.
"Professor Salvemini," began
Squarcigalupo, in a voice I will
soon describe, "don't you think Ba–
doglio can be of great practical
value to the Allies in preserving
law and order?"
Salvemini replied that he cer–
tainly did not think so.
