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PARTISAN REVIEW
the other hand, political indecision, the lack of a definite program, and
the fear of a sharp reactionary trend, might well persuade people
like Saragat to come to terms with the Premier again. But it is hard
to see why De Gasperi himself should be ready to make important
concessions and jeopardize his present position, in order to gain the
support of the divided, wavering, muddle-headed Third Force.
The situation is disquieting and something ought to be done about
it. But all that the politicians discuss is the chemistry of votes. The
only clear statement about a possible political program I have come
across recently was an article by an isolated intellectual, Arrigo Cajumi,
in
Il Mondo,
the excellent weekly published in Rome by a lively team
of young liberals. Cajumi is a man of sixty, an outstanding scholar and
essayist, and a consistent anti-fascist who does not belong to any political
party. He intervened in a discussion opened by
Il Mondo
about the
unification of the Liberal Party (which had split on the question of
the monarchy) as an outsider. The Liberal Party has now been unified,
or rather: patched up, on a basis that has nothing in common with
the one suggested by Cajumi. But what he said reflects the opinion
of a considerable number of thoughtful individuals scattered throughout
the peninsula. A serious liberal party, Cajumi said, should first of all
not try to cater to the reactionary bourgeoisie, letting the monarchists,
the nationalists and the rabid landowners go fascist if they like. Hence,
such a party should take a firm republican stand, and should also
assume the defense of the Resistance movement, which the fascists
want to see punished, and the Stalinists are left free to exploit. A
liberal foreign policy, according to Cajumi, should drop such hysterical
issues as Trieste and the colonies; go back to Cavour's principle of
consistent understanding with both France and England, and stop "the
childish nonsense of gambling everything on the American card." In
domestic policies, Cajumi insisted on the need for a complete reform
of the State structure on a resolute choice as to the industries that
must be nationalized; on the adoption of an economic policy based on
empiricism rather than on the false choice between conservatism and
corporatism; on the abandonment of all hesitation in the carrying out
of the land reform. Finally, Cajumi considers vital for a liberal party
a strong reassertion of the principle of separation of Church and State,
without which, he implies, an Italian State simply has no existence
of its own, and cannot carry out any serious action.
I give Cajumi's ideas as an example of what many individual
Italians would consider a sensible political program. A platform which
would take into account Cajumi's outline is obviously needed in Italy,
