Evening star., 1952-05-21

By Dorothy Thompson

|II0Il0n(Omn7Un
By Dorothy Thompson |
ROME, (Via AirmaiD The most
interesting bit Of intelligence that
I picked up in Rome is on how the
italian Communist Party finances
it's very large propaganda and Or
ganizing work.
The Italian Communist Party Is
the largest in the world outside
the Soviet Union itself, and it's
leadership is generally conceded
to be the most intelligent. This
leadership. even down to rela-
lively unimportant functionaries.
lis professional and Salaried, in
Italy as it is everywhere. The
Communist Party depends on vol
unteers for work involving MOI
Ipolicy-making functions.
Volunteers hand out leaflets,
take subscriptions for Communist
newspapers, and. of course. re-
cruit for study groups" but above
these volunteers there is always
a paid, professional revolutionary
This, combined with their enor-
nous printing bills, makes the
maintenance and expansion of a
Communist apparatus costly. for
it's functionaries are well paid.
compared, for instance. to the
pay in Italy Of a civil servant or
a minor army officer.
Business Enterprises Pay.
This fact gave rise to the theory
that Communist parties, especially
in countries as poor as Italy. were
supported by gold from Moscow"
But in Italy. the Communists are
being fought by clever counter
intelligence. who no longer believe
that this is true to any extent.
Party members pay dues, of
course-and they really pay them.
That holds for the professional
lfunctionaries. who have to kick
back a good slice of their salaries.
But the actual membership of the
Communist Party in Italy, as in
other countries, is probably not
more than 10 per cent of the
sucker list who vote the ticket in
local and national elections. In
Italy. as everywhere else. the
Communist Party does not sell
communism to the voters, but
lpromises redress for all griev-
lances. many of them perfectly
Legitimate grievances, too. The
lreal program is confined to the
Party elite which never seeks to
recruit members wholesale.
So membership dues no more
account for the funds expended
than the price Of newspaper for
tits costs. The advertisers, not the
subscribers. pay for newspapers.
land business enterprises pay for
1.-THE Communist Party, at least in
Italy.
All Communist newspapers in
lItaly are in the red, despite the
fact that here, as in the United
Estates. they underpay their work.
lers depending on them to sacri-
flee trade union regulations for
1.-THE cause. Printed material, post
lers, pamphlets. and leaflets are
Ithrowaways. How do they meet
their bills?
| Printing Done Mt Profit.
Simple. BY being in the print
ling business. The Italian Commu-
mist Party has successful job
printing enterprises. their owner
lship. of course, being concealed
lit is entirely possible that the
wedding invitations of the Italian
laristocracy are being engraved by
Communist enterprises. and even
conceivable that they are printing
lat a nice profit. some anti-com-
Imunist literature.
They also own moving picture
ltheaters where they show to en-
Iraptured audiences the very
American films they may be con.
demning in their press as indica.
tive of American decadence.
Thus Hollywood, and the whole
European industry, help them
finance their propaganda.
All this Is legitimate business
even though anti-business in its
aim. But they have another sci
of enterprises which are a racket
These involve the import-export
trade with Soviet satellite states
and conceivably with the U. 8. s. r
|itself-although experience has
shown that the Soviet Union pre-
fers to bleed the lesser breeds
Poles, Hungarians, East Germans
Bulgarians, rather than the mas
ter race of original Soviets.
In all Communist countrie:
foreign trade is q state monopoly
nor do their governments have tt
| |present their owners, the people
who put up the capital in the
form Of taxes, with reports sub.
jected to disinterested account
ants. The Italian Communists
organized behind innocent bust.
ness fronts, not only take the
normal commission on trade be.
tween Italy and the Communist