Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Ambassador of Italy Alberto Tarchiani, and Homer Byington

TOP SEURET SECURITY INFORMATION 3920 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 478 Memorandum of Conversation Cord DECLASSIFIED E.O. 13526 DATE: Authority RAC 3113/12 NLT- PERSONAL PAPERSA-564-4 February 12, 1952 NARA Jo Date 2/7/13 SUBJECT: Italian Situation 57 PARTICIPANTS: The Italian Ambassador, Mr. Tarchiani The Secretary of State Mr. Byington, WE COPIES TO: s/s G EUR EE WE Embassy, Rome u. s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16-61120-1 The Italian Ambassador said that Prime Minister De Gasperi was becoming increasingly preoccupied with the internal situation in Italy. He hoped that during the course of the conversations in Lisbon De Gasperi would have an opportunity to speak personally with the Secretary of State on this subject. The Italian Government was confronted by the fortheoming administrative elections this spring in the south and by the national elections which were now only one year away. The Communist Party apparently has unlimited funds to finance its activities and is becoming increasingly active in the south. The government is hard put to offset the Communist campaign that the costs of rearmament will lower the present low standard of TRUMANDAY NARA living for the worker. Prime Minister De Gasperi's government at the same time faces increasing opposition on the part of the land owners who oppose its policy of agrarian reform and on the part of the industrialists who do not approve of the fiscal reform and of its consequent increase in taxes. These two programs which are politically necessary in Italy have the effect of alienating financial support which is also desperately needed by the government. Mr. Tarchiani referred to the situation that existed at the time of the elections in 1948 and said that Italy would need help in the fortheoming TOP SECHET SECURITY INFORMATION