Foreign News: Assault on Statism

Aware that the Communists can never be really checked until democratic government fits itself to fulfill Italy's pressing economic and social needs, busy Mario Scelba also took steps last week to do some cleaning up within his government. His Cabinet proposed to trim down Italy's vast and oppressive bureaucracy.

First step: a commission to investigate the network of government-run industries and other business activities and check the system that allows many parliamentary Deputies and government employees to hold extra paying jobs in state firms.

To head the commission, Premier Scelba picked Italy's most articulate foe of statism: Don Luigi Sturzo, the aged and respected Senator-priest who founded the Christian Democratic Party, launched Scelba in politics and last month gave a stirring lecture (TIME, March 8) on the menace of too much government.