MEMORANDUM FOR SENATOR FERGUSON BRIEFING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP58-00597A000100130051-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 4, 2010
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: October 1, 1951
• Content Type: MEMO

25 YEAR RE- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/05/04: CIA-RDP58-00597A000100130051-3
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Memorandum for Senator Ferguson briefing
1. I have received your letter of September 13th and as I
told your office on the telephone, it has taken a little time to
pull together even the general remarks which are set forth be-
low. Your letter states that you have been told on the highest
authority that Italian industrialists were making cash contri-
butions to the support of the Communist Party in Italy.
2. To a certain extent this information is correct. In
Italy the Communists have retained essential leadership and
political support of the bulk of labor and stymied the progress of
the non-Communist unions. They still control, the majority
of local Chambers of Labor with their worker placement powers.
Because of strong Communist power in the labor movement,
various Italian industrialists still contribute a form of black-
mail to Communist coffers in return for labor peace or con-
cessions. In addition, many industrialists in Italy do not
distinguish between Communist and non-Communist labor
organizations, but rather consider labor in bulk as hostile
to management. This strengthens the class concept of labor
and plays into the hands of the Communist unity of action
strategy. Thus, the non-Communist unions are squeezed be-
tween the more powerful and more vigorously led Communist
unions on the one hand and the owners on the other.
3. Over a long period of time
various Italian industrialists
were contributing to the support of the Italian Communist Part
as well as to right wing parties.
These payments stem from the
desire of Italian industrialists to ensure their positions in the
event of a change in government favoring either the extreme
left or the extreme right. In addition, these industrialists pay
off the Communists in return for the support of labor in their
factories and working establishments, so they can keep their
business going without interruptions from strikes and sabotage.
4. Payments to Communist groups in ItalyEnot limited
to any particular group of industrialists,
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/05/04: CIA-RDP58-00597A000100130051-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/05/04: CIA-RDP58-00597A000100130051-3
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,gs.e contributions- ? }rave materiaLLly affected the--gzc wth-1Tr
irttal} While we feel that this information is
correct, it is almost impossible to confirm reports conclu-
sive This is a subject which we. are examining very care-
full
We are,
therefore, making the above comments with a request that the
information be utilized with the greatest discretion as to its
source, particularly in view of the fact that the press has al-
ready carried word that Senator Ferguson is seeking this
information from CIA.
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/05/04: CIA-RDP58-00597A000100130051-3