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274 THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL
Robert Gorham Davis, also writing in Partisan Review, had attributed
to The Pisan Cantos a "new humanity, tenderness, maturity,
with no loss of lyric beauty or wit." 8
Allen Tate contributed a "Personal Statement on Fascism" to
The Case, saying, "I have no clear idea of the meaning of Fascism
when the word is applied to conditions in the United States. At
intervals since 1933 I have been accused of 'Fascism' by persons
who were either Communists or affected by Marxist ideas. In the
literary world such charges have little real political significance;
they are used against anti-Communists as demagogic weapons.
The Marxist policy has held Fascism to be a 'reactionary' movement,
or return to tradition." 9
Tate is one of the few American writers to recognize a fact
that is widely known in Europe, that is, that the accusatory word
"Fascist" simply means one who is opposed to Communism. The
word is rarely used except by Communists or apologists for
Communists. There has never been a group known as the Fascist
Party in the United States, and there is no legitimate use of the
term "Fascist" in our political debates.
The Saturday Review attack on Pound coincided with the trial
of Alger Hiss. The chronology is as follows:
June, 1947—Alger Hiss receives an honorary degree from
his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University.
May, 1948—John Foster Dulles and Dwight D. Eisenhower,
trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, appoint
Alger Hiss president.
August, 1948—Whittaker Chambers makes public charges, that
Hiss is a Communist agent.
December, 1948—Hiss is indicted.
June, 1949—The Saturday Review unleashes an attack on
Pound.
January, 1950—Hiss is convicted.
After being convicted for perjury on two counts, Hiss served
three years and eight months, and was released with the promise of
a Federal pension. Pound served thirteen years without trial, and