By 13 Votes

Subjected to a drizzle of Communist strikes, tugged at by the angry orators of the extreme right and left, Premier Mario Scelba's coalition submitted last week to the first crucial test of its ability to stick together and govern Italy. The scene was the Senate, where the new Scelba Cabinet had to win its first confidence vote.

Close to half the Senators walked into the chamber firmly opposed to the new regime -the Communists and the neo-Fascists because they favor chaos and particularly hate the man who swung the policeman's billy so energetically against their riotmakers; the Nenni Socialists because, as one of their Senators confessed, the Socialist tie to the Communists "is becoming even greater;" the Monarchists because they dislike aspects of Scelba's mildly left-of-center political program.

Against such formidable opposition, Mario Scelba needed every vote and every boost he could muster. The most dramatic boost came from a distinguished quarter: Don Luigi Sturzo, the aged (82) priest who founded the Christian Democratic Party but now lives deep in the background like a brooding, often disapproving party conscience. Because Catholic Italy resents clericalism in politics, Christian Democratic leaders like Alcide de Gasperi try to minimize their ties with the Vatican, but that is not enough for Don Sturzo; he objects to any relationship at all. Last week Don Luigi paid a rare visit to the Senate, where he has a lifetime seat, to speak for Mario Scelba, whom Don Luigi had taken off a Sicilian share farm, educated and launched into Italian politics. Weak and chilled by the drafts in the big Senate chamber, the old priest asked for a blanket to warm him: "If you don't want me to die, you had better give me at least a blanket." Even with two blankets bought with a special appropriation ($70), Don Luigi was not comfortable enough to stay on and cast a precious vote for Scelba. But to Italy's divided politicians, he delivered a stern and moving sermon on what lies behind Italy's great political and economic sickness (see box). It was the first formal parliamentary speech he had ever made.

The rest of the debate, even the vote, was something, of an anticlimax. By an expected narrow margin (13 votes), the Scelba coalition won the Senate's approval. The margin was sufficient to indicate that Scelba should squeak by in similar fashion in the Chamber of Deputies.

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