Job Ahead

Successful reform organizations always face the danger of disintegration. Satisfied by success and without the stimulus of a campaign, their members may lose interest, and their officers--usually men taking time out from their business or professional work--may return to their regular occupations.

The New Boston Committee is no exception to the rule. With the end of the election, its function shifts from electioneering to planning, and many NBC workers may find the job of researching far duller than the dramatic campaign. And the temptation to temporarily withdraw from civic life must press strongly on the NBC policy-makers and officers, many of whom have hardly seen the inside of their offices since last July.

But the New Boston Committee seems well aware of this problem. Immediately following the election, it announced plans to consolidate its successes by specific long-range studies. Undoubtedly based on a series of proposals on Boston presented to the NBC by Carl J. Freidrich, Professor of Government, and a committee of experts earlier this fall, the plans will go before the NBC's Civic Council soon. Beyond this, the New Boston Committee will seek a total membership of over 25,000 to put more weight behind its civic programs.

The promise of broad studies serves other purposes than the worthwhile one suggested above. First, it gives NBC members and officers something to work for and to work on. Second, it serves to keep up the current public interest in reform, and third, it keeps political initiative with the NBC. Its victory notwithstanding, the New Boston Committee will not disintegrate for some time.