Massachusetts: Southies' Comfort

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Matter of Arithmetic. White does not oppose bussing in principle, but, like some other liberals, says it is "really not a solution." He has campaigned in general terms for a more humane, neighborhood-oriented city government, despite the $200 million in federal funds that have gone into Boston's urban-renewal program in the past seven years. White echoes the common complaint that the money and effort that have gone into face-lifting the downtown skyline have not done much for residential areas or for Boston's down-at-heels schools and hospitals.

White's line is obviously less rousing than Mrs. Hicks' emotional pitch. The largely ceremonial post of secretary of state, which he won in 1960, has given him little experience in close political combat. Thus White's hope to win in November is mainly a matter of arithmetic. If he collects the major share of the votes that went to the eight also-rans in the primary and gets solid Negro backing, the Hicks' primary plurality of 12,933 out of a total vote of 155,000 would evaporate.