Summer H. Slichter, Lamont University Professor, heads a research sub-committee of a group of New England leaders who met for the first time Monday to find out why their region was lagging behind the rest of the country.

Slichter's group will work under the general supervision of the "Committee of New England," whose chairman is Leonard Carmichael, president of Tufts College. The full committee will have three main objective in its study:

1. Evaluating what has been done to date.

2. Determining New England's most important opportunities and problems.

3. Discovering wherein federal policies create or intensify problems, and what opportunities the federal government can aid.

Slichter told the CRIMSON yesterday that the future program of the committee is still very indefinite, and that Monday's meeting was virtually the first effort at organization.

Impact of Government

Specifically, what the committee wants to find out is the impact of federal policies on the economy of this region, as requested by the joint Congressional committee on the Economy Report.

"Alfred C. Neal, vice-president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, told the 83 business, labor, agricultural, and professional leaders who gathered for Monday's conference that one of New England's weaknesses was that the region was "too highly civilized-- that it recognized its responsibilities and was proud of its independence."

He offered this as an explanation of the complaints that New England pays more toward the federal government in proportion to what it gets back than other sections of the country.