In order to understand the Cambridge political climate a little social biography is necessary. With a population of 125,000 Cambridge is the fourth largest city in the Commonwealth. Founded in 1630 it grew slowly for 200 years, then mushroomed with the great influx of Irish immigrants in 1840. In this period the still evident "town vs. gown" feeling was especially bitter. It wasn't long before Irish leaders organized under the Democratic banner and machine politics subverted local government for its own ends.

Today the Irish are still the dominating ethnic group with 60 percent of the city's population. Other large groups are the English and Scotch, French Canadians, and Italians. Negroes comprise only 4 percent of the inhabitants.

One of the nation's most crowded urban areas, highly industrial Cambridge suffers from very poor housing conditions. A WPA survey made in 1941-43 of some of the more crowded areas of the city found that about 86 percent of those surveyed were living in substandard buildings. Conditions have improved only slightly since that time.

Sharp social differences in Cambridge are drawn primarily between wealthy Brattle Street citizens and the laboring groups who make up the bulk of voters.

Popularity Contests

But politicians under PR cannot generally appeal to only one local interest group; they must try to attract support from all sections of the city. This helps explain why candidates now campaign on their personalities rather than on issues. Each must appear "all things to all men."

A number of politicians have never been satisfied with either Plan E or PR. They tried first to sabotage the city manager's program through the independents in Council. When this failed they switched their guns to PR. A confusingly-worded referendum against PR appeared on the ballot in 1952 but was voted down. The same confusing referendum appears this year--with brighter prospects.

Although most PR detractors say they favor Plan E itself, it is believed that many mean to attack the manager-council form of government once PR goes.

John W. Lyons, last mayor of Cambridge prior to Plan E, and presently publisher of the weekly Courier, says, "I have never been in favor of PR. The people just don't got a fair shake nowadays. PR is too confusing." In 1940, at a time when he was under indictment on 64 counts of requesting and accepting bribes, Lyons appeared before the old Plan B Council to argue against buying new snow plows of which the city owned not even one. He observed that as "the Almighty sends the snow, . . . He will in time remove it." For in those days it was politically wise to remove snow with the hand-shovel power of unemployed friends. Lyons was later convicted on 42 counts of bribery.

In 1949 Lyons led the independents in their only attempt to band solidly against CCA. They failed when the CCA learned of their secret plans for consolidation.

"PR is the machine politician's dream," claims incumbent Thomas M. McNamara, an independent. "You have CCA which is a machine, isn't it?" McNamara admits that he has always "been opposed to the whole process"--Plan E and PR. "I'd rather have it under the old mayor and the old system," he says.

Continuing he explains, "The city manager never has to respond to the people. He's a tough guy to get rid of. It took 11 years to get rid of Atkinson, and then it took a shotgun wedding to do it."

'Well-Organized Politics'

Incumbent Edward J. Sullivan, also an independent, doubts that plurality elections will bring machines back to Cambridge. "Let's say we'll have well-organized politics."

"Atkinson was the shrewdest politician that ever hit the town," Sullivan says. "He kidded the public for 11 years with phony tax reductions. The people of Cambridge are gradually catching up to the CCA as they caught up to Atkinson. The CCA is made up of a lot of carpet-baggers anyway," he concludes.