THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. 



151 



the growth of the country. At the same time the development of 

 Potomac Park both provides for a connection betvi^een the parks on the 

 west and those on the east, and also it may readily furnish sites for 

 those memorials which history has shown to be worthy a place in vital 

 relation to the great buildings and monuments erected under the per- 

 sonal supervision of the founders of the republic. 



Now that the demand for new public buildings and memorials has 

 reached an acute stage, there has been hesitation and embarrassment in 

 locating them because of the uncertainty in securing appropriate sites. 

 The commission was thus brought face to face with the problem of 



Model of the Mall, showing Pkesekt Conditions. Looking w est. 



devising such a plan as shall tend to restore that unity of design which 

 was the fundamental conception of those who first laid out the city as 

 a national capital, and of formulating definite principles for the pla- 

 cing of those future structures which, in order to become effective, 

 demand both a landscape setting and a visible orderly relation one to 

 another for their mutual support and enhancement. 



To the unique problem of devising a way of return to the original 

 plan of the city of Washington, was added the task of suggesting lines 

 for the development of those large parks which have been obtained in 

 recent years either by purchase or by reclamation; of advising the 



