360 



CONSERVATION 



State Parks 



A]\IONG the many good things pro- 

 moted by the American Civic As- 

 sociation is the estabHshment of state 

 parks. America is famihar with the 

 idea of the national parks, splendid ex- 

 amples being afTorded by the Yellow- 

 stone and Yosemite. We are likewise 

 familiar with city parks, such as the 

 Central, in New York City, Lincoln, 

 Jackson, Garfield and the like in Chi- 

 cago, and the Public Gardens in Bos- 

 ton, but the idea of a state park seems 

 somewhat apart from the thought of 

 our people. 



True, certain states, as Massachu- 

 setts, New York, California, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and New Jersey, do maintain 

 state parks, yet the large majority of 

 states do not, and in most of them the 

 proposal to establish such parks has 

 probably never been agitated. 



But why should not the park be as 

 regular a feature of the state as of the 

 city? In many of our states are found 

 magnificent examples of scenic beauty 

 which, through lack of state ownership, 

 suffer from neglect if not from devasta- 

 tion. These should be preserved as a 

 part of the permanent heritage of the 

 people. Again, recreation, contact with 

 nature and familiarity with her beauty 

 contribute materially to the health and 

 well being, physically, mentally, mor- 

 ally and spiritually, of a people. In 

 times of rush and drive, such as those 

 in which most of us are now living, 

 they are almost essential to complete 

 sanity. The remoteness of our great 

 national parks renders them inacces- 

 sible to most. The state parks might 

 well supply the needs of many of these 

 dwellers in country districts and in vil- 

 lages far removed from these recreation 

 grounds, and at the same time out of 

 convenient reach of the city. 



It is a curious fact that, beginning 

 as did all our states, both north and 

 south, with exaggerated ideas of the 

 place and power of the state as com- 

 pared with the Nation, a surprising 

 number of things that, to the great ad- 

 vantage of their inhabitants, our states 



might do without stretching their pow- 

 ers, have been left undone. It will be 

 recalled that Secretary Root, some two 

 years since, called attention to this fact. 

 In very many important respects the 

 powers of an American state are almost 

 or quite equal to those of a European 

 state ; and yet, so impressed have we 

 become with the majesty and might of 

 the Nation, that state powers, obvious 

 and fundamental, are, in numerous in- 

 stances, but slightly used if used at 

 all. 



It is true that, within the last two 

 years, many of our states have mate- 

 rially increased their activities. Exam- 

 ples are found in their treatment of 

 corporations and, notably, in their in- 

 terest, beginning a year ago, in the 

 great conservation movement so aus- 

 piciously opened with the White House 

 Conference. Subsequent events have 

 demonstrated the readiness of several 

 states to act along conservation lines. 

 It is to be hoped that one of the meas- 

 ures to receive earnest and careful at- 

 tention from the states will be the es- 

 tablishment of public parks. 



&' )^ ^ 



Towns without Taxes 



IN OUR news columns appears an 

 item on the "immense profits of Ger- 

 man forests." Numerous towns and cit- 

 ies maintain large holdings, Baden hav- 

 ing 10,576 acres, yielding an annual net 

 profit of $66,080, or approximately $6.25 

 an acre, Freiburg having 8,085 acres, 

 yielding a net profit of $46,336, or $5.79 

 an acre, and Heidelburg, 6,860 acres 

 the clear profit on which each year is 

 $12,635. The village of Aufen, with 

 220 inhabitants, has 163 acres of tim- 

 berlands, the proceeds from which suf- 

 fice for all the expenses of the little 

 community. 



In the village of Braunlingen. which 

 has 1,601 inhabitants and 4,507 acres of 

 forests, there is an allowance to the citi- 

 zens of firewood and 100,000 board-feet 

 of lumber is given to churches, schools, 

 and other public institutions. From the 

 timber sold, the net income is $21,600, 



