64 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"It is the business of the Civic Improvement Club to serve the people 

 by awakening in them an appreciation of themselves, of their own better 

 thoughts, and their better possibilities. It is not to our credit that 

 any part of this state should have been more beautiful when the Indians 

 possessed it than it is now, but such is the truth. We have trodden out 

 the wild garden of natural beauty and neglected to plant another of any 

 beauty, natural or otherwise. This does not mean that there there art. 

 not hutidreds of beautiful places in this state, beautiful homes, beautirul 

 farms, beautiful grounds, and streets, but that there are also thousands 

 of ugly places in this state, ugly farms, ugly homes, streets, tenants and 

 dirty and ugly churches and school houses." 



Now what is civic improvement? The object of the Civic Improve- 

 ment Club is to make a city, village and country more beautiful, health- 

 ful, convenient and progressive to live in and to work in. It is the old 

 town meeting revived. The organization of the present day is the most 

 democratic in form, organization and objects. Politics does not enter 

 into it as understood in modem times. But its object is political in its 

 true sense. Its object is to help the people of the state or community. 

 Religion does not enter into it. The people work together for one 

 common object. The betterment of the whole people. It is not alone 

 for women and children although in many cities and communities they 

 are the most important factors in Civic Improvement. Those who 

 should lead in such work are the men of the community for they are 

 most benefited thereby. And in fact he who has most is most bene- 

 fited by the work of improvement clubs, but how often it is that he 

 does the least, and pleads the excuse "Too busy." In the hurry, business 

 strife and competition we too often forget that a city's growth and 

 prosperity, likewise that of the village and the state, depend upon the 

 enterprise and the prosperity of its people. All could bring about won- 

 ders in the way of improvement reform. Business organizations are 

 good in their places, like the Commercial Clubs, Board of Trade and the 

 like, but they look only to the business side of the city's progress, for- 

 getting the great majority of people whose ambitions and enterprise and 

 health and happiness are forgotten. 



A farseeing man of wealth in Colorado recently gave $5,000 as a 

 prize for the best kept lawns. He undoubtedly with his kindness of 

 heart had a selfish interest that was to help the city and thus indirectly 

 help himself. But its effect and influence v/ill never be effaced. Now 

 although this is a horticultural society, you will pardon me for con- 

 sidering some of the many objects of our club, and also some of the 

 objections that are raised to the work of Civic Improvement and what 

 has been and is being done by them. Civic Improvement may be said to 

 have found a three-fold expression in (1) the new civic spirit, (2) the 

 making of the city, (3) the making of the citizen. 



Devoting the most of my time to what has been done throughout the 



