THE RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL 41 



mean simply sitting on his front porch and rocking and looking at 

 the green grass. To others it means traveling long distances, per- 

 haps to the national parks. 



My field of endeavor has been primarily in congested cities. I 

 was reared in congested cities and I was mayor of a congested city 

 for five terms. In such places we must start at the local level 

 through your guidance clubs, your recreational councils, your neigh- 

 borhood and area councils you have to start at the grassroots, so 

 to speak. If anyone thinks that we can concentrate on this problem 

 at the Federal level and get it licked, he is just wasting his time. 

 Somehow we have to get down to the grassroots level. 



Now I know the cost of vandalism. In my own city of Cleveland 

 I could have built 1 extra swimming pools each year for what it cost 

 to take care of vandalism. And when you get right down to it, the 

 whole problem is one in educating. 



Much of this can be done in the schools. We have underway at 

 NIH at the present time some studies in human behavior what 

 causes people to do certain things. I think that we are going to have 

 to put a great deal of stress on the educational process on teaching 

 people to appreciate beauty including the material things that have 

 both utilitarian and aesthetic value. 



Not everyone can go to Secretary UdalPs State and see and enjoy 

 the wide open spaces. In the congested cities, working along with 

 Mr. Weaver, we must create open spaces and parks, we must purify 

 our polluted water systems and there again, if we rely solely upon 

 the Federal Government to purify our rivers and streams, we are 

 going to be greatly disappointed. 



Water pollution and air pollution can be stopped on the local 

 level. In many instances it is a political consideration. People 

 must be taught that the most precious thing they have is water our 

 water supply in this country and that our waterways must not be 

 sewers. 



Now this sometimes requires rough action on the part of mayors 

 and governors. In the city of Cleveland I had to draw a line on 

 housing development in the outskirts of the city because they were 

 putting in septic tanks. Fortunately, the large cities in most in- 

 stances control the water supplies, so they can say to the suburban 

 developers, you will get no water unless you put in proper sewer sys- 

 tems and a sewage treatment plant. 



