80 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



would result in destroying landmarks is essential; and I know of no 

 government agency with money to spend which has not been destruc- 

 tive in this way. 



State and local governments should be assisted by State and Fed- 

 eral loans or matching grants. Eminent domain should be evoked for 

 protection rather than destruction. Favorable governmental ad- 

 ministrative policies should be codified and enacted into legislation. 

 Better communication and coordination should be established within 

 branches of the Federal Government and with private groups. Fed- 

 eral support and assistance should be given the National Trust as 

 recommended by the President in his Message on Natural Beauty 

 and unanimously approved by its Board of Trustees. A program is 

 needed to guide adaptive uses, and to stimulate private philanthropy. 



It makes no sense to destroy the existing good, in favor of what 

 may be spurious. 



Mrs. MAUNTEL. We Americans are becoming more and more 

 aware of the fact that our cities and towns must be beautiful as well 

 as useful. 



Through the efforts of the President and Mrs. Johnson, an awak- 

 ened citizenry has been made conscious of the need for making beauty 

 a very vital part of our daily living. 



We have come to realize that we must create for ourselves and for 

 our children a better environment in which to live, and we are now 

 prepared to crusade vigorously for order and neatness as well as for 

 charm and beauty in our land. 



It is, therefore, important that all those things which add a clut- 

 tered look to the townscape such as stop signs, bus signs, street 

 markers, and so forth, should be placed in a desirable and orderly 

 manner and should be of good design. 



Utility wires should go underground, light fixtures should be 

 designed with beauty of appearance in mind. Even fire hydrants 

 and trash containers enter into the over-all picture and can be built 

 with eye appeal. 



As a real lift to the townscape, tree planting programs should be 

 carried on in all our towns and cities. On Signal Mountain in Ten- 

 nessee, as a result of a quarter of a century of planting, hundreds and 

 hundreds and hundreds of dogwood trees were recently at the peak 

 of their blooming period. They envelop the city in a cloud of 

 creamy white blossoms. And I have seen redbud plantings in an 

 Oklahoma community lifting the community from the drab monot- 



