PUBLIC PARKS OP IOWA 305 



or an emperor, he would doubtless make these reserves for us always 

 provided he had not a senate to deal with. But since the people are 

 sovereign, the people must act. They will act some day. The great 

 effort is to make them act in time. The axe is so swift; the people are 

 so slow! "Surely," it is claimed, "Mr. Smith will not destroy that beauti- 

 ful grove, or uncover that delightful spring." But Mr. Smith cannot, per- 

 chance, afford to maintain either grove or spring simply for the delecta- 

 tion of his neighbors, however generous it might be in him to do so 

 Mr. Smith must do that which pays. 



If the public likes a grove or a spring which, free gratis, the public has 

 used so long, the public must own it and pay the taxes. There is no 

 other logical solution to the problem. Here and there a Vanderbilt may 

 arise and endow us with park foundations, as millionaires endow col- 

 leges, but while we wait for these things opportunity will pass by. 



But, it is urged, the idea is impracticable. Perhaps so; nevertheless, 

 something of the kind must be done. Nor is it so impracticable as it 

 might at first sight appear. The thing has been done in New York, in 

 New England, has at least a beginning in Iowa, and will be found prac- 

 ticable everywhere where men earnestly undertake the work. The most 

 hopeful mode of procedure is to persuade town or country authorities 

 to act; to purchase and hold in the name of the people, and for rational 

 use, suitable lands wherever obtainable. In some instances, this has 

 been done; in others a stock company has been organized to hold park 

 property until such time as country or city shall determine to buy. The 

 "Backbone" in Delaware county, Iowa, has been to some extent so man- 

 aged, and more than 1,200 acres of the most romantic natural scenery 

 the state affords has been saved, by private ownership, at least by the 

 present. Hundreds of people visit the locality every summer, drink the 

 clear water of the springs, rest in the shadow of leafy woods and over- 

 hanging rocks. 



I have spoken only of the more wooded portions of Iowa; but as a 

 matter of fact what I have said applies to fully three-fourths of the coun- 

 ties of the state, applies to other states, if not to all. In those less fav- 

 ored by nature, the park must be more largely artificial. Trees will grow 

 in every county in Iowa. If in any section of the land trees will hot 

 grow, the case is hopeless; for I hold it certain that a country that 

 will not, under any conditions, support trees cannot be the home of civ- 

 ilized men. 



But as I said at the outset, I have used Iowa simply as an illustration ; 

 what is true of Iowa is true of every state that touches her, of every 

 habitable state in the Union. In beautiful old Kentucky, even, are yet 

 hundreds of splendid groves of primeval forest which shadow fountains 

 and perpetual springs, and which possess, therefore, all that is essential 

 to the recreation and refreshment of weary humanity. Cannot many of 

 these be saved to delight mankind when all primeval woods now stand- 

 ing that cover coveted tillable soil shall have vanished away? 



The problem, if we only knew it, goes deep; it touches, as I think, 

 the very perpetuity of our institutions. No man can love an unbeautiful 

 land. No people, no civilized people, can long remain content when all 

 so 



