806 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. I 



conditions that are presented, in order that 

 our cities may be more healthful abodes 

 than human kind has as yet possessed. 



Large steps in this direction have al- 

 ready been taken, quite aside from the 

 fundamental ones of securing a varied 

 food supply, good water and ventilation, 

 adequate disposal of sewage; doing away 

 with dirt and darkness, and the conserv- 

 ing of privacy, which have already been 

 mentioned. We are awakening to the fact 

 that there is a large group of elements in 

 the situation which can only be attacked 

 by the community as a whole. There are 

 problems before which the individual 

 family is helpless. I refer to such matters 

 as the provision of adequate open air 

 spaces for parks and playgrounds, places 

 where wholesome social life may be car- 

 ried on. We have already begun to realize 

 that the average homes of our large cities 

 are inadequate as social centers. We have 

 watched with dismay the development of 

 the saloon as a place where men may come 

 together for social purposes; the dance 

 hall, connected with the saloon, where 

 young people come together and dance — 

 a form of recreation which in itself is 

 thoroughly wholesome, but which under 

 prevailing conditions is a menace to both 

 young men and young women. We need 

 places where the children can play freely 

 and in a wholesome way, without being 

 imperilled by or hindering the traffic of 

 the streets. We have in our municipalities 

 ordinances against children playing in the 

 streets, and this is right. We are com- 

 mencing to take the steps which should go 

 with the enactment of such laws, that is, 

 steps for the provision of places where 

 children can play. The open spaces are 

 being increasingly built up or fenced in. 

 It was not many years ago that the city 

 of Boston instituted its first public play- 

 ground. In 1908 the state of Massachu- 



setts passed a law which requires every 

 city and town of ten thousand inhabitants 

 and over to vote upon the question as to 

 whether they shall have playgrounds pur- 

 chased, equipped and maintained out of 

 public taxes. Forty-two of these cities and 

 towns voted during the following fall and 

 winter. Of this number forty voted in the 

 affirmative and two in the negative. The 

 total vote cast in the affirmative was 154,- 

 495; the total vote in the negative was 

 33,886. Thus that state in the United 

 States which is the least inclined perhaps 

 of any toward socialism, which has had the 

 most experience with playgrounds, has de- 

 clared in a way that is almost unparal- 

 leled in the history of the referendum, that 

 the city itself must provide not only places 

 for children to play in, but competent 

 leadership in those plays and games which 

 shall make for wholesome physical and 

 moral development. 



Massachusetts does not stand alone. In 

 1907 there were ninety cities in America 

 that were maintaining childi-en's play- 

 grounds suppox'ted at least partly by pub- 

 lie taxation. The number has increased 

 since that time, so that in 1909 there were 

 upwards of 336, while over 118 additional 

 communities are now taking steps toward 

 the development of playgrounds or play- 

 gTOund systems. The city of Philadelphia, 

 not content with its exceedingly active but 

 sporadic work, has recently appropriated 

 five thousand dollars for a preliminary 

 investigation as to the needs of the young 

 people of the community concerning mat- 

 ters of recreation, and for the presenta- 

 tion of a policy and plan for the future 

 development of recreation in the city. 

 New York city, while it has not proceeded 

 as far as to make any general plan for the 

 development of the city and the provision 

 for its needs, has already spent over 

 eleven million dollars on children's play- 



