A LEGISLATIVE TRAVESTY 279 
port, already quoted, which advised that if Central avenue 
could not be used to form a continuous parkway “this Kast 
Orange parkway will hardly be worth to the people what 
it will cost.” 
The land for the East Orange parkway, outside of that 
donated, has cost about $100,000, and the improvements, 
including the bridge for changing the grade of the Lacka- 
wanna tracks, completed some years ago, nearly as much 
more. What the cost would have been had this parkway 
been extended from Bloomfield avenue to Weequahic, or to 
the West Side Park, and from Watsessing Park to Irving- 
ton, as was at one time proposed, it would now be difficult 
to estimate. 
Why there should have been for years such apathy and 
official indifference as to securing the two great east and 
west parkways, which, save surface embellishment, were 
mainly ready for use, and this, too, on the lines connecting 
the most important by far of the country parks, and in the 
direction of the greatest tide of travel; and at the same time 
a new, costly and untried cross section parkway was prefer- 
ably sought, connecting only a parkway at one end and 
now a railroad at the other end—is a question, which, as 
time goes on, and the more it is studied, the more difficult 
a sufficient or satisfactory answer will appear. It is a 
policy which, to say the least, is not in conformity with the 
plan and policy upon which the Essex County Park Com- 
mission was originally established and approved by the 
people. 
RESUME AS TO PARKWAYS. 
The question finally arises, what have the people of the 
county obtained for the five millions of dollars contributed, 
and has the Park Commission accomplished all that could 
have been done to make the park system a great success? 
It is manifestly evident that the park system is incomplete, 
because the Park Commission has failed to secure a system 
of parkways to connect the existing parks. 
Whiite the parks themselves have been, for the most part, 
