THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



It is a curious and anomalous develop- 

 ment of the present situation that private 

 or semi-private corporations should be 

 formed to hold valuable tracts of land in 

 the public behalf. It is merely an excunple 

 of private philanthropy getting ahead of 

 public opinion; or, perhaps it would be 

 better to say, getting ahead of the organic 

 expression of public opinion, for it is well 

 recognized that in such matters our legis- 

 lators are not so well informed, so public 

 spirited, nor so progressive as the public 

 at large. The National Trust in England 

 is an exeimple of this sort of private cor- 

 poration doing a most excellent work in 

 the preservation for public use of places 

 of beauty or historic interest, and, in doing 

 so, acquiring land titles in the name of 

 the trust. Examples in America are the 

 Appalachian Club and the American Scenic 

 and Historic Preservation Society. 



This method, of course, is better than 

 none, but it is objectionable. George Wash- 

 ington's old home at Mount Vernon is held 

 by a most enterprising and efficient society 

 of women; but there is a wide-spread and 

 growing feeling that the nation, or at 

 least the state, ought to own the place and 



234 



