OWNERSHIP OF SCENERY 



open it freely to all pilgrims. People do 

 not object to the twenty-five cents ad- 

 mission fee, but to the principle; and in 

 all such cases sentiment is the safest guide. 



Town parks and playgrounds stand 

 on a somewhat different basis, but they 

 minister to an even more urgent necessity. 

 Boys must play ball. Though this dictum 

 is not found in the Scriptures nor in the 

 Constitution of the United States, it be- 

 longs in both. Also in the Declaration of 

 Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the 

 Town Charter. Boys must and will play 

 ball; and the village which provides no 

 ball ground is worse than one which has 

 no library and no fire company. I know a 

 proud and prosperous town which has made 

 a law that boys shall not play ball in the 

 streets. At the same time no place is 

 offered where they can play. The result is 

 perfectly certain. Either they play in the 

 streets or they trespass on private grounds, 

 in either case getting excellent practice in 

 law-breaking. 



But playgrounds are only one thing. 

 A second thing that towns ought to do is 

 to acquire and protect examples of the 

 best native landscape. Every village 



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