THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



ought to have — we might fairly say, must 

 have — a picnic ground. Otherwise the 

 young people will spend their evenings in 

 the beer-geurdens and their Sundays in the 

 "amusement parks," Every village also 

 has some spot of historic interest. Such 

 places ought to be acquired by the towns 

 and maintained by the community, instead 

 of waiting for the intercession of the 

 Daughters of the Confederacy or of the 

 American Revolution. One can not too 

 highly praise the work of these societies, 

 but at the same time one may easily see 

 that these are matters of much public im- 

 portance and should be attended to by the 

 people themselves. It is all very well to 

 have someone act as nurse, guardian and 

 first-of-kin to the public as long as the 

 public is too juvenile to take care of itself; 

 but it is a fair wish to hope for the day 

 when the public can button its own shoes 

 and walk alone. 



To sum it up: the greatest of public 

 utilities is the landscape; and the public 

 ownership of utilities is beginning, where 

 it really ought to begin, with the native 

 scenery. 



236 



