315 



increase of New York being at about one-half that rate ; bo 

 that, unless New York shall speedily absorb all the southern 

 towns of Westchester, or unless some unforeseen check shall be 

 given to our progress, we must expect to gain yearly upon her 

 until we shall become the larger of the two cities, an event 

 which, in the ordinary course of things, must occur before the 

 close of the present century. Such a demand upon the respir- 

 atory and sanitary resources of our city has never yet occurred 

 in the history of any people, and should convince us of the 

 immense importance of securing parks and open planted spaces 

 of every description in advance, and wherever it may be prac- 

 ticable, as lungs for this great population. 



But the question with which our city, as a municipality, 

 is more immediately concerned, at this time, is not so much 

 the numerical increase of her population as its character, chiefly 

 in reference to its ability to pay taxes and make the improve- 

 ments we require. One of the chief difficulties under which 

 we have labored, and still do labor, consists in the comparatively 

 low valuation of our property. A house on 2,500 square feet 

 of ground, worth perhaps only a thousand dollars, costs as much 

 for the repair of streets, for lamps, police, and the other ma- 

 chinery of city government, as the house paying taxes on 

 $20,000. Our constant aim, therefore, should be to increase 

 these valuations, by holding out such inducements to men of 

 wealth and taste, in the way of improved streets, increased park 

 accommodations and other social advantages, as will make 

 Brooklyn a more desirable place of residence for them than any 

 other city. 



It will be remembered that the present Park Commissioners, 

 with two or three exceptions, were appointed in 1864. Upon 

 their accession to office, they found that a fresh impetus had 

 been everywhere given to park enterprise by the liberal views 

 then recently adopted fur laying out large parks in New York, 

 Philadelphia and Baltimore ; and our city's need of a first-class 

 park could no longer be satisfied with the very moderate 

 dimensions assigned to Prospect Park by the law of 1860. 

 This necessarily led to a review of the whole subject of boun- 

 daries, including various questions of entries and approaches, 

 as necessarily connected therewith. The plan of improvement 

 also, as originally suggested, for reasons which do not now re- 



