many a plan of city improvement; so that there now 

 remain Imt three members of the Board of Commis 

 sioners who were originally selected to organize and 

 cany forward the important work in which we are 

 engaged. By a recent act of the Legislature, also, the 

 Mayor of the city, as a suitable representative of the 

 city's interest in the operations of the Board, was made, 

 ex-officio, a Park Commissioner, and we have now, there 

 fore, the honor of inscribing his name upon the roll of 

 our members. 



A copy of the act referred to is annexed to this report, 

 and will be found to contain some provisions of interest 

 to our tax-payers, particularly that portion of it, which 

 distributes the current expenses of maintaining the parks, 

 after construction, over the whole city, without confining 

 the burden, as was originally intended, to the Western 

 District. The substantial justice of this provision was 

 apparent after the passage of the law which put all the 

 parks of the city under one general management, and 

 was the more obvious, when it came to be seen that the 

 interest taken in our parks, and the benefits to be derived 

 from them, are not confined to any particular locality, but 

 that all participate in their advantages, and feel an equal 

 pride in the successful development of their several plans 

 of improvement. 



The Commissioners were authorized by this law to call 

 upon the Joint Board of Common Council and Super- 

 visors for such an amount, not exceeding one hundred 

 thousand dollars in any one year, as they should, by 

 resolution, determine to be necessary for the support and 

 proper maintenance of the parks, and that amount, so 

 determined, is directed to be levied in the samemanner as 

 other taxes are levied in our city. We have not deemed 

 it necessary to require more than sixty-eight thousand 



