80 COMMISSION ON BUILDING DISTRICTS 



no claim for compensation if the authorities require him to pull down the 

 building or alter it to fit in with the scheme. 



In England a man erected four shops under a scheme. It was stated 

 that he should put his shops seven feet from the edge of the street, instead 

 of which he put them only three feet from the edge. He had a compara- 

 tively shallow lot. The shops projected four feet in front of the building 

 line. I had to report on that scheme and reported that he should pull them 

 down to the extent of four feet. He appealed first to the Local Government 

 Board, then to Parliament, and it was finally settled that he had to pull down 

 to the four feet, but they gave him twelve years to do so, so that he could 

 draw the rental for that period to compensate him for his loss. There is no 

 intention to allow any owner to defeat the principles of these acts. In this 

 case the authorities were specially generous because it was the first offense 

 under a new statute. 



I would like to see more done to improve both cities of Niagara Falls. 

 In the matter of Victoria Park, we in Canada have done a great deal, but I 

 would like to see more effort made on both sides of the river to improve and 

 beautify the surroundings. It requires co-operation between our govern- 

 ments. 



The British town planning acts have not been long enough in operation 

 to allow a scientific study of the effect of town planning on health. But in 

 Bourneville, Letchworth and elsewhere it has been shown that the death 

 rate need not be higher than nine per thousand. The children on the 

 average as compared with those of the same age in the slums are proved to 

 be heavier and of greater height. 



The proportion of eligible men fit for military service in Britain is 

 greater in the healthy districts than in the unhealthy areas. There is a well 

 known case, which will probably be remembered, in which 8,000 out of 

 11.000 were rejected in one instance for the army on account of physical 

 defects due very largely to the social conditions under which they lived. 

 This happened in Manchester, and there are conditions on this continent as 

 bad as those in Manchester. Proof of the deteriorating influence of the 

 slums is not needed at this time of day. 



In Britain serious efforts are being made at great public expense, to 

 insure that the mistakes handed down to the present generation as the result 

 of haphazard development in the past, may be avoided in the future. It is 

 essential to prepare plans and schemes on an economic basis so that the 

 remedy they provide may be effective and can be made of general applica- 

 tion. To have a fanciful plan that is too expensive to carry out is worse 

 than having no plan ; the stimulus it provides to the imagination does not 

 have a sufficiently lasting effect to enable it to be of real benefit and may end 

 in a reaction against any form of planning. You are starting in the right 

 way in New York so far as the built upon areas are concerned, but I hope 

 you will next take up the question of preparing a scheme for the thousands 

 of acres of vacant land within ten miles of Manhattan Island. 



Statement by Ancell H. Ball, Chairman, Board of Directors, Fifth 



Avenue Association, March 28, 1916 

 Protection of Fifth avenue 



The Fifth Avenue Association, of which I am one of the representa- 

 tives, has a membership of over six hundred, representing millions and mil- 

 lions of dollars of real estate in the retail section between 23d and 59th 

 streets. The membership is formed of the largest property owners, retailers. 



