Report of the President 29 



buildings, which are so much needed to care for the valuable 

 collections which are now awaiting exhibition. The cessation 

 of all building is most unfortunate since it jeopardizes the 

 building program which the Trustees had planned to carry out 

 in time for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 

 Museum in April, 1919. It is very important that the half 

 century mark should be fittingly commemorated. In this con- 

 nection, the opinion of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt regarding 

 the ideals of municipal government, which was displayed at 

 the recent City Planning Exhibition, may be appropriately 

 quoted: 



" The powers of municipal government should be 

 actively employed to secure not merely honesty, 

 economy and efficiency in administration, stability in 

 public credit, and enforcement of the law, but also 

 better housing and living conditions for wage earners; 

 more adequate means of effective, continuous control 

 over franchise-holding public utilities; a more com- 

 prehensive system of public parks and playgrounds; 

 a coordinated and cheapened system of transportation 

 to make the suburban districts a unified part of the 

 greater city; the socialization of the facilities for the 

 public enjoyment of music, art, science, athletic 

 diversions and the like; a readjustment of taxation 

 so as to make its burdens more equitably distributed, 

 and the exercise of the taxing power of the State a 

 factor for economic justice." 



Adequate provision for preserving the valuable material 

 now in hand is quite as pressing as the erection of buildings. 

 . Without proper casing, the exhibition and study 



^ £ . collections will seriously deteriorate. Late in 



191 2 it was evident that the appropriation of 

 191 1, for casing and other permanent improvements, would 

 soon be exhausted. Consequently application was made, on 

 November 22, 1912, to the City for an additional appropria- 

 tion of $75,000 for this purpose. After long consideration 

 the City authorities finally appropriated $25,000 for equipment 

 purposes, which became available December 16, 1913. This 

 sum is insufficient to provide for our present collections, and 

 an application for additional funds has already been made. 



