LO 



Easy to obtain 

 results. 



region. At the same period certain wild tracts south of Boston .... 

 were also in jeopardy at the hands of private owners. Although the public 

 had no right in the territory, yet, when the people discovered that the 

 beauty of these sylvan tracts was to suffer serious injury and that an 

 enjoyment of one of the natural resources of the Boston district was to be 

 taken from them, a popular outcry was aroused. 



" This attitude of the community toward certain tracts of land and its 

 favorable attitude toward parks in general will go far to explain the readi- 

 ness with which a popular movement for metropolitan parks was begun 

 and the ease with which its objects were attained." 



Problems of the 

 city. 



Outdoor life 



essential. 



Masses are tres- 

 passers in forest 

 iands. 



City Life and Outdoor Recreation. 



One of the great problems of the age is the problem of the city. Some 

 of the best men in America are trying to solve it. They are the cause of 

 the municipal awakening which is spreading over the country a purifying 

 and uplifting influence. Among the problems of the city is the provision for 

 adequate recreation for the people. This problem becomes serious in every 

 large city. 



It is a characteristic of the present strenuous generation of Americans 

 that outdoor life and change of scene and occupation are recognized as 

 essential to health and happiness and progress. This is evidenced by the 

 love of athletics, by the popularity of country clubs, and by the exodus of 

 the well-to-do from cities during the summer months. 



While outdoor life and change of scene and occupation are so essential, 

 what has Chicago done to provide these blessings for the great majority of 

 its cosmopolitan population, which, through lack of means, is unable to afford 

 these essentials for itself and its posterity? In fact the great mass of our 

 population to-day is a trespasser when it seeks an outing in near-by forest 

 lands. 



Need of reserva- 

 tions. 



Population now 

 about 2,000,000 



Future population 

 of 5,000,000. 



Chicago's Past and Prospective Growth. 



That we may fully realize the need of country reservations for our 

 population, let me revert to the growth of Chicago, the causes thereof and 

 what within reason we may expect of the city. 



Chicago, as stated, is situated in a commercially strategic position. 

 Early explorers recognized the site as favorable for a large city. Sixty- 

 seven years ago Chicago had grown from a trading-post to an assemblage 

 of 4,179 people and was incorporated as a city. In 1903 it had a population 

 of 1,873,880 by Federal estimate, and by the city directory estimate 2,231,000. 

 It is safe to fix the present population at about two million. There are men 

 living here to-day who have witnessed this growth from the early thirties. 

 There are men living here to-day who took part in the creation of our present 

 park and boulevard system. They heard themselves ridiculed as dreamers. 

 Their parks were in cabbage patches remote from population centers and 

 street car service. To-day they look upon their dream work practically 

 completed, but inadequate to the needs of the present population. Their so- 

 called fanciful system is outgrown before it is finished. Is not this a forceful 

 fact for us to consider in connection with our work? 



It is impossible to forecast accurately the number of people who will 

 make their home in Chicago ten, twenty and fifty years from now. But I 



