May, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



THE NEW COURT HOUSE 



WHY NOT PLANT TREES? 



THE strong public sentiment in opposition to the build- 

 ing of the new Court House in City Hall Park of 

 this city, was well expressed at the recent meeting 

 held before the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. 



The Court House Committee that selected the site in 

 City Hall Park presented a strong and determined fight 

 for the carrying out of its plan, but the scheme has met 

 with so universal an opposition that the Committee is be- 

 ginning to show signs of weakening, a willingness to sub- 

 mit to the popular sentiment of the people, and a desire 

 to observe the situation from a different and broader point 

 of view. 



The excellent work done by the New York Chapter of 

 the American Institute of Architects, the City Club, the Bar 

 Associations and other organizations, who have had the best 

 interests of the city at heart, in their opposition to the use 

 of park property for public buildings, should receive the 

 hearty support and co-operation of all citizens in reclaim- 

 ing and preserving that which belongs to a common people. 



That the new Court House is to be built down town is now 

 assured; the judiciary and the members of the Bar want it 

 there, and that seems to be the general wish of the people 

 — and, this being the case, there is absolutely no excuse for 

 diverting property that belongs to the people for a common 

 use, for such a purpose, especially from the view point that 

 it is cheap. Judging from the opinion of the best author- 

 ities it is not cheap from a financial standpoint, and neither 

 is it cheap from a patriotic standpoint as an object lesson 

 to future generations. 



The people of this city are thoroughly opposed to any 

 such use being made of the parks, and are keenly alive to 

 the danger of contracting the city's breathing spaces; and 

 now that there is a possibility of reclaiming the land that 

 was formerly theirs by the destruction of the old buildings 

 when the newer ones are to be built, they are willing to 

 seize the opportunity to restore, preserve and beautify it 

 for the good of the community. We have had too much 

 improvident building in this city, and the shortsightedness 

 of our forefathers is blamed for that stupidity which per- 

 mitted the Post Office to occupy the position it does, thereby 

 precluding what possibility there was for creating the 

 greatest civic center in what is destined to be the greatest 

 metropolis in the world. 



Let the work of our forefathers be an object lesson to 

 us, so that we may look with a broader view into the future. 



What New York needs is a civic center; a center that 

 will occupy the same relative position as Trafalgar Square 

 does to London, or the Place de la Concorde to Paris; a 

 center that will be surrounded by monumental buildings 

 of a splendid architecture, that will equal the beauty and 

 spaciousness of the palaces of Justice to be found in the 

 Old World, and that will be an everlasting monument 

 worthy of this commonwealth. 



PARTICULARLY interesting is the editorial In one of 

 the local papers of a nearby suburban town: "Why 

 Not Plant Trees?" This is a very important and 

 timely question, and is one that should be thoroughly agi- 

 tated by the newspapers of the land, for the purpose of In- 

 stilling into the minds of inhabitants the necessity and im- 

 portance of tree-planting. 



In this age, throughout the country, a great interest is 

 being manifested in the beauty of surroundings, for the 

 reason that the more cultivated tastes of the people de- 

 mand it. Trees planted in the proper place are always 

 attractive, and an artistic effect can be obtained by the use 

 of them, and wherever one is planted the value of the land 

 Is enhanced upon which it is placed. 



The seeker of a home site will select a place with at- 

 tractive surroundings in preference to the place with unim- 

 proved surroundings, and people looking for an investment 

 in real estate are not attracted by barren lots and unsightly 

 conditions. Trees not only afford an abundance of com- 

 fort and pleasure, but they Increase the value of real estate 

 more than ten times the amount of money invested in any 

 other way. This is well known, and it Is not economy to 

 Ignore it. I recently asked a member of one of the 

 wealthiest and most Influential families in a nearby city and 

 who was one of its largest owners of real estate, "How 

 many trees had he set out on his property during the last 

 forty years?" and I was informed that about ten trees had 

 been planted, and these about his house, neglecting the fact 

 that all the real estate which he owned away from his house 

 lot was barren of trees both on the interior and along the 

 border line of the property. This is the state of affairs 

 that Is met at every hand and the astonishing thing Is, that 

 it is not so much the small property owner who disregards 

 this important element in making his surroundings more at- 

 tractive, but it is apt to be the large real estate owner who Is 

 entirely indifferent to anything outside of the grounds sur- 

 rounding his house. 



Another reason of this lack of interest In tree planting 

 is the need of patience In awaiting results, and the possi- 

 bility of not living to enjoy the first beauty of the trees 

 when they mature. This is not as It should be. The pleas- 

 ures and advantages that others enjoy should be taken 

 into consideration the same as the leaving of accumulations 

 of any other character. Let your motto he : "Leave the 

 world more beautiful than you found It." 



The planting of trees need not be looked upon, however, 

 as work done only for the benefit of the future generation, 

 for there are many rapid-growing varieties of trees that 

 give fairly immediate results, and even if five, ten or more 

 years are required to secure the desired effects, the results 

 are well worth the patience required. 



"The love of beauty is taste, 



The creation of beauty is Art." 



-Emerson 



