Editorials 



8i 



To bring order out of chaos and place the control and administration 

 of all the national parks on a firm working basis is no small undertak- 

 ing, especially when the red tape of Washington makes difficult even 

 simple innovations. Mr. Mather has kindly consented to tell us elsewhere 

 in this issue something of what he has done and is trying to do, but only 

 those who have followed his work closely realize how much he has ac- 

 complished and how hopeful he is making the future outlook for the 

 parks. We owe it to him and the private sacrifice he is making to carry 

 on this work, to do all we can to pass the National Park Service Bill, 

 and thus perpetuate this unification of management which he is building 

 up and which may all be lost later on without such an established ser- 

 vice. 



As another step in the right direction, we note with profound satisfac- 

 tion the appointment of Robert Bradford Marshall as General Superin- 

 tendent of National Parks. Mr. Marshall succeeds Mr. Mark Daniels, 

 who during his term of office accomplished much good in the way of 

 suggesting plans for harmonious structures within the parks and the lay- 

 ing out of roads with the best landscape ideas in mind. The pressure of 

 private engineering practice compelled Mr. Daniels to tender his resig- 

 nation. Mr. Marshall brings to this work unusual qualifications and 

 sympathetic understanding. He has either personally mapped or super- 

 vised the mapping of all of the parks and has visited them frequently in 

 the past. He was Chief Geographer of the Geological Survey at the time 

 of his appointment, and unquestionably his highest indorsement is to be 

 found in one of John Muir's letters to the Secretary of the Club when 

 he says : "I'm delighted we are to see Marshall. The best fellow of them 

 all." 



A bill is pending in Congress for the creation of a national park em- 

 bracing the Grand Canon of the Colorado, which all agree should be 

 done. Another bill providing for the enlargement of the Sequoia Na- 

 tional Park by adding the wonderful Kern and Kings River region lying 

 to the east and north, will shortly be introduced and its passage should 

 be urged by our members. This will embrace the Kern River Canon, 

 South Fork of Kings River Canon and Tehipite Valley, all of them Yo- 

 semite-like valleys, and also countless wonderful features such as Mt. 

 Whitney, the highest mountain in the United States. John Muir during 

 his lifetime heartily indorsed this plan. The grazing and other interests 

 in this proposed area must receive some protection and the bill will 

 doubtless provide for this, but speaking comparatively, the scenic assets 

 of this region far outweigh the commercial uses to which it might be put. 

 It needs roads to make it accessible and usable, and the park control is 

 much more likely to provide the needed money for this purpose. 



W. E. C. 



