A CHANGE IN" THE CUERENT 61 



of faithful administration. But it is fair to presume in a 

 public measure like this that there may be powerful pres- 

 sure brought to bear upon him at the present juncture, 

 which the position of the real friends of the enterprise 

 may do much to nullify or counteract. The time for nam- 

 ing the new commissioners is very limited, and if the efforts 

 for place last summer, at the inception of the enterprise 

 and before the appointment of the first commission, formu- 

 lated so readily, now that the actual work is to be under- 

 taken, speculatiye and corporate interests may look at the 

 field as all the more attractive. 



"The general support given the report and plans of the 

 commission show that the great mass of people are disposed 

 to rightly discriminate in favor of a work of great public 

 importance undertaken on sound, correct principles ; and, if 

 the plans and policy of the present board are carried out, 

 I believe the results will fully justify the anticipation of 

 those who have given the subject the most thought and 

 study. 



"All this, of course, if the new bill carries. If not, we 

 shall have more than a year yet, under the old law, to for- 

 mulate new plans or present the subject in other forms. I 

 have little doubt that the vote will be overwhelmingly in 

 favor." 



Under date of April 9, 1895, Mr. lire's reply was as 

 follows : 



"My Dear Sir — Yours of the 8th instant received. The 

 first person I met after reading your letter was a well 

 known public official who brought up the park question by 

 asking me what I thought about the appointment of new 

 commissioners. When I told him that the present commis- 

 sioners ought to be reappointed, he said there was ^no use 

 talking to me further on that subject,' but said Messrs. Peck 

 and Jackson did not satisfy him. This may indicate that 

 a movement will be made to change the personnel of the 

 present board, although I hope that any such scheme will be 



