PLAX FOR ESSEX COUXTY PARKS 17 



into the Legislature a bill drawn on the lines of the plan as 

 presented. 



After the meeting I wrote out, as requested, this plan. It 

 was in the form of a letter addressed to the chairman of 

 Committee on Parks of the Xewark Board of Trade, and 

 was dated April 16, 1894. 



As this commnnication and plan soon became the founda- 

 tion upon which the siTperstructnre of the movement for a 

 county park S3'stem and the favorable legislation that soon 

 followed rested, the letter is here given in full. It is as 

 follows : 



"Agreeable to the nnderstanding at our meeting Satur- 

 day evening, fourteenth instant, I note below the principal 

 features of the plan unanimously approved by all the mem- 

 bers of both committees then present, as being the most 

 feasible for establishing a system of parks and parkways : 



"First — That action be taken by a special commission, 

 authorized by legislative enactment applicable to Essex 

 County. 



"Second — That such commission be composed of five 

 members appointed by the resident judge of the Supreme 

 Court, and that an appropriation be provided by a direct 

 charge upon the county for requisite expenses, surveys, 

 plans, etc., the commissioners to serve without compesation. 



"Third — That the commission be strictly non-partisan, 

 its members selected for fitness, with the sole object of 

 devising the very best scheme for a system of parks that is 

 practicable for the entire district. 



"The more we consider this plan the more simple, direct 

 and effective it appears. It provides for immediate action. 

 It admits of comprehensive treatment for the whole section 

 from the Passaic River to the Second Mountain, without 

 complications or delay incident to so many local governing 

 bodies attempting to solve the problem. The method of 

 appointment, free from political or speculative interference, 

 should at once enlist the confidence and support of the com- 

 munity favorable to the enterprise. 



