COXTEST FOB PAEKWAYS COXTIXUED 201 



conflicting as to the facts. One of the city officials who 

 was present at the conference stated for publication the 

 next morning: "Yon can take this as inspired prophecy — 

 that Central avenne will never be made a parkway, but 

 the commissioners want it to turn over to the trolley com- 

 panies for roads to the mountain parks; while Park ave- 

 nue will be widened and the entire cost of making it a 

 parkway will be borne b}^ owners of abutting property, un- 

 less a decided and united stand is taken now by those 

 interests, and the commissioners are compelled to take the 

 public into their confidence and tell them what they intend 

 doing/' 



This and similar public comments were looked upon un- 

 favorably as regards the Park Commission. Intimations 

 of bad faith were, by the doubting ones, freely expressed. 

 The counsel and, by the statements accredited to him, the 

 commission itself, were both placed on the defensive. Coun- 

 sel Munn soon afterward made a lengthy report of the 

 meeting to the commission. 



The gist of it was that he had previously replied to 

 the inquiries of Counsel T. A. Davis as to widening the 

 avenues: First, that a transfer made under Section 18 of 

 the park act did "not alter the status of such avenues as 

 existing public highways" ; second, did not confer upon the 

 Essex County Park Commission the power to widen said 

 avenues; or, third, the right to make assessments. That 

 *^no revolutionary subversion of these avenues has been 

 thought possible by the Park Commission," but, "if at 

 any future time it shall be deemed necessary or ad^dsable 

 to widen these avenues at any point or place, new and 

 different proceedings will have to be instituted under the 

 other powers of the park act, and the whole matter will 

 then proceed as if this present contemplated action had 

 not been taken." 



The conference, the report stated, was of "a pleasant and 

 agreeable character"; also stated that the ordinance pend- 

 ing before the Common Council "was unobjectionable in 

 form, except for one clause therein" — the restrictive clause 



