m MHST COUNTY PARK StSTfaM 



"I believe the conviction is almost universally shared in 

 by the public that it is not only the province, but quite 

 within the limits of duty, for the counsel of a public board, 

 to defend the charter creating it — not to attack or assail it, 

 either as to what it contains or what it was clearly intended 

 it should not contain. 



"If the alleged statements are correct, the counsel of the 

 commission came before the official representatives of the 

 second city of the county, and gave those gentlemen.to un- 

 derstand confidentially — ^not for the reporters' — ^that if the 

 conditions (against widening the avenues and of assess- 

 ment for benefits) are left in the ordinance in entire accord 

 with the acknowledged limitations of the charter, and like- 

 wise in strict accord with what has repeatedly been an- 

 nounced as the definite plan and purpose of the commission, 

 that such restriction might be deemed as Against public 

 policy and void,^ and perhaps hereafter a court asked to 

 nullify a condition which it was never intended should be 

 other than restrictive, in so far as it applied to existing 

 avenues or streets that might be transferred under the 18th 

 section of the present park law that "this has placed the 

 friends of the commission in all this portion of the county 

 on the defensive, to explain, and, if not officially corrected, 

 will be likely to unfavorably affect the additional park ap- 

 propriation bill at the polls when the question is submitted 

 to the electorate at the coming spring election." 



Similar views were expressed personally and officially to 

 the commissioners by others. On March 2, 1898, John D. 

 Everett wrote Commissioner F. M. Shepard, and, after ex- 

 pressing the doubts in his own mind, referred to the park- 

 way situation in these words: "There were, and are, no 

 doubts in the minds of the good people of Orange since the 

 conference of the Street Committee of the Orange Common 

 Council with Mr. Munn and some one else representing the 

 Park Commission on January 11 last. 



"It is publicly reported and generally believed in Orange, 

 by both Eepublicans and Democrats, that Mr. Munn stated 

 to the Street Committee that the ordinance, which had 



