EXPEEIEXCES— EECOMMEXDATIOXS 293 



and the number of complex elements in the Commission 

 have apparently made it difficult to carrj^ out a progressive 

 park policy for the city as a whole. 



In Chicago the five Commissioners hi control of the 

 South Park system are chosen by the several Circuit Court 

 judges of that district. Since the acquirement of the first 

 South Side parks, in 1869, these court officials have agreed 

 upon appointments which have been free from political in- 

 terference, and the appointees being men of standing, and 

 devoted to the parks, they have retained the confidence and 

 support of the public to a marked degree. 



The Xorth Side, or Lincoln Park Board, and the Com- 

 mission in charge of the West Side park system of that 

 city, are both appointed by the Governor. There have been 

 good men from time to time appointed on each board, but 

 each in turn has for years, under different administrations, 

 been subject to partisan uses, or under the influence of 

 practical politics. 



The Park Commissions of Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincin- 

 nati, ISTew Orleans, Omaha^ Providence, San Francisco, St. 

 Louis and St. Paul, are parts of the city governments, re- 

 spectively, either appointed by the Mayor or elected by the 

 City Council. 



In Washington the comprehensive plan for the capital 

 as prepared in 1T91 by the great landscape architect and 

 city builder, Peter C. L'" Enfant, has been only partially 

 ■carried out. The city parks and squares are now under the 

 control of a local officer of the War Department ; the effec- 

 tively planted avenues and streets, of the Parking Commis- 

 sion; and Rock Creek Park of still another commission, 

 composed of District officials or officers of the general gov- 

 ernment. 



Cleveland and Detroit are both experimenting with sin- 

 gle-headed commissions, the former park boards having 

 been abolished by the general city charter legislation of 

 Ohio a few years ago, and the so-called "ripper" bills of 

 Michigan in 1901. In both instances the Park Department 

 is a bran<3h of 'a he city government. 



