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HOME AND FLOW EES 



perience, men of all parties in national 

 politics. They have the entire confidence 

 of the public, and this confidence has never 

 been betrayed. Nearly all the members 

 are business men, or professional men in 

 active practice, who take from their pri- 

 vate affairs, at a considerable financial 

 loss, the afternoons and evenings which 

 they give gratis to the city. There are a 

 few labor members, who are supported by 

 the trade unions or by voluntary contri- 

 butions. 



"x\s soon as they entered office," he con- 

 tinued, "the members of the council began 

 to use their powers for social betterment. 

 One of the first things they did was to take 

 up with great enthusiasm the taslv of pro- 

 viding gardens for the gardenless. If the 

 city was to be kept healthy it would re- 

 quire more ^lungs,' especially in the 

 crowded districts. The council took ad- 

 vantage of every opportunity to secure 

 parks for the people, and the result is 

 evident to every visitor. When the council 

 came into office in 1889 it had under its 

 control forty- three parks and open spaces, 

 with a total of 2,578 acres. Now it has 

 control of eighty-seven parks, gardens, 

 playgrounds and open spaces, with an area 

 of 3,814 acres — double the number of 

 parks, and a fifty per cent larger acreage. 



"As soon as new parks were secured the 

 council endeavored to improve them so 

 that they would give the largest return in 

 healthy sport and instruction to the citi- 

 zens. This has been done at the cost of 

 much dreary detail work, and when you 

 consider that the councilors are unpaid, 

 you will realize hoM^ much credit they de- 

 serve. They have constructed special gym- 

 nasiums for the children, so that they can 

 take athletic exercise, and at Victoria Park 

 they arranged sand beds for the small 

 children of the poverty-stricken East End. 

 They have also made provision for cricket, 

 croquet, lawn tennis, golf, and other 

 games. In summer they encourage boat- 

 ing and bathing in the parks, and in the 

 winter they endeavor to provide a good ice 

 surface for skating. They have insisted 



that reasonable prices be charged at the 

 refreshment houses in all the parks, and 

 they established a municipal band, which 

 has given as many as 852 performances at 

 forty-eight different places during a sum- 

 mer season. 



"We now have eleven great polytechnic 

 schools where young men and women can 

 learn some worthy trade. They have well- 

 equipped laboratories and are modern in 

 every way. They also have their social 

 and recreative sides, with clubs, debating 

 societies and concerts, which assist in the 

 general education of the poor. The coun- 

 cil contributes $250,000 a 3^ear to the sup- 

 port of the schools, and there are nearly 

 50,000 students in attendance. During 

 the past few years a half-dozen special 

 trade schools have been established, as well 

 as a large central School of Arts and 

 Crafts. And last, but not least, they have 

 established a system of free scholarships 

 which enables any poor boy to climb to 

 the university. 



"Soon after the council was instituted 

 it saw that there were numerous foul rook- 

 eries in London which were unfit for hab- 

 itation, and that something must be done 

 to improve them. The Board of Works 

 had cleared some districts at enormous 

 cost and had then sold the land to builders 

 who had erected alleged model tenements, 

 which in some cases were really model 

 slums. The council decided that the only 

 way to get satisfactory buildings was to 

 erect them itself. There were innumerable 

 obstacles to overcome, but at present it 

 appears that they have all been surmount- 

 ed. They have erected dwellings for more 

 than 50,000 poor, and have in course of 

 construction accommodations for as many 

 more. These municipal tenements give 

 much better accommodations than can be 

 had elsewhere for the same rent in the 

 same locality. They are profitable, too, 

 to the taxpayers, for after allowing inter- 

 est on the cost and a sinking fund they 

 yield a small net profit, which goes into 

 the municipal purse. 



"The council has now in progress what 



