>16 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
providing the material facilities necessary for the people 
to express those activities. "\Ye will not be going far 
wrong when we base our material facilities upon those 
large known interests of the people. 
Now, having that philosophy as a basis for providing 
the material facilities, the next question that confronts 
us in this work — in this movement — is by what agencies 
are we going to work out the problem of providing facili- 
ties, and attracting the people to the use of those facilities. 
First of all I might say that we believe that it is a 
duty and responsibility- that these things should be pro- 
vided by the people and supported by the municipal funds, 
raised by taxation and other methods of finance, and 
bond issues, etc. 
Therefore, first of all. comes the public library, which 
is the one big public institution that makes for the lin- 
guistic activity — linguistic needs of the people, providing 
reading and stories and other means of activities, and 
manv public libraries todav are beginning to organize 
clubs and other activities of that sort. 
Xext we have the little public schools — one of the most 
important agencies in this field. 
Next, the Park Department, and finally we have a new 
institution that has come into existence very recently in 
American towns and cities, namely, the playground or 
recreation commission. What I want to say in relation 
to this problem is this, that no single public institution in 
any American city today can possibly hope to function 
fully in providing adequate opportunities for the right 
use of the leisure time of the people. I think we can lay 
that down as a fundamental principle. 
Then, if that be true, what is the next principle in- 
volved? It is the principle of co-operation. 
Now, in Minneapolis, where there were three public 
institutions running and developed upon an extraordinary 
high plane of efficiency, namely, the public library, public 
school system and public park department, in dealing 
with that question with Air. Wirth and other members 
of the department, we simply said that each one of these 
institutions should function to the highest possible degree 
of efficiency within the limits of its material facilities, and 
within the limits of its financial resources, without any 
direct economic relation between them. 
Duplication — the overlapping of expense and duplica- 
tion in the matter of grounds and buildings, etc., shall be 
prevented by a central committee representative of the 
School Board, of the Library Board, and of the Park 
Board, together with the administration officers from 
each one of those agencies. That is working out, I think, 
very successfully, and will be one of the ways in which 
this problem will be met. 
There are many other forms in which that has been 
expressed in other American towns and cities, represent- 
ing many different agencies in this field. But I believe 
that some one public agencv in everv American com- 
munity should specialize in the field of recreation ; I 
mean, opportunities for the employment of the leisure 
time of the people. I believe that the Park Departments 
of America should be this special agent. 
Now, I know that there are many of you who will not 
agree with me on that at all, but I am the more firmly 
convinced of that after six years of studying and work 
upon this problem, and also further convinced of it be- 
cause it has been my pleasure to be associated with some 
park departments in this country which have functioned 
very fully in all of the ways that we could possibly hope 
for them to function. 
Now. the reason why I say that I believe that the park 
departments of America should be this special agent is, 
this is largely in contrast to the creation of a special 
recreation commission. These park departments are pri- 
marily recreational institutions. 
Now, I suppose some of you will take exception to 
that, but the park departments, with all of its properties, 
will have absolutely no function to play in the commu- 
nity except in relation to the life of the people of that 
community and the use of the properties, whether it be in 
the form of landscape, or whether it be in the form of 
athletic schools and playgrounds or school houses, will 
have to take place largely within the leisure time of the 
people, and in that sense I say a park department is pri- 
marily a recreational institution, providing many differ- 
ent sorts and kinds of recreation. 
I would like to say in this connection that we play- 
ground and recreation workers believe fully in providing 
amply for that form of recreation which is characteristic, 
namely, beautiful landscape, lawns, flower beds, shrub- 
bery, trees and all those sorts of things that bring to the 
city dweller opportunities for enjoying something of the 
natural conditions that the country dweller enjoys. And 
we are emphasizing more and more today the necessity 
of making the environment of every playground, no mat- 
ter how tiny, as beautiful as the landscape artists can 
make it, and landscape architects are employed today to 
do that sort of thing. 
Second, park departments are already established un- 
der city or state charters and laws, so that it is not neces- 
sary to go to the legislature or to have the charter of 
any given city amended in order to bring into being a 
new agency that is going to exercise similar functions to 
park departments. 
Third, co-operative work with other agencies is already 
established. As, for example, in the city of Louisville, 
the Park Department co-operates with private institutions 
like settlements and orphan asylums and with public 
institutions like the public library and. particularly, with 
a public institution like the public school. It co-operates 
with private individuals for private playgrounds for 
the children of the city. It co-operates with private cor- 
porations that supply music to the city, and many of the 
concerts in Louisville this year were given by private 
organizations. 
Fourth, the park departments have much of the funda- 
mental material properties necessary. Now, I do not 
mean by that, only lands, but I mean also the develop- 
ment of property — tools, equipment, etc., of many differ- 
ent sorts. 
A special recreation commission, when it comes into 
being, is confronted immediately with problems of con- 
struction and with the problem of maintenance. It is 
necessary, therefore, for the recreation commission to go- 
to work and build up a dual organization of equipment — 
construction equipment — in the developing of its prop- 
erties. The park departments of the different cities have 
already all that at hand. 
Fifth, the administration machinery is already present- 
It is not necessary to cause much violence to the admin- 
istrative machinery of the modern park department, to- 
introduce the one thing that characterizes particularlv the 
recreation movement, which is instructional instead of 
custodinal supervision. 
The park department of Louisville has a supervisor 
of recreation. Minneapolis has a supervisor of recrea- 
tion, and so in Spokane and in Seattle. The various park- 
departments in Chicago, and in numerous other cities, 
small and large, in America today, also have them. 
Sixth. It prevents duplication of administrative ma- 
chinery. By using the park deparment's facilities irt 
this field it is not necessary to create a new clerical 
force, to create a new engineering force, a new con- 
struction force, or to create new forces of guards, etc. 
