281 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ORGANIZING PARK BOARDS FOR SMALL CITIES 
Mr. George A. Parker, superinten- 
dent of parks, Hartford, Conn., one of 
the best informed and most broadly 
trained park men in the country, is 
widely known as a bureau of infor- 
mation on park matters and is fre- 
quently CQjisulted on problems of park 
management. In one of his recent 
letters in reply to a request for ad- 
vice from an official of a small city, 
he discusses the organization of a 
park commission in small cities in a 
way so generally helpful, that we pre- 
sent herewith the greater part of the 
letter: 
“The park problem in cities of less 
than 40,000 population has not yet 
been solved, partly because cities of 
that size are not large enough to take 
on metropolitan functions, or strong 
enough to control their own evolution 
by their own inherent force. They are 
something like a boy in his teens; 
i;o matter how promising he may be, 
it is not until he has passed through 
his fourth period of life that it can be 
really determined what kind of a man 
he w’ill make. Then again a small 
city is so near the surrounding coun- 
try, and the country influences prevail 
to such an extent, that the greatest ad- 
vantage of parks in large cities is not 
needed there. The growth of a vil- 
lage into a city, and of a small city 
into a large one is manageable and 
trainable as a boy can be managed and 
trained into a man, and the difficul- 
ties met with in both cases are very 
similar. The call is for a person who 
knows and foresees the needs and re- 
sults, and has tact and influence to 
bring about the conditions which will 
produce them. We have learned only 
in part how to train the boy ; we know 
less about developing the city, where 
we need the statesman as differen- 
tiated from the politician. 
“The park problem in small cities is 
not so definite as the street, water, 
sewerage, police, and other functions, 
for these are manifestly needed, while 
parks deal with less material needs, 
and are not so obviously of service 
to the people. It too often seems as 
if a city could get along without 
By. GEORGE A. PARKER 
Supt. of Parksy Hartford^ Conn. 
parks without apparently suffering, 
but the need of them is none the less 
real, although more hidden. These 
conditions should be recognized in the 
formation of a park charter, otherwise 
it may break down in its operation. 
“Before considering the terms of a 
charter let us consider for a moment 
what work it is intended to accomp- 
lish in a city of 35,000 population. 
Such a city, at the ordinary rate of 
growth, will be 40,000 in twenty years 
from now, and it is for this latter size 
city that the scheme should be con- 
sidered. 
“Unless there are reasons why a 
large country park is particularly de- 
sired now, or can easily be obtained, 
or there is some place of Special his- 
toric or scenic value which should be 
preserved, 200 acres of park land are 
ample for a city of 40,000 people, 
and might be sub-divided into one 
large park of about 100 acres, and 
two smaller ones of from 20 to 40 
acres each, the remainder divided into 
ten or a dozen small squares or play- 
grounds. 
“If the park needs of a city of 40,000 
are to be met, it will require about 
that amount of land, with its subdi- 
visions, and one of the most impor- 
tant duties of a park commission is 
the selection and obtaining of this 
land. If rightly located and purchased 
it immediately adds more to the valua- 
tion of the surrounding property, than 
it takes from taxation, and will be 
found to lessen rather than to increase 
the rate of taxation. It is one of 
those cases which if rightly done, 
proves to be profitable to the city 
in dollars and cents, that is, it puts 
more money into the city treasury 
than it takes out. This at first blush 
might seem impossible, but I believe 
it to be true, and that it can be shown 
to be the case in the operations of 
parks in other cities. If, however, 
parks are not rightly located, bought 
and managed, they may easily become 
unprofitable, and the experience of 
some cities show them to be greatly 
so. 
“If the land has been obtained the 
development of it into parks can pro- 
gress as it is needed. It should, how- 
ever, be recognized that to thoroughly 
develop park land means an average 
cost of about $1,000 per acre, although 
in small cities such development often 
does not go beyond the three or five 
hundred dollars per acre standard, for 
in them there is not the need of the 
thorough and extensive development 
that is required in the larger cities. 
“I presume your city has, like most 
ambitious small cities, a bonded debt 
of from one-half to one million dol- 
lars, and that your tax rates are al- 
ready as high as you care to have 
them, and that the park department 
m.ust not become burdensome nor in- 
terfere with the development of the 
street, sewer, water and other city 
functions more necessary to begin 
with than parks. Therefore, it is nec- 
essary for the park commission to so 
spend the money allotted them that it 
shall increase the valuation which may 
be assessed for taxation, whether by 
an increased value of property imme- 
diately surrounding them or through- 
out the city generally, or by attracting 
other people, or property interests, ’o 
locate there. The money expended in 
parks should bring about an imme- 
diate return, that is, the same year, 
or within a year or two of its being 
spent. It should not be expended in 
such a way that it will take a long 
term of years for the city to receive 
its benefits. This means that the park 
commissioners must be in touch with 
the people, have their finger as it were 
on the public pulse, and know the 
needs of the city as to parks, even bet- 
ter than the people know them. 
“I presume that the land for park 
purposes will be obtained from money 
raised by bonds, and the improve- 
ments and maintenance from money 
raised yearly by taxes. In the ma- 
jorit}" of cities which have park sys- 
tems, the amount raised averages 
about fifty cents per capita, which 
means from half mill tax in very 
