465 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
AMERICAN CIVIC ASSOCIATION CONVENTION 
Pittsburg has been implanted with the 
germ of civic uplift by the remarkable 
gathering and discussions by national 
authorities on many aspects of city gov- 
ernment, and many phases of civic life, 
that marked the joint convention of the 
National Municipal League and the 
American Civic Association, held in that 
city November 16 to 19. A spirit of, 
civic awakening in the greatest indus- 
trial city in the country, was manifested 
in the interest shown in these meetings, 
and will continue to grow and be a 
powerful force in the making of a bet- 
ter as well as a greater Pittsburg. 
The conventions opened with two 
joint meetings, in which conditions in 
Pittsburg and in other cities were shown 
up, both from a civic and a social stand- 
point, and the way pointed to better 
things. The first meeting was held in 
the afternoon in the chamber of com- 
merce rooms and the meeting of the 
evening in the Second Presbyterian 
church. 
The opening session in the afternoon 
was called to order by President J. 
Horace McFarland, of the American 
Civic Association. The assembly room 
of the chamber of commerce was well 
filled, the audience including many well- 
known Pittsburg citizens. 
The address of welcome on behalf 
of the city was delivered by Mayor 
Guthrie. President Smith of the chamber 
of commerce delivered the chamber’s 
welcome. Horace E. Deming, chairman 
of the executive committee, replied on 
behalf of the National Municipal League, 
and President McFarland for the other 
association. 
Clinton Rogers Woodruff, of Phila- 
delphia, secretary of both organizations, 
was the principal speaker of this session. 
His topic was “American Municipal 
Tendencies,” and was a comprehensive 
and informing review of the work of 
the organizations in the country devoted 
to improving city government. He said 
in part : 
No .small part of the gravity of the Amer- 
ican municipal situation is due to the grow- 
ing complexity of city life and the rapidly 
increasing functions to be discharged. With- 
in two years New York has been committed 
to the policy of annual budgets that will 
clearly show for what purpose money is 
voted and will prevent the use of funds 
for purposes other than those mentioned In 
the budget; to a method of accounting that 
win tell the truth; to service records that 
will place a premium on official honesty, 
and to the reorganization of a central comp- 
trolling office known as the department of 
finance. Boston has already proved a pro- 
posed loan of $300,000 to be unnecessary, 
has struck $536,000 out of another proposed 
loan bill and has saved the city $100,000 
on the purchase of coal alone. Wilming- 
ton has just introduced a careful and thor- 
ough examination of Its accounts. Chicago 
is on the threshold of an era of public 
improvement. 
Except in Philadelphia, where the merit 
system has temporarily fallen upon evil 
days, the Administration of the civil service 
laws in the various cities shows an honest 
effort to enforce them. Mayor Guthrie of 
your city of Pittsburg has expressly for- 
bidden municipal employes to take active 
part in politics. The new primary law of 
Michigan makes It a misdemeanor for office- 
holders to solicit votes. Norfolk has for- 
bidden city employes to become active in 
political work. 
There is no golden road to municipal re- 
form. It is a problem that requires the 
best thought of the , best men of the na- 
tion. The chief difficulty lies in bringing 
home to the people the truth about local 
conditions in such a way that they cannot 
escape. Once the people realize the truth, 
the remedy will readily be found. We are 
passing from the era of general denunciation 
to that of more exact statement and detailed 
information. 
“The Work of Health Boards” was 
the title of a paper by George A. Soper, 
of New York city, chairman of the 
municipal sewerage commission of New 
York, which, because of Dr. Soper’s in- 
ability to be present, was read by Dr. 
Alexander C. Abbott, superintendent of 
the bureau of health of Philadelphia. 
The paper was discussed by Dr. J. F. 
Edwards, superintendent of the Pittsburg 
bureau of health. 
The great civic exhibit of the Pitts- 
burg survey was opened the day before 
the convention at the Carnegie Institute. 
The exhibit is the most elaborate ever 
presented in any city in the country. 
Many models, with thousands of photo- 
graphs and miles of charts show in 
every phase the socioligical conditions 
throughout the world. The Pittsburg 
health bureau, juvenile court and philan- 
thropic organizations are represented in 
the exhibit, which remains on view till 
December 20. 
At the evening session pictures of ad- 
mirable tenement conditions abroad and 
deplorable conditions at home were 
shown by Grosvenor At'terbury of New 
York city, who, in addition to long study 
of the problems of proper housing of 
poor families, has been the architect of 
the Phipps’ model tenements. 
Paul U. Kellogg was another speaker 
of the evening, with an inspiring ad- 
dress on “The Civic Responsibilities of 
Democracy in an Industrial District.” 
The speaker also read a message from 
John Burns, the British labor leader, in 
reply to the request for suggestions as 
to the ways of advance which would fit 
conditions in the Pittsburg district. It 
was as follows : 
“Six days’ work a week instead of 
seven; three shifts of eight hours in- 
stead of two shifts of 12; no 24-hour 
shifts; better housing; counter-attrac- 
tions to the saloon; better parks — open 
spaces ; the improvement of the river 
front — the humanizing of labor instead 
of toil — there you are. Those are Pitts- 
burg’s marching orders.” 
The other speaker of the evening was 
Robert A. Woods, director of the South 
End House, Boston, and former settle- 
ment worker in Pittsburg. He spoke on 
“Pittsburg’s Civic Problem.” 
The morning session of the next day 
was devoted to the general subject of 
“Nuisances,” and President McFarland 
opened with a vigorous attack on Pitts- 
burg’s billboard nuisance. 
“Pittsburg,” he said, “has more bill- 
boards per square inch than any other 
city in the United States. In fact, it 
comprises most of the municipal art of 
this city. We who are staying at the 
Hotel Schenley pass through a double 
avenue of billboards to get downtown. 
Even the position of the Carnegie In- 
stitute is made use of by private indi- 
viduals for their own gain, billboards 
being placed as near to the structure as 
it is possible for them to be.” He also 
commented caustically on public build- 
ings being used for advertising purposes, 
flayed the rich who patronize the fine 
arts and make their money by descreat- 
ing the sky line and ended up by intro- 
ducing Murray Shipley, head of the 
Committee of Municipal Art of the 
Businessmen’s Club of Cincinnati, who 
delivered an address on “Cincinnati’s 
Billboard Campaign.” He said in part: 
