boss. Treat problems of planning, equip- 
ment and management as landscape and 
architectural work are now handled, by the 
employment, regularly or at intervals, of a 
playground expert comparable with the con- 
sulting architect or landscape gardener. 
The consulting playground expert could 
assist the superintendent with plans, speci- 
fications, selection and care of facilities and 
the right solution of problems of activities 
and management. This plan of general 
management has much to commend it in 
the smaller cities and park systems. In any 
park system it lends itself to the one-man 
power plan of organization and manage- 
ment. It may or may not be an econom- 
ical plan, but it may at least be made an 
effective plan without disturbing present 
customs and traditions in park manage- 
ment. 
Plan (B) : Create a department or di- 
vision of playgrounds and recreation cen- 
ters and place a high-grade playground ex- 
pert as head of this division or depart- 
ment. Assign to him the handling of all 
problems of the park system concerning 
the planning, equipment and management 
of all active, organized and directed recrea- 
tion activities and facilities. This plan 
finds its counterpart not only in up-to-date 
park systems themselves, but in many busi- 
ness, school and railroad organizations. 1 he 
thing to be said against this plan is that it 
brings a department with inherent popular 
qualities into emulation, if not strite, with 
other departments not so popular, or hav- 
ing an opportunity to parade in public on 
equal footing with the new department. 
Under these conditions there is likely to be 
a development of contempt for the play- 
ground idea and workers. The law of sup- 
ply and demand which so largely governs 
wages has thus far given playground 
workers a comparatively higher rating than 
all old-line park workers, and this in turn 
is likely to develop the feeling of hatred 
which springs from the measurement of 
wages as an index of favor, power and in- 
fluence. There are many other reasons 
which might be advanced to suggest that 
while the departmental system of manage- 
ment is generally favored in large park 
systems, it may not fit the needs of the 
hour as well as one of the other two plans 
herein set forth. 
I submit the third plan with considerable 
fear of being misunderstood. But if the 
function of my paper is to stimulate thought 
concerning the problems of tomorrow as 
well as to discuss difficulties of today, and 
unless we are to regard park groups as 
static in function and organization, I may 
at least hope to escape censure. 
Plan (C) : Select a high-grade, versa- 
tile and experienced playground expert and 
appoint him with the title of assistant su- 
perintendent. Let him be a co-ordinate 
power with the superintendent in all that 
pertains to the planning, equipment and 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
management of active recreation facilities 
throughout the park system. 
Park work in the operating department 
falls into two major divisions — physical de- 
velopment and upkeep on one hand, and the 
encouragement, interpretation, restraining 
and guiding of people in the use of park 
facilities on the other hand. Each of these 
divisions will be subdivided according to 
the extent of the field of operation. Park 
superintendents, like playground experts, 
doctors, explorers and aeroplanes, have 
their limitations. The drift in modern park 
development and operation is like the drift 
in modern agriculture — toward intensive 
use of every acre of ground. This in turn 
spells increasing active recreational uses 
of parks of whatever character, and the de- 
velopment of new kinds of parks. The 
great need of the park superintendent in 
this hour of amazing new demands is a co- 
ordinate head who shall relieve him of 
many perplexing human problems, the right 
solution of which means a progressive, 
ready, responsive and truly serviceable park 
system as contrasted with a system SO per 
cent efficient, halting and held behind 
rather than out in tront of the people. 
1 he claim that the engineer, construction 
man, maintenance chief or gardener should 
be the co-ordinate head ot the superin- 
tendent is . based upon mere custom and 
not in the logic of the present situation. 
The service ot these men is indispensable 
and often beyond barter, but it has to do 
with the preliminary and not the final func- 
tion of the park. The processes of the en- 
gineer, construction foreman, maintenance 
chief and gardener are governed by 
mathematics, mechanical arts, inanimate 
materials and the definitely classified hab- 
its of plants. T he man who deals with the 
people in their pursuits of recreation upon 
or with park facilities has the ever chang- 
ing moods, racial habits, moral attitude and 
other personal equations of groups of peo- 
ple of all ages to cope with. He, more 
than the other workers in the operating 
department, needs close relationship with 
and the co-ordinate power of the superin- 
tendent. It is perfectly true that the en- 
gineer, construction man, maintenance 
chief and gardener base their work upon 
the needs of the people in the use of the 
park. But the efforts of these experts 
have left our parks, apart from excellent 
artistic and architectural expression, with 
much to be done in real human service. 
And the reason for this is that interpreta- 
tion of the recreation needs of the people 
has come, not from the student, expert and 
master of that subject, but from the mas- 
ter of another subject who has done the 
best he could with a matter which, for 
obvious reasons, he has not mastered. But 
the superintendent may say, if I am to have 
an assistant, it is merely a question of the 
man and not the organization. Give me a 
willing, loyal worker (maintenance man, 
153 
construction man, engineer or gardener) 
to my liking and I will handle the matter. 
History is full of episodes which show 
that many good men have been ruined by 
a bad organization — often where the per- 
sonnel of the organization has been very 
superior — also that strong men have been 
made stronger by a good organization. The 
real question is, Why not hitch the horse 
before the cart and drive to the goal by 
the road of logic? 
The country-wide playground and recre- 
ation center movement has injected in 
public park work a group of twentieth 
century problems which are as worthy of 
serious study and accurate handling as any 
problems which have been presented for 
solution since the time the Egyptians be- 
gan the building of parks. It is quite clear, 
1 think, that the great possibilties and the 
problems of the present and future public 
park service lie in a perfect adaptation of 
every foot of park ground to human 
needs, and especially those needs as ex- 
pressed in the best tendencies of the mod- 
ern recreation center movement. I do not 
mean that public parks are to become 
“mere playgrounds,” that their planning 
and development is not to be governed by 
the canons of art and the laws of land- 
scape architecture, but I do mean that a 
new and larger service is to be rendered 
by parks, and that that service will not 
only depend upon a new kind of material 
and mechanical manipulation, clothed with 
the best artistic expression, but upon of- 
ficial attitude, adequate organization and 
masterly handling of latent possibilities. 
Since sentiment and ideals have governed 
us in park building, let us put the matter 
thus: The song of the park should not be 
“drink to me only with thine eyes,” but, 
rather, “embrace me in thy youth and adore 
and support me forever after.” 
All people of all time who have left an 
impression upon the world have been park 
builders, and only those people who have 
secured leisure have been able to scale the 
heights of civilization. In the past, leisure 
has been secured by one group through 
making slaves of another group. This was 
especially true of Greek and Roman civili- 
zation, which rose to incomparable heights 
in the marks of a great civilization. In 
America we are making machinery to do 
the work which was formerly done by 
slaves in other civilizations. There are in- 
dications on the horizon that our machinery 
will give us more leisure than any other 
civilization has experienced. The measure 
of the sanity, wholesomeness and strength 
of our civilization will be found in the 
manner in which our people spend their 
leisure hours. When park superintendents 
put these factors of ascending civilization 
together they will readily see the virtue, 
worthy work and patriotism which is theirs 
in giving modern play and recreation prob- 
lems the best possible treatment. 
