i8 
PARK AND CEMETERY- 
% 
IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS. ^ 
Conducted by 
Frances Copley Seavey. 
Leave the World a pleasanter place than yon found it. 
ORGANIZATION AND OBJECTS. 
Pleasanter is in this application equivalent to 
better. Environment is coming more and more to 
be considered a pronounced factor of education — 
the education that makes for character. 
If towns, villages and individual homes have an 
unkempt, shiftless, down-at-the-heel air, the passer- 
by is justified in setting down the inhabitants as 
shiftless; and the generation that grows up amid 
such surroundings is more than likely to bear their 
characteristic imprint. 
Then, too, there is a material side to the ques- 
tion. The value of real estate increases in direct 
proportion to its possibilities for home-making. 
And every local business and calling, as well as all 
churches and schools, thrive as the ratio of desirable 
population increases. 
When it becomes clear that the moral, intellec- 
tual and material interests of a community can be 
benefited by a movement, some of its members are 
quick to recognize the fact and to take steps toward 
bringing it about. This is all the more certain 
when immediate, visible results of an agreeable 
nature may safely be counted on, as they may be 
from the formation of an improvement society or 
association. 
When a few members of a community feel that 
an improvement society is needed, let them learn 
the feeling of the better class of residents by a 
personal canvass, or by circulating printed slips 
similar to the following, which is a copy of one 
issued by the promoters of an eastern organization: 
To our L'clhnu Citisens of .■ 
The Hoard of Directors of the Village Improvement Asso- 
ciation earnestly invite your co operation in the work of beauti 
fying our town — a v\ork in which all are mutuall)- interested. 
To this end we request you to join the society by giving your 
name to the bearer of this note and pa>ing, at your earliest 
convenience, either to said bearer or to the treasurer, - — ^ 
— cents, which is the entire expense of membership for the 
year. 
We further invite your assistance in creating a public senti. 
ment that will secure tidiness on all public and private property 
in the village. Hoard of DiREcruRS, 
hnprovcincnt A ssociation. 
Or, let a meeting be called without such pre- 
liminarie.s. This meeting will often prove more 
successful if made attractive by a short and appro- 
priate programme. Probably the most effective 
incentive, both to attendance and to membership, 
is a short, pointed talk on the possibilities of 
improv'cment societies, illustrated by the stercopti- 
con with lantern slides made from “before” and 
“after” views of door yards that have been “treated. ” 
A good lantern slide of a barren back yard, littered 
with tin cans, ash barrels, etc., followed by another 
showing the same yard carpeted with grass, lined 
with vines and outlined by tasteful border planting, 
speaks for itself and for the cause as no tongue can 
speak. 
The following copy of the constitution of a 
prominent society gives an idea of what is 
needed; 
CONSTITUTION. 
1. This Association shall be called the Improvement 
Association. 
2. The objects of this Association shall be to cultivate 
public sentiment in favor of improving and beautifying the 
homes, streets and surroundings of , and to endeavor to 
promote, in every legitimate manner, the best development of 
the whole community. 
3. The payment of shall constitute membership 
during the then current year of the Association. 
4. A Board of Directors of three from each ward shall be 
elected by ballot at this meeting and at each annual meeting 
thereafter. They shall constitute an executive committee, who 
shall have the general control and management of the affairs of 
the Association. They shall elect by ballot a president, three 
vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer, and the appointment 
of all committees by the president shall be subject to their 
approval. The president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer 
shall be cx-officio members of the Board of Directors. 
5. No debt shall be contracted by the Board of Directors 
beyond the amount of available means within their control, and 
no member of the Association shall be liable for any debt of the 
Association beyond the amount of his or her subscription. 
6. (This section specifies the date of the annual meeting; 
rules for called meetings and of quorums.) 
7. This Constitution may be amended at any meeting of 
the Association, provided said amendment shall have been 
included in the published call fjr the meeting. 
I’lie question of niembership fees is one for local 
settlement. Some of the societies charge none, 
relying for sup]iort on subscriptions, entertainments, 
etc. The majority of organizations heard from, 
however, rciiort fees ranging from 25 cents to $2. 
In every case members may work out the fee if 
they choose. A fee should be charged if possible, 
for some money is essential, and this is a simple 
and legitimate way to secure it. 
The officers, directors and executive committee 
should include capable, influential, tactful and 
tasteful peojile, for on them will largely depend the 
success or failure of the undertaking. 
Not a least advantageous feature of such asso- 
ciations is the fact that they furnish a common 
interest and a common ground upon which all 
shades of religious and of political opinion may 
harmoniously meet and work together. 
Taste, not Creed, is the watchword of the 
