Editorial J^fote 
The City 'Beautiful. 
The New York City Improvement Commission, 
which was appointed by the mayor a year ago, has 
reported an elaborate scheme of improvements, esti- 
mated to cost $250,000,000, to cover a period of ten 
years. The scheme is broad in its scope and em- 
braces a closer control of river front works, such as 
piers, docks, etc. Chicago is coming to the front in 
civic improvement, also. The question of uniting the 
north and south park systems, which has been dis- 
cussed for years, is rapidly approaching a solution. It 
it proposed to surmount the difficulty of crossing the 
Chicago river near its mouth by the construction of 
an elaborate and commodious bascule bridge, and the 
entire improvement will probably cost some $5,000,000. 
It is timely to push civic betterment on the flood-tide 
of prosperity. 
* * 
Better Care of c Rgral Cemeteries. 
A resolution passed at the twelfth annual meeting 
of the Michigan State Association of Farmers’ Clubs, 
recently held at Lansing, is a significant indication of 
the development of the improvement movement. The 
resolution decries the common neglect of the country 
graveyard in that it reflects on our civilization as a 
Christian people, and proposes the setting apart of 
September 30th of each year, to be known as “Memory 
Day,” on which day all interested are to be urged to 
do what is possible to improve the local cemetery. Of 
course nobody would expect to realize much perma- 
nent benefit from this one day of active work, but from 
the very fact that the farmers themselves see the pro- 
priety and necessity of something being done to re- 
move the odium attaching to them for their neglect 
of their burial places, much more may be expected. 
If it were possible for the Association of American 
Cemetery Superintendents to get into touch with the 
State Farmers’ Clubs and Horticultural Societies, a 
strong sentiment might be developed, in due time, to 
be crystallized into active work, looking to the perma- 
nent reclamation of numbers of the neglected but sa- 
cred places. That such associations as have been men- 
tioned should give prominent place in their delibera- 
tions to the care of the small cemeteries is a matter that 
should not be neglected by the leading Associations de- 
voted to improvement ideas, and every help and sym- 
pathy should be extended so as to make their efforts 
more telling and in accordance with the recognized 
principals dominating the movement. 
* * * 
The c/lmerican Forest Congress. 
In view of its vast importance to the economic in- 
terests of the country, no more important meeting than 
that of the American Forest Congress has been held 
and Comment. 
in recent years. It has at last come to be realized that 
the conservation of a due proportion of our forest areas, 
their intelligent care, and the reforestation of other 
areas are absolutely essential to the welfare of the 
country. The congress which was held in Washing- 
ton, D. C., January 2-6, was practically representative 
of the great industrial interests dependent on the well- 
being of the forests, as well as of the official and scien- 
tific aspects of the question, which are quite as im- 
portant as those pertaining to the lumber products ; 
for there can be no substitution for the subversion of 
natural laws, which vitally affect the healthful condi- 
tions of the masses. The congress was addressed by 
President Roosevelt, Secretary Wilson, and numbers 
of men of prominence, interested in the work. The 
President in his remarks touched upon the important 
point of the creation of a national forest service, and 
it is altogether probable that a national policy will be 
the result of the meeting, which will control the forest 
question in all its relations to the people, scientific and 
industrial. As suggested by our chief magistrate the 
concentration of all the forest work of the government 
in the Department of Agriculture will make the na- 
tional forests more actively and more permanently use- 
ful to the people of the West ; it will do more than that, 
it will enlist the agriculturists in the cause, to the end 
that every farmer will learn to understand that his 
wood lot is a paying as well as an economic proposi- 
tion. 
* * * 
Another Billboard ^Decision. 
An important decision was quite recently rendered 
by Justice Scott, of the New York Supreme Court, and 
a permanent injunction granted, in the suit on the 
billboard nuisance brought by the New York Munici- 
pal Art Society in the name of the taxpayers. The 
park commissioners had made a contract with a cer- 
tain billboard firm for advertising space on a tem- 
porary fence around the new library building at Bryant 
Park, and the question was as to the legality of the 
commissioners’ action. The court based its decision 
on the general principles governing park boards, which 
are to maintain the beauty and utility of the parks, 
squares and public places within their jurisdictions, and 
execute measures for the improvement thereof, and 
the question of the city deriving revenue from the 
advertisements was declared to be as irrelevant as the 
argument upon its temporary character. Further dec- 
laration was made that a contract for the use of the 
grounds for advertising purposes was illegal, the park 
board having no authority to enter into it. The New 
York press heartily endorsed the decision, and it is 
thought that the ruling, which is far broader than a 
limited notice can express, is expected to have a pow- 
erful influence on the decision of the question of ad- 
vertising in the New York Subway. 
