Editorial J\ote 
cA Civic Exhibit at Chicago . 
From the middle of February to the middle of 
March there will be held in the Public Library Build- 
ing of Chicago, a loan exhibit of the Municipal Mu- 
seum, which by reason of the interest displayed in the 
project will afford an education in the ways and 
means of civic improvement. Chicago must be con- 
gratulated on being the first of our large cities to in- 
stitute so comprehensive an enterprise. It is to be 
conducted under the auspices of the City Homes As- 
sociation, and promises to be largely ahead of the 
similar effort at the St. Louis Exposition. The col- 
lection will include exhibits from many foreign coun- 
tries, as well as from important centres of the United 
States. Many of Chicago’s foremost citizens, whose 
names have been associated with such work in the 
past, are members of the board of directors, includ- 
ing Miss Jane Addams, president of Hull House ; 
and for the month, Mrs. Conde Hamlin, of St. Paul, 
will occupy the position of director. The manage- 
ment is to be congratulated on this appointment. 
* * * 
Another Site Controversy in Washington, D. C. 
It may be stated squarely that the country at large 
has approved the plans prepared with such infinite care 
by the Congressional Park Commission for the per- 
manent and progressive improvement of Washington, 
D. C. These plans were published broadcast and were 
accorded approbation by all classes of citizens, in- 
cluding the American Institute of Architects, the mem- 
bers of which took energetic steps, not long ago, to 
thwart the efforts of the Department of Agriculture 
to degrade the scheme by obtruding their new build- 
ing upon the Mall, and were successful. Another 
controversy is waging over the location of the Grant 
monument, a site for which was provided, but which 
is opposed by certain opponents of the Park Commis- 
sion. The location arranged by the Commission is 
eminently appropriate for the subject, as well as for 
the accepted design of the sculptor ; while that for 
which the opposition is working would offer incongru- 
ities, certainly to be avoided. Congress should take 
steps to set the seal of its authority on the Commis- 
sion plans so as to frustrate the efforts which appear 
to be dormant attacks upon them whenever opportun- 
ity occurs. Another question suggests itself in con- 
nection with these efforts to destroy the harmony of 
these Washington improvement plans ; it is : what in- 
terests are at work and by whom are they exploited 
in Washington? The information ought to be useful. 
* * * 
Government Irrigation in the West. 
Although there has been considerable opposition to 
the government’s vast scheme of irrigation under 
“The Reclamation Law” of 1902, it promises beneficial 
results, far-reaching and of great importance. With- 
and Comment. 
out expense to the taxpayers, it will bring under cul- 
tivation an immense acreage of the arid lands of a 
number of the western states — lands which have been 
hitherto looked upon as utterly useless for agricult- 
ural purposes. Fourteen projects ha've been investi- 
gated by government engineers and approved. The 
funds for the work are derived from the sale of pub- 
lic lands, and this has been accumulating much faster 
than was expected, so that six of the projects are actu- 
ally under construction, and thousands of men are at 
work on them. The average cost of reclaiming the 
land is estimated at $27.26 per acre, and the land will 
be sold at that price to the public, payable in ten an- 
nual installments, and the money thus refunded will 
be vised over and over again to carry on the great 
work. It is expected that some 20,000 acres can be 
cultivated the present summer, and settlers are going 
in very rapidly. Some of the projects involve hydrau- 
lic engineering works of large proportions, but the 
surveys and studies have been very carefully made, 
with a view to rendering the projects as absolutely per- 
manent as our present knowledge justifies. Six of 
the projects under construction are located in the fol- 
lowing states: Nebraska, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, 
Arizona and New Mexico. 
* * ^ 
The Country School-House Yard. 
The present month is suggestive of the number of 
important matters connected with outdoor improve- 
ment that warrant particular attention, although none 
invites more strenuously than the country school- 
house yard. The percentage of country school-houses 
that offer any attractions whatever, reflects seri- 
ously on all classes of citizenship, notwithstanding 
that the means of improvement are in the great ma- 
jority of cases close at hand. The only excuse is lack 
of education in the matter of taste. This sentiment, 
or rather faculty, is an essential of good citizenship, 
and should have been considered by the great fathers 
of our civilization, but was overlooked in the other 
important questions occupying their minds in those 
formative days. It ;s not too late to begin, and our 
schools should incorporate into the primary curriculum 
a course of reading and study that would turn the 
child’s mind to thoughts on beauty and harmony. 
The improvement both of the schoolhouse and home 
surroundings would soon follow. The unsightly and 
discouraging appearance of the district school is actu- 
ally detrimental to the cause of education in the coun- 
try and oftentimes the suburbs. It would be so easy 
to secure an hour or two’s work of the plow and har- 
row to get the school yard ready for the grass seed ; 
and the planting of a few shrubs and vines, and one 
or two shade trees, would only consume a little more 
time, which even by the postponement of a few ses- 
sions of school exercises would be a fine investment. 
