2 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
of these important factors of Chicago’s park system 
should be a wholesome warning to American citizens 
generally, and the moral to be drawn and vigorously 
and cmphaticallly rubbed in is : Upon no considera- 
tion whatever permit politics, so called, and now so 
well recognized, to have any influence at all upon 
park tfevelopment and control. The honest business 
man and the landscape gardener in fact, and not in 
name only, are the only citizens qualified to be affil- 
iated with park work. 
PAUPER Every now and then the above term ap- 
GRAVES pears in public print and it grates offen- 
sively on one’s better nature. The opening year of 
the twentieth century should witness a new era in 
cemetery practice with regard to the single grave 
sections and the plots set aside for the unfortunates 
who finish their worldly careers under the care of 
the public functionaries designated forThe positions 
with little regard usually for their fitness for the oc- 
cupation. Perpetual care and the high order of land- 
scape art which now dominates our leading ceme- 
teries practically compel due and proper considera- 
tion for the sections set apart for single graves, and 
in fact the perpetual care idea is extending into this 
part of many of our cemeteries. No high class ceme- 
tery can afford to neglect any portion of its grounds, 
not even the plot sometimes officially required for the 
burial of the poor. No matter how beautifully devel- 
oped cemetery grounds may be, a neglected plot will 
mar the whole; just as a neglected lot spoils the ap- 
pearance of the most happily arranged, section. We 
can imagine that a field of delightful usefulness opens 
to the. humane-minded community in seeing that the 
burial plot of the poor is made beautiful. It would 
certainly redound to their credit in large measure, 
and would be a labor of love that carries “no string 
to it’’ as so many public benefactions are today 
charged with. 
cARBOR The first spring month, eagerly awaited in 
most parts of the country, ushers in the 
period of activity in all outdoor pursuits. It also 
lends force to anticipations and invigorates the facul- 
ties looking to an active campaign in the practical 
operations required in outdoor improvement and de- 
velopment. And a prominent thought just at this 
time is the approach of Arbor Day. No institution 
of modern times has made more progress in the world 
than has that of Arbor Day in this United States. 
Proclaimed in Nebraska but comparatively a few years 
ago, its possibilities were so readily appreciated, that 
it rapidly spread from state to state, until it has be- 
come a national day. And it has proved itself a na- 
tional beneficence too. Taken up primarily by the 
public school children with all the enthusiasm of the 
young, it spread alipost like an infection, and the 
day about which has come to center so much of an 
educational nature concerning tree life and its value 
to humanity, is now participated in by both young 
and old, and to a degree that could have been scarcely 
dreamed of by its promoters in Nebraska at the time 
it was first suggested. And the amount of good it 
must be credited with is beyond estimation. To it 
is undoubtedly due the vast increase in knowledge and 
interest in tree and plant life throughout the coun- 
try, and this interest has strengthened the hands of 
the government in its wise efforts to encourage and 
assist in the development of horticulture and agricul- 
ture. It is time now to carefully study how to make 
the most of the approaching day, resting assured that 
any extra activity, or new ideas practically applied, 
will pay a large dividend, whether from the point of 
view of patriotic endeavor or the benefits to accrue 
to the local community or the homestead. 
ARBITRARINESS IN There is perhaps no place in the 
CEMETERY world that requires such a bal- 
MANAGEMENT r , , • 
ance of character m connection 
with the conduct of its affairs as the cemetery. And 
the context to this is that a lack of such is inimical 
to its best interests. This is emphasized by the many 
legal suits that are being prosecuted to define the' 
rights of the cemetery officials and the cemetery lot- 
owners. Many such questions could undoubtedly be 
settled by compromise, which in the end would be 
more beneficial to both parties, and is a course ad- 
vised in the majority of differences by the best legal 
lights of the country. Be this as it may and leaving 
the question as to legal responsibilities, the position 
of a cemetery official is one that demands a large 
amount of self-control coupled with patience and sym- 
pathy, well developed as natural factors of character 
and disposition. Situations difficult of adjustment 
frequently occur in cemetery affairs between officials 
and lot-owners, situations demanding most rigid self- 
control on the part of the official, and many are gen- 
erally far more important in the view of the lot- 
owner than facts warrant. The cemetery to the lot- 
owner in the first period of grief is very sacred and 
the idea of ownership is more pronounced by reason 
of the associations, so that fancied infringement of 
rights and privileges assume great importance. In 
such cases arbitrariness is a dangerous oppositio^i, 
while the administration of affairs should at all and 
any time be conducted with a full regard to the sym- 
pathies and sensibilities of the lot-owner. 
FLORcAL With the approach of the flowering sea- 
EM^LEMS. gQJ.^ subject of adopting appropriate 
State and National floral emblems will be revived. 
Nova Scotia has just officially adopted the Arbutus, 
which may have been done to get ahead of Massachu- 
setts, where it was a prime favorite. The University 
of Pennsylvania has started a movement in favor of 
Indian Corn as our National floral emblem, and pre- 
sents strong claims for its adoption. 
