407 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
than that between the old conception of the city beautiful 
and the new. Coincident with this great architectural triumph 
was the establishment of the Metropolitan park system, of 
Boston, the most notable municipal undertaking- in the history 
of American cities. Within eight years what was a dream 
of one man was more than realized for the benefit of more 
than a million people. The Metropolitan park system of 
Boston, comprising playgrounds, city parks, rural parks, in- 
cluding forest, hills and river banks, and sea shore reserva- 
tions, is only a part of the great co-operative scheme of 
Metropolitan Boston, The district within eleven miles of 
the State House in Boston unites for the mutual advantage 
of all the communities in the provision of water, the disposi- 
tion of sewage, for rapid transit and recreation, in four great 
metropolitan commissions. The administrative problems have 
not been entirely solved, but the conception of a comprehensive 
plan has received an emphasis even beyond that of the Chi- 
cago White City. Most recently this idea has had confirma- 
tion in what are known as the “Harrisburg Plan" and the 
“Improvement of Washington." The Harrisburg League for 
Municipal Improvements projected a plan for the employment 
of expert advice with regard to the city's water supply, the 
sewerage system, parks, boulevards, playgrounds and street 
pa\-ing. The society provided the funds, amounting to over 
$10,000 for the employment of these experts and the conduct 
of the campaign which resulted in the election of worthy 
officials and the passage of a referendum vote, authorizing 
the issue of over a million dollars in bonds. The Harrisburg 
Plan is a model of scientific method and enthusiastic citizen- 
ship, but it has a worthy rival as a spectacular accomplish- 
ment in the improved plans for Washington, 
The magnificent plan of L'Enfant, approved by George 
Washington, is responsible for the Capita! City's being one 
of the most beautiful cities in the world, but the failure to 
take advantage of all the elements of that plan or to be con- 
sistent with its beginnings, makes necessary the commission 
of to-day, L'Enfant's plan, in brief, took into consideration 
the topography and the supposed necessity of a water ap- 
proach to the city, and then located the street on the plan 
of two sets of wheels spokes laid on a gridiron with the 
Capitol as one hub and the President's house as the other. 
Along the axes of these two buildings was projected a park 
and they were to be connected directly by a broad street, 
Pennsylvania Avenue, The other public buildings were also 
to be appropriately grouped. 
Even the fundamental features of this scheme have not 
been held sacred by the builders. The vista of the White 
House along Pennsylvania Avenue has been obscured by the 
Treasury and State Department buildings; curious and un- 
sightly edifices have been erected along the Mall; the Wash- 
ington monument, which should have stood at the junction 
of the a.xes of the two main buildings, occupies a sight un- 
pardonable in its isolation one hundred feet south from the 
axis of the Capitol, and several hundred feet east of the axis 
from the White House ; the Pennsylvania Railway has been 
allow’ed to cross the Mall at grade ; and to mention but one 
other incongruity, last but not least, the Library of Congress 
has been so located that its dome diverts attention from the 
all important majesty of the Capitol, 
'J'he recommendations of the American Institute of Archi- 
tects, on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the 
establishment of the Government at Washington will fire the 
enthusiasm of all who read them. The subject has since been 
exhaustively studied by the new commission. They point 
out possibilities still latent in Washington, and the immeas- 
urable influence which their realization would have on the 
other cities of the country. The construction of the Houses of 
Parliament in London, on the Gothic model, though not 
an unqualified success, was the most important , architectural 
event of the nineteenth century in Great Britain, and led to 
the revival of the minor arts as well. Even greater services 
will be rendered the cities of the United States when the 
nolile plan of L'Enfant, projected at the beginning of the 
last century, shall be re-incorporated in the best expression 
of the new century, happily now assured by the appointment 
of the present excellent commission, Messrs. Daniel H. Burn- 
ham, Cha's, F, McKim, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr,, and 
Augustus St, Gaudens,* The proposed improvements of the 
lake front in Cleveland and Chicago, the boulevard scheme 
for St, Louis, the great conception of a united park system 
taking in the multitude of beautiful lakes about St, Paul and 
Minneapolis, all testify to the growing appreciation of com- 
prehensive schemes for improvement. The same tendencies 
are in evidence in the plans for rural improvement such as 
those of the Massachusetts trustees of public reservations, the 
Essex County, New Jersey, Park Commission, the State Con- 
trol of the Palisades, the National Parks in Wyoming, Colo- 
rado, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and elsewhere. 
The beginning of the new' century finds ideals and concrete 
accomplishments so far advanced that for the first time the 
public is ready for a national organization to represent and 
co-ordinate these interests. The American League for Civic 
Improvement would have been sadly premature in 1893, It 
is hardly appreciated even in 1902, but the friendly response 
from every state in the Union and from Canada, from city, 
town, village and rural district, from men, women, and chil- 
dren, from public officials and private citizens, from prac- 
tical workers, wmiters and teachers all point to the necessity 
of a unification of improvement forces throughout the land. 
We believe the brief experience of tw'O years of pioneer ef- 
fort with inadequate financial support and notable sacrifices 
on the part of the leading workers sufficient to warrant the 
claim that the American League for Civic Improvement has 
outlined a satisfactory plan for our co-operation. Whether 
it shall be the organization honored with the mission of carry- 
ing out this plan wdll be determined by the next few years 
of effort. In any case it is my privilege to testify that a year's 
association wdth the leaders in this organization gives me 
confidence in believing that the work they have done will 
lead to one .of the most significant advances in the public life 
of America. 
COURT SUSTAINS ESSEX COUNTY COMMISSION, 
The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently denied an 
application for a writ of certiorari to prevent the Essex 
County Park Commission from condemning land belonging 
to the Forest Hill Association for an addition to Branch 
Brook Park, a part of the extensive park improvements for 
wdiich the county has issued $4,000,000 in bonds. The asso- 
ciation opposed the appointment of condemnation commis- 
sioners on the ground that the park act was unconstitutional 
and because it gave to the judiciary a function alleged to 
belong to the executive. The attorney for the park com- 
mission contended that the Court of Errors and Appeals had 
already legalized the bond issue, and Chief Justice Gummere, 
in rendering his decision in favor of the commission, said 
that the raising of the question of constitutionality would 
throw the affairs of the county in confusion and cast doubt 
upon the validity of land titles now held by the commission. 
The Forest Hill Association had previously offered the land 
to the park commissioners on condition that they expend a 
stipulated sum in improving it. This the board would not 
do, and the association refused to sell the land, whereupon 
the commissioners instituted condemnation proceedings. 
*Zueblin, Amiricaa Muaicipal Progress, pp. 22^, 22'>. 
