The sun., 1895-02-28
The Geological Garden.

1t is surprising that any objection should
have been made in the Assembly to the bill
incorporating the New York Geological So
ciety: and it is above all surprising that
the objections should have been made by
Mr. FOLEY of this city, the Democratic
leader, on the ground that n measure mani
festly intended for the popular benefit is a
selfish proposal to abrdge the amusements
of the people!
The clause of the bill which excites the
suspicious of Mr.. FOLEY is that authorizing
the Park Commissioners to sell or transfer
to the biological Society the animals in the
Central Park menagerie, ON such terms as
they may deem proper" This is the niggerin
the fence as imagined by the suspicious Mr..
FOLEY. 1t is he says, plot of property
owners along Fifth avenue who object to the
proximity of the menagerie, and to the poor
people from the lower part of the town who
visit it," to take away from the poor
children of the city one of their principal
attractions"
OF course there Is no such plot, and no
plot of any kind. The geological garden
which would be established under the bill
would constitute the chief attraction of
fered for all the children Of the city. The
passage of this bill would benefit them and
the public generally, and it would serve no
selfish private interest whatever No such
interest is behind the bill as Mr..
FOLEY suspects, or before it, or bears
any relation whatever to it, 1t is simply
n bill to enable public-spirited citizens to
establish a geological garden for New York,
which will do credit to the city and instruct
and entertain the people; and Mr.. FoLEY's
opposition to it, if It shall prove successful,
will simply deprive the public of an i'm
portant addition to their pleasures and
hurt or annoy nobody concerned in the plan.
The great popularity and especial attrac-
tiveness of the Central Park menagerie fur
nish an argument for the passage Of the bill,
instead of irtstifying assault on the measure.
If even that little collection of NANCY
beasts, SO inadequate for a great city like
New York constitutes for the public one of
the chief features Of interest in the Park, is
not the popular demand for really credita-
BILE and complete geological garden demon
strated in the most convincing way? But
this demand can be satisfied, Mr.. FOLEY
says, by establishing the garden in the Cen
trail Park, instead OF putting it in one of the
other and undeveloped parks in the upper
part of the city. That is an impossible
scheme. There is no place for geological
garden in the Central Park and the public
have already declared very emphatchlly
their determination that it's space shall
not be further encroached upon for
such eXtrancous purposes. The zo6ogi
cal garden which New York must
have, needs the room Of many acres en-
ployed solely for it's development. Its re-
quirements generally would conflict radi-
cally and mischicvously with the scheme of
the Central Park as n general pleasure
ground for the people, with consistent sys-
TEN of landscape treatment and develop
ment. 1t could be put in some other of the
still undeveloped public parks without any
such vicious interference; and it would
bring about the desirable improvement of
the grounds.
If, then, the Assembly listens to such un-
reasonable objections to the Geological
Garden bill as Mr. FOLEY offered on Tues
day, it will hurt the people only. by passing
the bill it will further no merely private in
terest direct or indirect, near or remote. BY
defeating the measure It will deprive the
people Of "a great source Of pleasure fur
nished to them Mt private cost; and New
York will lack the attraction Of geological
garden, which cities of much smaller size
and far inferior consequence provide.