The sun., 1897-07-29
Tho Outrage In Bronx Park.

Tho Outrage in Bronx Park.
Az their meeting last Monday the Park
Commissioners braced themselves to reply
to public condemnation of their mall
administration in connection with the
Botanical Society and Bronx Park.
Thereby they did at tho least the service Of
allowing with greater clearness and pre-
cision their lack Of fitness to be Park Com
missioners, for the function Of considering
either matters involving art or questions
Of common sense and law. Their making
use of an intelligent discourse upon parks
published recently In Garden and Forest,
with which. addressing the Fine Arts Fed
GRAFTON, Commissioners MCMILLAN, Cru
GER, and ELY sought to credit them
selves with genuine knowledge and
sympathy with parks, was q minor fault.
Our neighbor, the Times, ascribes this
plagiarism to Commissioner CRuaER, we
do not know ON what authority. 1t was a
silly parade of false feathers, but possibly
we'll intended. But their deliverance
showed that they are still as far from un.
derstanding the issue which called the Fine
Arts Federation to action as they were
before that body spoke.
"The Commissioners" say these Commits
sioners, thoroughly appreciate the work
and purpose Of the Fine Arts Federation of
New York, and for that reason all the moro
regret that It's council should have passed
resolutions condemning the action of this
board, which were not in accordance with
the facts in the case" The Fine Arts Fed
eration, upon the understanding that
the Botanical Garden ought not to be
permitted needlessly to "detract from the
artistic effect of the surrounding land
scape," and that the Sargent committee re-
ported the Botanical Society's plans so to
detract, specifying in what respects, re-
solved that they "strongly deprecate the
action of the Park Board in rejecting the
recommendation Of their commission of ex-
ports, to whom 1t had referred the plans for
mulated by the Board Of Management of the
Botanical Garden" This was passed after
the Park Board had adopted the plan of the
Botanical Society. modified In accordance
with the views of the Sargent committee
to slight extent only, without referring
this modified or new plan to that com.
mittee again The Park Board had no
ground for charging the Federation
either with ignorance or disregard
of tho facts. In accepting part
only of the advice of the experts,
the Park Board rejected their advice. In
adopting a new plan offered by the Botan.
ical Society without reference to these ex.
perts, the Park Board went further than to
reject their advice; it discharged them.
And SO this costly and important public
work, instituted, in spite Of its promise of
much that is desirable of its kind, at unde.
niable sacrifice Of much that the public
regrets to lose, is to be begun on a design
approved by three unframed citizens
representing the city, without the
countersign Of any expert student of
Its problems whose name is q Ruaran.
tee of qualification for criticism. Two
hundred and fifty acres Of Bronx Park.
belonging to the city of New York, are
being treated as an upstart who had
got rich over night would treat the land he
was about to lay out for his country place.
He would send for q gardener and
road maker, and through their infe.
rior and unresisting assistance put upon
the ground the imprint Of his own fancies.
Park Commissioners MCMILLAN, CRUsER,
and ELY, together with the members of
the Botanical Society, are at liberty 80
to make place on their own ground.
but they are not at liberty to enter
tain themselves In that way with
public property. And we say freely
to the excellent gentlemen Of the Botani-
cal Society who In truth enjoy some per.
sonal relation to things higher than the cru
dities of business, that the Botanical
Garden plan brought to the Park Depart
ment, and substantially adopted for the
city to build on, smacks in its preparation
more OF the upstart than of the gentleman.
MIR. ELY happened to be the Commits.
sioner to exhibit himself and colleagues as
without adequate understanding even of
the law under which this transaction ia
carried on. 1t is we'll to have the whole
business shown up and understood. Com.
missioner ELY, referring to the critics of
the Park Board, said;
"From what read infer that some friends of
these gentlemen think that tho Park Board should
compel the Botanical Society trustees to put aside
their carefully studied plans and have othsre ,,re
pared by the Boston oxperta This is unreAson abba
Tho Board of Trustees Is charged with the construo.
ton and permanent caro- OF tho garden, and will be
held responsible for errors. am unwilling TO relieve
them from that responsibility by forcing them to
adopt plans which they unanimously disapprove."
Instead OF the Board of Trustees being
charged with the construction of the gar
den," the law establishing the same, OBJ
serving the city's custom of having a
hand in managing its own business,
declares that "the said Board of
Commissioners Park Board) is hereby
authorized and directed to construct and
equip within the said ground so allotted
according to plans approved by them and
by said Board of Managers. u suitable build
ing, &c. And the Park Board has exclusive
jurisdiction as to "the laying out of the
same (the said grounds) and the "construc-
tion of proper roads and walks" Doubtless
this lurking notion that the Park Boards