The San Francisco call., 1898-01-05
The Whole Matter Now Regarded as a
 Job.
Confidence of the Public in the Scheme Has Been Dis
 sipated.
Too Much Suspicion to Make It Likely That There Will Be Any
 Result.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
 


 ~. sos Broadway, Jan. f. . After last nights proceedings of the City Council it is very apparent that oakland will have no public park as the result of the present unhealthy agitation.
 . :: No one doubts for a moment that a city of this size should have large ornamental tract where it's inhabitants can enjoy themselves. San Francisco : has derived much Of its popularity from the manifold attractions of Gold : eA Gate Park. By possession of a sim liar playground Oakland would also obtain equal valuable notoriety abroad. ...::-As a matter of fact. at the present /: time Oaklanders do not feel the need Of a public park as they otherwise %would were they removed farther from the beautiful surroundings from the foothills. No piece of property can be obtained at the present time to which : the public could go, unless they paid ear fare. As it is only a nickel from Oakland to Berkeley or Alameda, it stands to reason that the average per son desiring to spend a few hours in :< a. park would have no objection to having a pleasant ride there and back flor the same financial outlay. All around Oakland are places which can be reached by one car fare, and, conse- Quently, the people are not at all anX- ;. iOus for park, although crowd of real estate men are decidedly anxious :. that one should be purchased by the city,
 When the present agitation started : it was thought that a tract could be . bought at a reasonable figure and that the people would vote for bonds to
 
 ever, all manner of schemes have been thrown out by antagonistic parties, until the general public is thoroughly .disgusted with the whole matter. : Prices have wavered as it was thought the public pocket could be reached, people who have no claim on 3 the confidence of the citizens have ap- peared in various roles which would .: dfspel rather than invite cooperation and rumOrs of crooked work have been , so rife that it would be an impossibil- . ity at this time to convince the pub lie that a park could be bought with out the conSummatiOn of what is po- .litically called a steal"
 : Many of the parties have doubtless made their offers in good faith, but the competition has become so heated and acrimonious that no one knows just what to believe or what to dis card. It is clear. however, that all in- :terest in purchasing a park has ended and that all further efforts at this time will be useless.
 The cry that Oakland must have a % park somewhere near the center of the city has little to recommend it, for the city is so rapidly growing northward and westward that it's center five years a go is far removed from where it is to- . day, and will be still farther removed from it's present position five years hence. Under the existing conditions .. the only matter by which a park could :. be obtained in the purchase of which . the public would have confidence, is by condemnation proceedings, which is lengthy, costly and on the whole un- satisfactory course to pursue, because by the time a conclusion would be reached the people would be more tired of the project than they are now.
 There are so many schemes for parks and chains of parks and scenic drive ways and picturesque boulevards now before the Council that each of the eleven members may be said to favor a different one, and as it takes six votes to submit any proposition to the people. and eight if the Mayor should 5. veto the ordinance, it can readily be seen that the park incident of 1897 has already practically passed into history, leaving the same record as the twenty two other annual park fascos which Auditor Snow said recently he has ob- served since he came to this city
 The matter may drag along for a few weeks, but it is now really as dead in public interest as it is in the opinion Of the honorable member from the Second Ward.