Evening star., 1901-02-18

1t Is unfortunate that no one thouSnt 10
interpose ar objection Saturday to the pass
age by the Senate of the bill Is. 223D grant
ing the use of Rawins Square in this city
to the Daughters of the American Revolu-
ton for building purposes. single voice
in dissent would have sent the bill back to
the calendar. This bill is Objectionable in
its own terms, and the Senate, by adopting
a restrictive amendment, made it even more
so. This amendment provides that after the
passage of the act mo building of any kind
shall be erected upon any public park or
reservation in the District of Columbia, ex-
cept for the use of the government of the
United States or the District of Columbia -
This amendment confeSSeS the impro-
priety of the grant to the Daughters of
the American Revolution. 1t acknowledges
that it is indiscreet and unjustifiable to
donate a park to a private corporation,
whatever may be It's patriotic motives. 1t
declares as broadly as possible that this is
such bad thing to do that this must be
the last time it is done.
But, not satisfied with this belated con-
cession to an aroused conscience, the Sem
ate has destroyed whatever good effect
there may be in the acknowledgment by
practically indorsing the principle Of the
use OF the parks 1Or pubic cOnStrucliOn
Had the qualifying proviso been cut off at
the comma. leaving the prohibition unlimit-
ed and everlasting, it would have been to
some effect for good, even while allowing
the invasion of Rawlins Square. AS 1t is
the amended bill is Objectionable and in
furious at both ends.
This bill and all others like it. whether
the grant be to a private corporation or
60. I,,;II
poses. should be defeated without hesitation.
The principle ought to be established by
Congress in unrepealable form that never
hereafter shall a building be erected in any
park forming part Of the plan Of the cap
ital. Congress should thus practically rec
ognize the folly of further encroachments
upon the breathing spaces provided by the
wisdom of the forefathers who planned the
federal city, and which represent not only
opportunities for adornment, but the preser-
walton of the public health. In other cities
the tendency is toward creating new parks
in the most crowded districts at vast ex-
pense. Here the tendency as illustrated by
this bill. is to close the parks with aggre-
cations of brick and mortar Should this
policy continue the time will come when
Congress will be required by circumstances
to appropriate heavily to remove these or
other constructions in order to restore the
parks to their original condition or to pro-
vide others to replace them.
This protest against Senate bill 2237 does
not involve any lack of appreciation for
the enterprise of the Daughters Of the
American Revolution or of the patriotic i'm
pulse of its members. who are trying to
secure a free site for their building. 1t
would apply equally to any other project
for the invasion of the parks Of Washing
ton. and it is the more emphatically en-
tered because of the indiscreet action of
the Senate in amending the bill in a man
ner to leave open the way for future public
constructions on the parks. which are, from
the capitals point of view no less objec-
tionable than those of private origin or use