The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-07
A BOOM FOR BEAUTY.

How Everybody in Washington is Co., operating to Make the City Attrac- l tive.
 | The commission which has charge of
 the comprehensive scheme for beauti- 1 flying Washington has been met in 8
 spirit of cordial cooperation, by the
 better class of government officials that bodes well for the project. Sec retary Root. Secretary Wilson, Super- vising Architect Taylor and some of the engineers have consulted with the commission in order to make contem-
 plated Improvements for which they
 are responsible harmonize with the
 plans of the commission. If a similar spirit Is displayed by the rest of Wash ington, official and unofficial, there is
 not much doubt that Washington will
 become one of the most tremendously
 beautiuful cities of the world A long
 step toward securing the subordination,
 of private or individual plans to the
 broad scheme of the commission is the
 pair of large relief models now in prep
 aration, which will show to the public
 in concrete form just what is to be
 done and how it will look when it is
 done. The relief maps drawn to a
 scales that makes the Washington mon
 ument the size of lead pencil, show
 every tree, lamp and building in the
 areas to be improved, one showing the
 area as it is to-day and another as it
 will be when the project is realized.
 These are to be supplemented by pie
 lures showing details too fine to be
 brought out on these maps.
 The point of interest in this Wash ington project is that it is practically the first instance of an American city's undertaking scheme of improvement that embraced not only the laying out of parks and parkways but the Iocat on and appearance of buildings Paris Vienna and some other continental cities have long regulated such matters with view to enhancing the external appearance of the whole city, and have brought art to the aid of utility and utility to the aid of art until they are models of convenience and beauty. They have learned that the best ts can only be obtained by harmonizing individual tastes, and that it does not pay to let one citizen, however, worthy, spoil whole avenue with architectural blotches or by destroying natural beau- ties. They have learned that the whims and even the conveniences of the indi- vidual must be sacrificed to the com fort of the mass, and the individual has learned that he Is the gainer by CO., operating with his fellow citizens. The Washington scheme and some other suggestions here and there indicate that we are gradually learning that it Is good investment to make cities beautiful, just as we have learned that it is good investment to spend money on schools, on cleanliness and on the maintenance of order. A few cents spent in planting shrubbery or vines or in sodding makes the difference be- tween responsiveness and attractiveness, between an atmosphere of untidiness and squalor and an atmosphere of self prosperity But there is only | a corporal's guard that recognizes the | value of subordinating the height, de- 1 sign and line of buildings, the treat l ment of grounds and blank walls and | other matters of private concern to | some general scheme of improvement | In which each citizen does his share St. Paul Pioneer Press.