Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-02
BOARD OF ALDERMEN.
Representative ofWois.en's Clulh A Asks
 for More Pa rKs.

l Indn biakeSlee presiding
 l on recommendation of Mayor Elton
 It was voted to hold a special election on February 12 to fill the vancancv in
 1he aldeFmanlc chamtb er from the sec ond ward the voting places to be af the Y. M. c. A. building and Goodwill l hall, Waterville.
 A comm1ttee repro ssentin9 the Wol mems club appeared 5n the interest od q movement for mo fe parks Alder1 man Murray 1ntrodu ced the ladies i'd the city fathers. MI Is Frank Weltora acted as spokesman a nd in 8 brief but pertinent address out lined rhe aim od the organization. She repre scented 25o women, all residents Of Waterbury, deeply interested in u le park question and she hoped for sor nethiJlg practical in the premises from the aldermenl The committee also sl ibmitted the foiJ
 lowing communicate III, which was| read, accepted and re terred to the tfe11 partment of public " ork s: The Honorable Mayo and Board oil
 Aldermen of the City of Water1 bury: Gentiemen:-At na eting of thel Women's club held on Jan. 26, 1904, itI was voted to addref IS you for1nallvl on the subject of pull If parks, in the| hope that you may De disposed to in I augurate such a pol icy as. persisted in for term of yea rsi, will result inI the creation of an a6ta quate park syst tenn for our people. The Women's cIub b has become! deeply interested in 1 his matter. and3 feels strongly that nd time should bel lost in bring ging Wat erbury into nnei with other progressfv e cities To es- tabIish the fact that we are behind-S hand in this departn1t mt it is only nee essary to refer to ttch nearby cities as Hartford and Meriden, one largerI and one smaller than Waterbury. The5 former has had park departmenq since 1860, at which time it's popula-I ton was only 29,00D. To-day it hasH parks, with combined area of about 1,2OO acres, largely improved and af- | fordmg the residents a vast amount ofS pleasure More tha;n S30,O00 is annu- ally devoted to te care and mainte-] nance of these tracies. MerFden with population littles more than one-halfthat of Waterbury, \ has q magnificent system of parks, being greatly favored by natural con-E ditfons It is true that in both casesS private mnnificence has taken thiss form, but it is also true that bothE cities have shown an extremely liberal spirit, both in providing perks at theI public cost and in caring for thosea given them. Of course we do not needE either to disnqlss the great importanceS of parks or tp call further attention to the lamentabIe lack of them in Water bury. Both of these facts are gener-I ally admitted What we wish andT urge upon yttu as sound public policyE and the highest wisdom is to adpptE measures ha wing for their object theA gradual development of parks andE open spaces in and about the city. AsE practical suggestion we would re- spectiveIy call your attention to theI provisions of the charter of the city ofE Hartford, by which tax levy of oneI half of a mill on the ratable estates isl annually made, the proceeds being de- voted entirely to the needs of theI park department This appears to usS to be ail excellent plan, and If youl think well of it we wish that an amendment to our city charter con- | taining similar provision might bel obtained from the next General As-E semb1y. or the year 1905 it is within your power to make generous op- propriation for parks. which we sug- gest be not less than $10,GO0. We fully believe that all QUIT people, rich and poor, regardless of party orI other division. are heartily in favofE of such expenditures -that in neE other way will the general public del rive more real benefit; that until theH city shows q disposition to make ade- E quate appropriations for care and ina-z ! provement of parks individuals who might present the public with park sites will not care to do so that we E have already put this matter too E long and should without further delay proceed earnestly to secure sites for parks and especially to develop, beau-A tffy and make available those parks H and open spaces now in our possess [ sion.
 The women's club of Waterbury F earnestly desires that you will make the year 1904 memorable as the year in which the administration determin- E ed that Waterbury should have a worthy system of public parks and 5 provide adequate means for the att E tainment of that most desira b1e end. SARAH CANFTEID NORTHROP. President. E ISABEL ELY HAMILTON.
 Vice President. Z EMILY S. BROWN,
 Secretary JULIA A. MELTON.
 Chairman Educational Conn.,
 A communication was received from z hTS SaTdn I1dy cShAAA IIidL tAAc H interest on paving assessment on E North Main street be ahated. TheT city attorney, .Swas asked to express
 an opinion uEon the charge of g per
 cent interest on assessments. anffE stated that so long as it was a chhrter
 provision he had no option in the mat ter. He believed, however. that thef 9 per cent was hardship that ought E not be tolerated much longer. The city borrows money at 3h per cent and charges its citizens 9 per cent for it. He suggested that steps be taken E to have that law changed. Mir BeachE moved that the city attorney be in. strueted to prepare such bill. In
 seconding this motion Mir HolneS
 said that he never could understand E why the state was so severe aga1nsr usurers and at the same time author
 fze the practice of it by municipalities The motion was passed. but Mrs Hayes was given permission to with