The Washington herald., 1907-12-22

| The City Beautiful viii be one Of the
/ live issues in the present session Of Con
gress when the national legislature sits
4 in its capacity as a city council for the
Nations Capital All Washington is urg-
/ ing Congress 60 begin the realization Of
the extensive plans oc che Burnham Com
mission Of Architects by the condemna-
ton and purchase Of the triangular strip
/ Of land lying between Pennsylvania ave
nue. and the Mall, its apex az the Capitol,
and its shortest side resting on the line Of
the White House grounds. If this is
DONE the work Of improvement VIII fol-
low, and Washington viii be wei on her
way over the road OF civic ideals, whose
I Ultima Thule is The City Beautiful"
In this progress. Washington does not
wal kalone. Far from H. Other cities are
pushing and jostllng along the same high
way. questioning. comparing. improving.
until half century more Of such enthusi-
astic work Will place the United States
in a position 10 invite less disadvantages
comparison than she has hitherto been
able 90 command
For two centuries. American people. as
a nation. have paid little attention 90
lbeautlfying their cities They would
rather uglify them with profitable facto-
ries. useful sky-scrapers. ana architec-
turaI horrors that boasted great CONNER
cial value. Not long ago Americans be-
gan 70 go 20 Europe. and when they saw
the cities there that had made some pre-
tensions 20 artistic beauty. each recog-
lnized that his own home city was in COM
paris0u. very like a neglected orphan with
untidy. ill-ftting clothes in d worldwide
kindergarten when all the Other little
boys and girls were we'll dressed, we'll
disciplined and well cared for. Broad
minded people hurried home, and each
set about eniisting aid in the rejuvena-
ton o. his own particular orphan city.
Cleveland. Ohio, was the pioneer in-the
actual work Of realizing the city beauti-
ful for America. in 1899 the proposed
erection of several municipal. county. and
government buildings offered an Opp0rtU-
nity for civic improvement that was not
TO Dee overlooked. The chamber Of COM
Imerce conferred with the boards having
the construction Of t,sese buildings in
charge. and plans that We're artistic and
harmonious were worked out and adopted.
The development of the Lake Superior
iron ore region. with - per cent Of the
output handled in Cleveland. had put the
city in a more prosperous condition and
well able TO undertake improvement plans
on a large scale. 4 mall was planned 20
extend from the lake front 20 Superior
street. and on this sites were chosen for
the government building, the county
ibu'I,.ing. city hall. and the public library
The public was heartily in favor Of the
plan. the Federal government spent
S3oo,ooo for its building; the Union Sta
ton cost another tidy sum, and. exclusive
of trcse. the Improvements amounted 10
Sl3S5Gl05. Fifteen years ago Cleveland
had l0o acres Of parks. Now there are
100 acres, and their aggregate value is
Sl9.00oO5o.
Kansas City had a harder fight 70 make
herself beautiful but is succeeding. Il
was not lack of material 20 work nor
lack of natural beauty 20 be developed
through art, but simply because The city
charter hampered the public-spirited
workers. However. Americans don't often
allow things Of The kind 10 stand IN the
way. SO the citizens got themselves a
new charter and went about making
parks and opening bOulevardS after some
fashion OF continuity and purpose. Kan
/ SaS City when she heard O-her cities
. talking of parks took an inventory 0f
her own and found that she hadn't one
foot Of park land where her big and lJtle
I children might go for recreation. Then
IL was that the progressive citizens found
. the charter in their way. 50 they revised
j that instrument. began 20 condemn and
/, purchase land. move houses. build road
ways. and make unsightly ravines and
red clay hillsides into things Of beauty.
II took twelve years TO get the first
park in Kansas City. Now there are more
p than 2.05o acres IN park lands and twenty
six miles Of the prettiast boulevards in
the country. To show now eager the peo-
pie there have been Tor the Improvement
Of their own municipality. the park COM
missioners tell that when boulevard was
10 De Widened they assessed 2.CGo property
owners. and that OF these 1873 promptly
) and willingly paid up. and Of those who
were dilatory I'm the matter = had simply
forgotten about H. Kansas City bought d
most unsightly quarter known as Penn
Ravine, moved out the cabins thar for
merly perched Ike r0okeries along its
sides and after making a lake in the
sunken part, circled driveWays through II
until it IS one Of the most attractive
places in the West. Part Of the old santa
Fe Trail passes through this ravine. and
in beaUtifying the city the park conmis-
sioners have. also preserved "a historic
landmark. They spent $4Jl3c00 in getting
land for their parks and S2.000O00 more in
p improving them. and they don't mean "a
stop yet.
Washington has more possibilities of
[ beauty and more chances of realizine
I them than any other city in the countr-
National pride is bigger and more potent
than civic pride, and national purse
strings Will, therefore. loosen more quick
ly in response to the calls that come "a
justify that pride. Although President
; Washington and Mai. L'Enfant laid out
Federal City after a specific plan il has
followed the lead of other American cities
( and has grown after the sweet VIII Of
the pOpUlace. Since the DAYS of Nadi-
sons administration the idea Of continu-
nifty in the buildings erected has been lost
The original plan of streets and parkwavs
has been closely adhered 10. however.
and therefore the great possibilities for
artistic triumph, if a CO-Ordinatcd build
ing plan is adopted. In December. 1900
when Washington was celebrating her
centennial, her people realized that greater
artistic development was needed. 4 COM
mittee WAS appointed TO visit European
capitals and borrow such ideas as could
be utilized in Washington
out Of this movement has grown q
series Of plans for Improvements, most OF
which VIII be adopted. OF the improve
ments suggested the Unicn Station is
among the first TO be realized There
was a railway marring the beauty Of the
Mall. and interfering with any oTort IN