New-York tribune., 1907-10-13
AN OBJECTION URGED.

an D6j EG44UN URUEU.
The chief objection TO 4 reform Of this kind
is that under such commission the control Of
the parks would IN a measure be removed from
the people through their elected representatives
in the city government This objection, il is
said. on The other hand, could in a large measure
be overcome by following the method adopted
in the appointment Of the Municipal Art Com
mission. The members of this civic body are
appointed by the Mayor, but his choice is lin
ited by a provision in the charter which states
that one member shall be artist. another a
sculptor and third an architect the appoint
ments TO alternate and overlap the term of any
one administration so that, while the Mayor
might appoint one or possibly two members
Of the commission In a single term such ap-
polntnlents would overlap his term in the
Mayors chair.
A permanent Park Commission could be Sc
lected in the same way. Appointments could be
made by the Mayor, and arranged as TO alter
nate and overlap his term of office In this way
the commissioners could be kept in touch with
public sentiment. and at the same time be more
or less independent Of control. This would it
Is thought, have a strong tendency to remove the
incentive for political appointments a still
further guarantee OF ability and fitness in the
personnel OF the commission could be had by
restricting the Mayors choice as it is now re-
stricted under the terms Of the charter in the
selection OF members of the Municipal Art Com
mission
Both the Botanical and ZooIogicaI pardeDs IN
the Bronx Park are managed by permanent
boards OF trustees. Though they are small af
fairs beside the city's magnificent parL, system
the effective manner in which they have been
laid out, and the thorough and capable wsv in
which they are conducted upon a moderate ex-
pendlture, gives some idea of what might he
accomplished by the expenditure Of more than
SZs5O0'OOO year upon the city parks if similar
economy and continuity Of policy were displayed
II their management.
All last summer both the public and +he press
complained Of the deplOra bic condition of
k.ark. Litter Of all sorts was allowed Ia lie
Ssout the walks and lawns for days and weeks
at TINE. The reason was not the want oP
sufnclent men to do the cleaning, for the STAFF
was ample. The trouble was that the men sim
ply would not work and could not be made to
90 so. The officials In charge could do what
they liked, but the power that put the worlxrnen
lhere was strong enough TO keep them on the
payroll whether they worked at al or not The
way IN which the average park empIove man
ages 10 kill time has come TO be regarded as a
standing joke 90 q
An Impoverished soil has ruined hundra5e of
valuable trees and is destroying the era ss IInon
most OF the lawns in Central Park in sDite Of
me lact that four years ago a committee of eY
perts appointed by the city repoI ted that few
tnousand dollars expended each year in plough
ing over the lawns, one at a time and sowing
the right kind Of crop would reiuvenata +be
SOL and remedy the evil. Now the department
asks Tor an enormous sum for doing what ought
10 nave been done long ago, and could have
Deeh zone a little al time in successive wears
without any special appropriation at all Trees
nave peer! allowed to go year after year without
proper trimming until many of them have eT
hausted their vitality in overspreading and NAV
pe utterly destroyed by this neglect and the i'm
poNerlshed condition Of the soil.