Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-02-27
PRESIDENT ASKS
FOR FAIRGROUNDS
ADVOCATES MUNICIPAL PRovt
SION FOR CHiLDRENs SPORTS.
WANTS PHYSICAL TRAINING
Endorses Organized Athletics Along
Sane Lines-Oon't Deny 5irthright
to Youth-Would Have Proper Su-
perVision-M Make Childhood Strong
and Lawabidins.

Washington d. c., Feb. Elm a
letter to President Randolph of the
Washington Fairgrounds association
President Roosevelt yesterday strongly
commended the renewed interest in
play and Fairgrounds throughout the
country He advocated municipal pro
vision for Fairgrounds for ever
child as much as schools" these to'be
within easy walking distance of
every boy and girl and properly su-
peryised by the citizens. He urged
cities to secure the available grounds
at once, in order to avoid the neces-
sity Of later demolishing blocks of
buildings to secure such space, and
he particularly commended the plan
of playground development in this
city as tending toward making the ma
TONS capital a model city.
Expressing the hope that congress
would provide more open spaces for
the purpose in Washington he said
that he had been pleased to see that
there is a new interest in play and
Fairgrounds all over the country, ana
that many cities that have not pre-
yiously taken up the movement in a
systematic way have made a beginning
this year, He expressed an apprecia-
ton of the value of play in the devel
opment of children as shown in many
ways. The physical trainers in all
Of their meetings have put a new en-
phasis on the Importance of play and
are giving a larger place to it in their
work. The public school athletic
league of New York has organized
athletics along sane and helpful lines
for thousands of school children. and
a number of other cities seem to be
about to take up this movement,
PLAY at present. declared the
president, lis almost the only method
of physical development for city chi
drer and we must provide facilities
for it if We would have the children
strong and lawabiding. We have
raised the age at which the child may
go to work and increased the numpeT
of school years. These changes in.
volve increased expense for parents
with decreased return from the child
If we do not allow the children to
work we must provide some other
place than the streets for their leisul @
time If we are to require the par.
ents to rear the children at increased
expense for the service of the state,
practically without return, the state
should make the care of children as
easy and pleasant as possible. If we
would have our citizens contented and
lawabiding, we must not SOW the seed
Of discomfort in childhood by denying
children their birthright of play"
He urged that the cities should take
q lively interest in this question OF
Fairgrounds and in conclusion said:
Neither must any city believe that
simply to furnish open spaces win Sc
cure the best results. There must be
supervision of these Fairgrounds
otherwise the older and stronger. chill
dren occupy them to the exclusion OF
the younger and weaker ones; they
are so noisy that people living in the
neigh6orhood are annoyed: they are
apt to get into the possession OF
gangs and become the rendezvous OF
the most undesirable elements of the
population; the exercise and play Is
less systematic and vigorous when
without supervision: and moreover, IN
all cities where the experiment has
been tried it has been found that such
Fairgrounds are not well attended"