The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-06
The City Beautiful in America
Remarkable Race for Supremacy Municipal Atractvens.

other great cities will ultimately make the
! bravest show possible Of increased and
individualized beauty"
New York is the only city in the United
States. so far as I know, and possibly IN
the world, whose official machinery In
cludes a body just like tbs Improvement
commission. It was brought into being
through a city ordinance, Mayor McClel
Ian selecting the members, late in 1908.
It's appointed function is 20 prepare a
comprehensive plan for the city's develop
ment
The commission has sixteen members,
who include painters, sculptors, archi-
tects. landscape gardeners, and business
men. It's chairman is Francis X. Pendle-
ton, and there is an advisory board com
posed Of the chief engineers Of the board
Of estimation and apportonment, the de-
partment of docks and ferries. and the
park department. It's first formal report
was made two years ago, and several
of its recommendations, such as the wa
ter gate" at South Ferry. are now being
adopted Its plan for the treatment Of
City Hall Park ard the Brooklyn Bridge
elevated terminal has not yet begun to
be realized
None of the members of the commission
receives pay for his services, although
these have been very eXactiug, meetings
being held frequently, IN the winter es-
pecially. Freak schemes. the most gro
tesque imaginable. are brought TO its at
tention constantly, and also schemes
whose adoption would rebound TO the
money advantage If real estate owners in
many parts of the city XII proper at
tention is paid to every suggestion, but
nothing has been recommended that has
rqn al int
OF any men. or set OF men, been allowed
10 carry any weight
The art commission Of the city OF New
York is quite as important as the inn
pr0vement comm ssiOn, but it does not
originate. II vetoes, and by law its veto
is absolute when the Improvement Is one
of magnitude. This commission came into
being in 1895 with the greater city. its
existence beng provided for BY clause
OF the city charter. There are ten men,
bers. one of whom is the mayor. eX
oficio. and who include a painter. Carroll
Beckwith: an architect, Walter Cook; a
sculptor, John ]. Boyle; the president Of
the Metropolitan Museum OF Art, the
president of the New York Public Library.
and two or three prominent laymen. john
De Witt Warner IS president. All the
members serve without pay giving their
best thought 10 the good Of the city.
Commission Must Approve.
It is its duty 10 pass upon all works Of
art 10 be acquired by the city through
!either gift or purchase, except those In
1.-THE Metropolitan Museum Of Art; 10 re
move, relocate. or alter as thought desir-
able any work of art in the citys pos
session; to pass upon designs for all struc-
lures on city property whenever asked
to do so by the mayor or the board of
iaIdermen No structure or Improvement
Icostiug over I.0F.C00 may be erected at
lain until il has been passed upon by the
commission, whether its judgment is
asked or not. Not even a lamp-pOst de-
sign has been accepted within the last
eight years without the commissions ap-
proval. II was the art commission which
rejected the ambitious design for the pro-
lpOsed Hudson Memorial Bridge over
Spuyten Duyvil Creek. TO be erected in
time for the Hudson Memorial Exhibition
IN 1911
The membership of the art commits
Sion said Vice President Carroll Beck
with, the well-known portrait painter
includes experts in various lines. Each
I submission whether of a design. or
proposition for removal or alteration, is
referred to q subcommittee II the thing
TO be passed upon is a painting. or II there
IS color scheme 20 be accepted or re-
jeCted, the painter member is included in
the subcommittea. often being chairman.
If the submission is Of statuary, the
tsculpt0r member heads the subcommittee;
if It is a building the architect. and so on
we pass upon location as well as de-
sign, and more than once have had 10 re-
jet designs for city structures that were
not without merit because they would not
The largest number Of submissions passed
upon in any one year was 12e in 1903
There were 1u in 1905. the amount in
VOWED being SlS600G00 In 1904 there were
submissions involving S26010.0 600
1T has long been understood abroad, "
continued Mr. Beckwith, that municipal
beauty and the possession Of works Of
art mean money Were not such cities
as Paris Vienna. and many Others beau
ufuI; were it not for the fine architecture
of their churches. their palaces. and other
public buildings; We're ii not for their
wonderful parks and their picture gal
leries, only fraction Of the hundreds Of
thousands Of tourists who visit them
yearly would take the trouble to visit
them at all Take from these cities their
features of unusual beauty, and their
prosperity would suffer enormously. Some
of our American cities are now becoming
noted for their beauty. and this is bring
ing to them many visitors who would 9th
erwise stay away. They spend thousands
Of dollars on their visits. To the great in
crease Of the cities prosperity"
1T would be a good thing" said Mr.
John ". Alexander of the improvement
commission, who is now producing the re-
markable mural paintings for the Car
negie Institute at PittsburG, IF our
American cities were to ADOPT the plan
followed in Paris Of rewarding architects
for producing beautiful structures. There
an annual award Of a gold medal is made
10 the architect designing the best build
ing constructed during the previous
twelve months: the builder Of the struc-
ture receives a bronze medal, and half the
owners local taxes are RENTED. This
system has been Of great benefit to Paris
Il have spent much of the last twenty
years in Europe" continued Mr.. Alex
ander. Every time I have come home
have been especially impressed with the
increase Of beauty in the cities | have
visited
But a good deal depends upon the OBJ
servers notion of beauty To the painter
picturesqueness is an important element.
To my eye, Pittsburg. my native city is
one Of the most picturesque in the world
because Of its smoke. which most folk do
ilot lihe- 10 ne the way the smoke SOFT
ems the harsh outlines in Pittsburg is one
of its greatest charms"
The Beauty Race in Various Cities.
1t would not be possible in the limits of
one newspaper article to give full details
of the beauty movement in all the cities.
Organizations either official or voluntary,
somewhat similar to the two New York
commissions in function are now at work
in many cities.
AlthouEh Buffalo,s nlans have not haen