El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-07

THE sixth annual meeting of the
American Civic association will
be held in Washington next week.
Ihls meeting promises to be one of ex-
ceptlonal interest to students of civic
betterment, and it is predicted that the
addresses of the occasion, most Of them
TO be delivered by experts in their re-
spective lines of work, will mark a new
, epoch in civic literature A large per
centage of the $500 members of the as
soclat1on viii be present in addition
to delegates from the states appointed
by the governors and delegates from
affiliated societies.
one OF the matters on the program
for prolonged discussion is that of state
parks While the national government
Tor years has been segregating rs
beauty spots and Transforming them
into perpetual pleasure grounds. the
states have done little in this direction.
Inc American Civic association has for
one OF Its tenets the doctrine that the
whole country shall be led to Join in a
movement for parks wherever there are
people who need them. Some of the
states already have realized the impor-
lance OF dedicating large tracts Of land
10 the public veal, where recreation
may be afforded from the grinding
cares that infest the day and where
human life. bird life. animal life and
forest life, all may be conserved.
City Planning to Be Discussed
Another matter that will call forth
many valuable papers, will be the sub
Ject OF city planning The best ideas
OF the cities of the world will be
brought to Washington and placed at
the disposal Of the association. There
VIII be an address on the A B. C. of
city planning by one of the greatest
duInOrlf1aC rrr4r
dress will tell the people just how to
plan a city. Then another expert, with
a years experience in the field. will tell
now TO get out the vote after the plans
nave been made Some cities have
come TO the point where their people
are willing that the plans should be
maze, but once they are made the vot-
ers VIII not carry them out This hap
pened in Reading, Pennsylvania not
long ago. The municipal engineers laid
out new Reading that would have
been a delight to the eye, a comfort to
the body, and joy to the soul. But
the progressive Readingites did not
know how to turn the tide of public
sentiment in favor of the necessary
bond issue and the cause was lost.
Improvement Helps Growth.
The compilation Of the data gathered
IN the recent federal census has taught
some remarkable lessons. One of the
lessons Is that, almost without excep-
ton. the cities that have shown the
greatest spirit of civic Improvement
nave been the cities that have had the
greatest growth in population in the
past 10 years. Call the roll Of the cit
ies-Los Angeles, Birmingham, Seattle. |
Atlanta, cities all through the north. |
the south, the east and the west and |
civic progress has been requited with /
city growth and this. in turn. has pro- |
duced wealth and added prosperity.
Started In st. Louis
The American Civic association was
organized in st. Louis in the days of |
the Louisiana Purchase. exposition. 1t
was created by merging two organiza-
tons, the American Park and Outdoor
Art association and the American 7
League for Civic Improvement, into one.
1t included in its objects the purposes
for which both of these organizations
had been founded. 1t was not yet out |
Of its swaddling clothes when ii began
its celebrated fight against the COM
which would have turned
Niagara into a barren cliff in order to
utilize the powers of its waters It was
an uphill fight, and the assent of Cana
la and the United States was necessary
to win It But the association sue |