Evening journal., 1910-08-23
DEFENsE OF PLAYGROuNps.

X ECAUSE City Council has made bargain"
in the SsSTc SSsTc APse payment Of $4,000 for
playground or athAtic field in aremote section and
zss saTce that has NrolSadrso 7htsss,p ,pnSgS .disap
proval, the movement for Fairgrounds should not
y be given quetus. Fairgrounds athletic fields
t or parks-whatever name may be given to these
plots for pleasure purposes-are as much of
ceSsty now they before the silent Solons
made their remarkable deal in the secrecy Of
finance committee meetings, and the project TO buy
a fields where boys and young men may enjoy base
ball and other games, and where children may have
their swings and their sand piles and other diver
sions should be carried forward just as if Coun-
Gil had acted wisely in conducting its negotiations
for the expenditure of Sal 900 in manner that
has not pleased vast part of the public.
The Evening Journal has been an ardent advo-
cate of the acquisition of Fairgrounds from the
very first and will continue to be- Our faith in
the benefits OF such places has not been shaken
by the questionable deal negotiated by Council,
and we think that other Fairgrounds should be
+. bought whenever the conditions are favorable
particularly in the congested portions Of the CITY
There are wards that have very few if any, vacant
lots in which the boys and girls can play. the
First Third. Sixth and Tenth wards being particu-
lary lacking in this respect Their residents should
. have>recognition and their children should have
the pleasure and safety of Fairgrounds The
amount of enjoyment the little ones derive from
a the Mundy play ground on French street between
Second and Third streets would be revelation
to many who might observe it during the summer
season.
The Star Sunday in championing the play
ground cause made elaborate defense"
OF the purchase of the $4,000 tract from Mr. Ford.
There is no just ground for criticism of the pur-
chase ITSELF, II says. The business men
and property owners who have formed the con-
cIusion that the city made bad bargain in buy
ing the tract out on the western edge of the city
and have criticised il, unjust in their criticism
for The Star says so. Yet, we believe that the
mass of people who have concluded that Council
blundered in ways than one in negotiating
the deal will require great deal more than The
Stars defense to change their minds or to dismiss
the subject
The residents of Wilmington. We believe, ap-
precIse the value and the benefits Of Fairgrounds
but they would like to have the negotiations con-
Quoted IN an open manner, so thai the public can
know what lands are TO be bought and the prices
that are to be paid, before any transaction shall
be closed If Council had taken the public into
its confidence and given out the details in ample
time about the tracts for which Sal 900 have been
paid' we have no doubt that public opinion would
have manifested itself strongly against at least
one of the properties the $4,000 trice set on if
that Council would have hesitated long before
consummatng that purchase under the conditions
now accepted The Star itself admits that it would
have been better Ito make the transfer in a more
leisurely manner, but promptness in attending m
+ matters of business is not a crime" We were not
! aware that anybody had referred to Councils pur
I chase as crime or even insinuated that But the
finance committee of Councils "promptness' in
closing the deal without taking the public into It's
confidence as to detas'o prices, and the prompt
manner in which the 81 900 was paio to the per.
sons who sold the playground tracts at the instance
OF Chairman Kane of the finance committee O!
Council the morning after Council authorized the
S4l 900 expenditure for Fairgrounds certainly are
far from commendabIe and conducive to criticism
and have left an unsayory feeling in the public
mind
The Star elaborates that the Ford tract was