The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-06-19
Field Agt. Stinson Discusses
Play Ground Needs Of the
City in Churches Sunday
THINKS PROBLEM A VITAL ONE
urges me People of the City to See the
Need of Places for Recreation and
Tells of Investigations That He has
Made Recently in Kenosha.

The field secretary Of the Playground
and Recreation Association of America,
Cyrus F. Stimson, gave two significant
addresses yesterday in Kenosha church
es, speaking at the First Baptist church
m the morning and at the First Metho-
dist church in the evening, and he gave
digest of some Of the leading points
presented in their bearing upon the
needs of Kenosha for the development
of system Of public recreation.
The relation Of the churches to the
movement for more wholesome use of
leisure time was declared to be inti-
mate and vital, since it is now univer-
sally recognized to be the duty of
Christians to organize the life of cities
so that evils recognized and deplored
shall be overcome by the Christian
method Of conquering evil with the SUI
perior power Of good. Christianity
stands for the abundant and full and
wholesome life 1t is the duty of the
church to help this enrichment of life
for all the people by making accessible
to all the benefits of the best games,
and facilities for high order of recre-
alton and valuable forms of recreative
leisure-time studies and occupations.
in connection with public school build
ings and grounds, in public parks, and
in convenient Fairgrounds for young
children and mothers in each residence
district
Mr., Stimson said in part:
''The public recreation movement has
a scope far beyond that ordinarily un-
derstood. 1t is now generally recogniz-
ed by experts in education that we'll
equipped and directed public recreation
system is quite as important to the
whole community as the system of pub
lie schools.
We have reached the stage of civiliza-
tion when shorter hours of work and
increasing pay enlarge measurably the
leisure hours of great masses Of people.
The age of widespread war, famine,
pestilence and poverty, seems to be
passing, with no reasonable expecta-
ton that it will ever return. The in
crease of leisure is the most important
phase of modern life, for leisure is the
foundation of culture education, moral
ity and religion,-if only that leisure
may be used in wholesome ways, Most
of the evils of society, and the roots
OF crime and degeneracy, are lodged
in idleness and misspent leisure. The
United States has an annual cost of six
billions of dollars for the care of Grim
inals, detectives and degenerates, and
unquestionably in a generation, or less,
this bill of costs could be cut in halt, or
even more largely reduced than that, if
the same organizing skill were employed
by our men of strength in creating
wholesome conditions for the children
and youth of the land in the cities
and in all the great industrial centers,
as is now employed in organizing our
great industries commercially.
The work of both schools and church
es and all moral agencies is undermined,
and in thousands of cases utterly de-
stroyed, by the effects of leisure hours
now misspent in low forms of CONNER
cial recreations, morally and socially
destructive in their effect.
The state of Wisconsin has made
definite provision by law for a thor
ough-going and comprehensive system of
public recreation in cities down to those
of the fourth class. This authorized
recreation system includes the estab-
lishment and maintenance for children
and adults, in the school buildings and
on the school grounds, under the Gus
tody and management of school boards,
evening schools, vacation schools, read
ing rooms, library stations, debating
clubs, gymnasiums, public Fairgrounds,
public baths, and similar activities and
accommodations, without charge to the
residents of such cities; and also pro
vides for the cooperation of school
boards with park commissions and SINH.
lar bodies having charge of public
parks and buildings and grounds OF
whatsoever sort in the recreational use
of all such public facilities, making il
the duty of the school boards to pro
vide for the supervision, instruction and
oversight necessary to carry on public
educational and recreational activities
as authorized by the law, on some plan
accepted by the other cooperative
boards.
The law of the state also makes il
the mandatory duty of school boards tc
provide for the training of all pupils
under their jurisdiction in physical edu
cation" defined by law to mean iu
struction in the theory and practice IN
the art of physical exercise and instruc
ton in hygiene " lndicatiag the
meaning Of this section Of the law Il is