The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-07

meeting. which is left to the board Of
| directors.
! Edward II. Degroot. head OF the
! Chicago Playground association, who
presided at the session last night.
/ read two letters of regret which call
! ed forth spontaneous applause. one
was from President Woodrow Wilson
| and the other from Ex-president
| Roosevelt, the honorary president of
the organization Colonel Roose-
/ velts letter follows:
| Roosevelt Sends Regrets.
ST sincerely regret that 1t Is i'm
| possible for me to come to Rich
mond and TO say how thoroughly /
| believe In the work you are doing.
EFT is becoming more and more
evident that Life really Is more
/ than meat With the enormous in
| crease In material wealth there has
not come corresponding increase In
/ fullness Of life. Happiness and pos
session do not go hand in hand. By
work being made increasingly scien-
/ tific we have reached sum of pro-
! duction sufficient for comfort Our
task now is. to secure a better dis
| tribution Of comfort, without weaken
| ing the springs of individual initia-
| tive and responsibility and also 10
! make the extra hours, over and above
! the time given to earning a living
productive of more and better life.
| Every man and every woman
should have the recreation which will
enable him or her properly TO attain
the high purpose for which life is
given. Through the whole Of life,
! from childhood to old age, there
should be opportunities for the prac-
iice of those forms of recreation
which renew life. and which make
for the 10y OF living.
Therefore. / consider such work az
fishing the best forms Of play and in
among our people 70 be an essential
/ factor in our national tffe
Faithfully yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
President Can't Come.
Regretting his inability to accept
! an invitation TO speak at the con-
gress, President Wilson wrote:
II am very sorry cannot attend
your great meeting, because have
| the deepest and sincerest interest IN
| the objects it is seeking to serve. II
seems, to me of real consequence,
i morally as well as physically. that the
/ children who are growing up, partic-
/ ularly In our. great cities, should have
I spaces for play and knowledge OF
! how to play Amusements they must
! have. and will have, good or bad. and
] it is certainly in the interest OF the
/ welfare Of our communities that they
1 amusements which are both good and
fefreshiug. .
II take genuine pleasure in thus
expressing my hope that the associa~
tion may meet with the greatest en-
enlargement and with the most COM
plete success
(Signed) WOODROW WILSON.
The public meetings yesterday af-
ternoon and evening were well at
tended Mayor Ainslie's address of
welcome was n gem of thought and
delivery, and some of the associa-
TONS most pleasing and prominent
speakers were on the program to dis
cuss the problems presented by the
playground and recreation movement.
Among them were Edward b.
DeGroot. of Chicago; Otto T. NAL
lery, of Philadelphia George w En-
Ter, of Wisconsin,: Algernon T. Swee
ney. of Newark, N. j.. and Gustavus
r. Kirby. of New York, treasurer of
the association. The feature of the
afternoon session was the address of
Richard T. Wyche. of New York,
president of the National Storytellers'
league. who gave his audience some
tales from Uncle Remus."
Evening Recreation Problems.
At the evening session Lee +. Han
mer, director OF the Russell Sage
foundation, delivered highly inter
esting address on the problem Of
evening recreation for young folks an
IL is found in the cities, and Rev. J. j.
Curran. rector OF the Church of the
Holy Saviour. OF Wilkesbarre. told
what the coal mining city is doing
( to solve the playground problem.
There will be a half-dozen sec
tional meetings this morning, each de-
voted to the several activities con-
nected with the general mission OF
the organization. all combining in a
general session in the Jefferson audi
| torium' at 1880 O'Clock. There will
| be no afternoon program, owing to
the fact that the reception arranged
/ for at the governors mansion Ia i'm
/ possible because of the executives
/ Illness but the first big general mass
meeting will be held at the City audi
] .iieaEiaIa soQight, and il Is expected that
there Will be hearty resp6hse OF tne
part of the public. which il cordially
invited to attend this session n