The Washington times., 1913-11-23
CONTROL OF WAsHlNGToN's PARKS.

The recent discussion of public comfort stations
in the city parks has served to attract attention
to the anomalous administration of the public parks
of the city With the exception of Rock Creek Park
the breathing spaces are under control of the War
Department. Just why they should be is not at all
apparent. There is good enough reason for placing
engineering works in charge of the engineering
thortes of the department; but surely the parks Of
large city not accurately classified engineer
inc propositions!
The protests against department plans for locat-
ing public comfort stations in the parks, in places
where they will be most Objectionable to the various
neighborhoods have developed the fact that the Dis
trict Commissioners charged with representing the
general community interests, have no influence in
such details unless by courtesy the War Depart
ment listens to them. In the past, it must be said,
the military masters of our parks have commonly
been very we'll satisfied with their own judgment.
The wishes of interested neig ghborhoods have had
small weight When the Commissioners sent Assist
ant Corporation Counsel Whiteford the other day to
ask the department 10 consider the wishes of the
public in locating the Lincoln Park station, they
went out of their province. That is all wrong The
Commissioners not only ought to be consulted in
such affairs but their determination ought to be
fnal
as to make the administration just about as remote
possible from the people. The public streets be-
long, not to the District of Columbia, but to the
United States. The parks are under the War De-
partment The schools are administered by board
of directors appointed by the District bench; yet
even here authority is divided, because the District
Commissioners have control of the physical proper
ties the building and repairing of school houses,
which it would seem ought to be under the same au-
thority that the schools. The who is going
to run the machine ought to have some part in de-
termining what kind OF machine is to be turned
over to him. If the schools become extravagant the
school board is blamed; yet in fact it is very we'll
known that conditions imposed by reason of this
divided authority have been in large part responsible
for difficulties in reducing the administrative cost of
the schools.
Public parks, especially the small Ones which are
intimately used by the people of their vicnage,
ought peculiarly to belong to and be managed for
the people Perhaps the War Departments authority
over them is relic handed down from the days
when L'Enfant laid out the town with thought of
the possibilities that riot and revolution would al
ways be as easily possible here in the mercurial
French capital of his time. We are told that he
organized the scheme of circles and diagonal ave-
nues with thought that in of uprsings of the
populace, batteries of artillery posted in the circles
could rake the streets and with grape That
view of the first utility of public park could easily
find corollary in the policy of placing the parks
all under the War Department.
But have gone along quite a time without
Washington rising up and oversetting the Govern
ment. We don't believe Washington is likely to ~
it. The town seems at this juncture quite calm and
peaceable, and there is no special reason why the
public parks should be military reservations any
longer. This isn't Mexico City, and military gov
ernment is not needed.
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