Arizona republican., 1914-12-06

creeks have in many places been left
to grow up weeds and to become
dumping grounds for garbage. The
natural beauty of the river front has
been marred by industrial uses. and
bridges have been built with no at
tempt at lines of beauty Factories
have been erected every place. There
| is no architectural plan. The cottage,
the palatial home, the apartment
house. stores and saloons exist in
many places side by side. And while
| there are beautiful residence sections,
/ there are many, which because of
| the lack of unified, harmonious plan
! spoil the city's natural beauty.
Up to very recent years, this city,
being a railroad center was cut up
| in every direction by railroads, with
IAN ugly inharmonious station for
each road. Public opinion has at last
succeeded, after long struggle, in
! obtaining elevated roads and a union
station.
| In Germany and in other European
| countries, the railways are not al
lowed to ravage whole sections of
! abolished, and the overhead work has
been designed for beauty. But there
| is one great difference between the
railways of the United States and of
| Europe. The railways there are
owned and operated by the state. and
are considered an integral part of
the community, which exists to serve,
and not to be served.
Perhaps one of the greatest diff
ferences in the environment of the
American and the European city is
in the water fronts. The American
cities for example New York, Buff
falo, Detroit and Chicago have the
most beautiful natural harbors and
water fronts in the world, But they
| have allowed the natural beauty to
be destroyed by industrialsm. Com
| pare the water front of Paris with
that Of Chicago or the treatment of
| the Skuhyhill in Philadelphia with
that of the splendid avenues Of the
Spree in Berlin. The European city
conserves every bit CT its water It is
put to industrial uses, but Industrial
ism is not allowed to impa~ the
beauty of the water front or 20 des-
roy its value as place for pleasure
and recreation. They realize the lCs-
thetic and moral value Of utilizing
these spots as centers for pleasure
rather than TO allow them to become
haunts of vice and crime as they
have in many of our large cities.
The German city recognizes more
clearly than has the United States
in the past the need of the city's
furnishing adequate provisions for
recreation, if the city man is to be
developed to his highest efficiency
The German city looks upon happi-
ness as public obligation. 1t
freshens the artisan and relieves the
dull monotony of his daily work Be
sides providing parks. open spaces.
and CT late years the play groudn
modelled after the American play
ground, they make provision for the
drama, for music and for art The
opera and the theater are subsidized
and the best sort of productions en-
couraged. Every capital city has its
court theater an dopera house OF
monumental architecture There are
twenty subsidized court theaters in
Germany and a hundred maintained
by individual cities. Some cities pro-
vide orchestra, music, scenery, cos
Tunes gas, lighting and heating
There is no uniformity in the manner
Iof support. The prices OF admission
are adjusted to persons of small
means.
| Provision is made for music in
public or semi-public places of re
freshmen Musical festivals are
given with series of concerts rep
resenting the work of the leading
masters. Nearly every large town
has a military band which gives
daily concerts. The men. women and
children of Germany are familiar
with the old masters-and knowl-
edge Of art and music is a universal
possession.
The cities maintain all year round
bath houses and comfort stations.
Teaching of swimming is compulsory
in the schools. Industrial education
in the German school has been car
ried much farther than it has in the
United States but on the whole the
, school system of the United States
, far surpasses that of the European
city.
Public utilities are largely owned
and operated by the European city.
Such things as the means of trans
portation, the supply of gas, the wa
ter and electricity are so closely re-
lated to the life of the people and en-
viron life in so many ways that it
is felt abroad that these things can
, no be safely left in private hands,
, but must be subordinated to the
rights of the community and owned
and controlled by the city in the in
, terests of all. And experience there
satisfies those cities which have tried
; it that it is the best way. Fares on
the railway have been cheapened.
Suburbs have thus been built up to
. relieve congestion in the city, and the
interests of the entire community
have been better served
2 Many European cities have taken
: up the housing problem-as for ex-
ample the Garden cities in Germany
with their model apartments for
working men.
80, Ia