Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-12
THE CITY

A' u 44Nx2AA O4AAA AAAH S&A
How nice 1t would be il the city
were only able to give to every de-
partment OF the municipal govern
ment the amount of money it asks
for. The requests made at the COM
mittee meeting of the Board Of Al
dermen Monday night do not sound
unreasonable. Anyone who has
knowledge of the workings of these
different departments knows that the
money each one asks for could be
well spent. In fact. many Of these
departments never have received
enough money to carry on their
work properly, and as the city grows
their needs increase proportionately,
Take the playground commission,
for instance, the Importance of the
work this board Is doing cannot be
.over-estimated. As the city becomes
more congested and traffic on the
streets increases some place must be
found for the children to play. Con-
ditions are vastly different now from
what they were when the grown-ups
'of today were children. The woods
and open fields were not so far
away then, to say nothing OF the
present paved streets and the auto
mobile. Progressive cities all over
the country are establishing munich
pal Fairgrounds where the young
sters can work off their surplus en-
ergy. get out into the open and grow
up into healthy men and women.
1t IS something the men and women
OF today owe to the coming genera
lion. The paltry $4,000 which Perth
Amboy set aside for this phase OF
municipal life last year Is utterly in
adequate to carry on this work.
There is still much vacant land
In different parts of the city that
could be used for Fairgrounds If the
proper equipment could be secured
aud adequate supervision given. a
visit to the closely built-up tene-
ment districts and a sight Of the
little ones playing in the cutters.
racing in front of vehicles, and
climbing over doorsteps is all that
is necessary to convince one of the
need of Fairgrounds in this city.
Closely allied with the play
grounds are the municipal parks,
With a population such as Perth
Amboy has parks are just as neces-
sary for the happiness and content
ment of the people as paved streets,
fire alarm systems and all the other
things which take so much Of the
taxpayers cash. This Is a working
mans town. Comparatively few of
the people living here are able to
get away for any kind of a vacation;
thousands never go way at all. TIC
these people a real park with some
established amusements, and band
concerts during the hot summer
months. would be a God-send. Perth
Amboy is far behind other cities in
this respect, and there Is not a city
more in need of such features.
The park commission requests
s14,SO7 for next year, an i~nsignih-
cant sum when one considers what
parks mean to the city. As a mat
ter OF fact, a well equipped park
would produce a revenue and heir
pay for itself by letting out certain
concessions, once such a park IS
established.
Then there is the public library
which is one of the greatest assets
any city can have. The intellectual
side Of municipal life cannot be ig-
nored. Those who are not familiar
with the work the library Is doing
ought to visit the institution on JEFF
ferson street some afternoon and
see the crowds of adults as well as
children seeking information. enter
tainment and culture which are TO
be obtained from books and maya
zfnez Have a ak with the librarian
and learn something about her prob
lens in trying to meet the needs
Of the people and serve the public
With such facilities as the appropria-
ton made by the city will permit
Every city takes pride In a well
equipped library. Perth Amboy
ought to have one of the best in
the country.
And the health department
everything depends on health. With.
out health nothing matters much. L
ought to require no argument tC
secure the most liberal approprla'
ton the aldermen can make for thi'
department. The city hospital, too
is constantly growing. 1t ranks
j the best in the country fol
Its size. 1t has done much to estab'