iently in smaller areas distributed throughout the city. Therefore, the essential characteristic of a well designed and well managed park of this class is that all of the other numerous objects which it may serve are subordinated absolutely to the provision of scenery of a natural, quieting and beautiful character.

But of course it is not enough merely to possess large areas of rural scenery, however perfect; they must be made available to large numbers of people and it is the problem of making them available without destroying their most valuable quality that presents the greatest practical difficulty to the landscape architect. To turn the public loose upon them without restrictions and without the artificial appearance given by broad paths and roads, might be at the beginning delightful; but the marks of man's interference would soon be set upon the landscape far more universally and conspicuously by wear and tear than even by a number of constructed roads, and at the same time the inconvenience in getting about would interfere with the comfort of the visitor and enjoyment of much of the landscape. Therefore, roads, paths, steps, bridges, seats, shelters, buildings and other constructions must nearly always be introduced. These can seldom be made to look like anything except the works of man and the disingenuous attempts occasionally made to palm some of them off as freaks of "Nature," in the way of curiously arranged ledges, grottoes, and what not, almost invariably seem so childish and affected as to be more obtrusive than a frank recognition of their man-made character. But on the other hand these things while treated frankly and simply as human constructions, may be made either relatively inconspicuous and subordinate elements of the landscape or may be elaborated into strikingly conspicuous features. In rural parks such conspicuousness is too heavy a price to pay even for great individual beauty in the features to which it may call attention, because it is so essentially contradictory to the purpose of the parks. Of course beauty should be sought for in every element and detail of park construction, but in the rural park it should be of the shy and modest sort which appears to be done not for its own sake, but solely for its contribution to

the general effect. It should in no way invite public attention and admiration to itself.

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, containing five hundred and twenty-six acres, and Franklin Park, Boston, with about the same area, are useful illustrations of what large city parks may be. In neither, it is true, have the intentions of the designer been fully realized and yet the main idea,--the provision of beautiful scenery of the type that is called natural-has not been departed from.

VI. GREAT OUTLYING RESERVATIONS.

As yet this class of reservations has not come at all generally into the possession of American municipalities. It consists of forests, beaches, meadows, mountains, lakes and rivers, those natural features of universal interest and beauty that in one form or another surround so many of our cities. Such features are of necessity great in extent, but as they are almost always located at a considerable distance from the centres of population and are often ill-adapted to the requirements of trade and house building, they are not excessively costly. These reservations differ from "Rural Parks" in three particulars. They are usually located at a much greater distance from the centres of population, they are of larger area, and as they are less used they require less in the way of artificial constructions. Their chief value is in the protection they offer for future generations; therefore their preservation and possession by the public is of immense importance.

The most notable of such reservations in the United States are those in the possession of the Boston Metropolitan District, including four forest reservations with a total area of over ten thousand acres, also twenty-three miles of connecting parkway, seven or eight miles of seashore and thirty miles of river bank. But little more than a decade ago this system was non-existent and the invaluable reservations that comprise it today were the possession of private individuals, to do with as they would. The success of this system is an instructive and inspiring example of what can be achieved by enlightened, persistent and well-directed effort.

The conclusion that this paper aims to reach is that large towns and cities need not only to increase the number of their public grounds, but more especially to increase their variety. A complex system is called for. More than an increase in expenditure, there must be a widening of aims, a finer discrimination, an expansion of the ideas of service, and a more accurate estimate of local conditions and local needs. The size, character and location of sites for each particular purpose must be more carefully considered, as well as the nature of the design and its faithful maintenance. Now is the time to turn active attention to these matters, for it is now that so many communities, especially in the South, are moving to increase the number of their exercise and pleasure grounds. Energetic doing should be guided by clearer thinking.

The Value of a State Library Commission

BY JOHN P. Kennedy, Jr.,

State Librarian of Virginia

For a century prior to the war between the states, the questions of government were largely constitutional: since that time they have become mainly administrative. The questions of independence, inter-relationship of governmental departments, of states' rights, and suffrage, that occupied so much attention during our early life as a nation, are now succeeded by the relation of the state to the great corporations, by the industrial struggles of capital and labor, by state aid in the development of our country's resources, and by many other educational, industrial and philanthropic enterprises. The problems of the nation, therefore, have passed from one arena into another, where civic development dominates interest, and progress is demanded.

In this great work all classes of society and government are participants, which has resulted in increased administrative activity and supervision. Many laws have been placed upon our statute books, which require no special machinery for their execution; but more frequently a special need-industrial, educational, philanthropic has called into existence a special organ of government to supervise, aid, or manage the affair. This is the source of those boards and commissions which have in late years become prominent in all the states, but more particularly in those having the most complex and highly developed industrial organization. These bodies are the latest product of governmental evolution. They have developed since the war between the states, many of them during the last two decades; and a study of their form and action will reveal the tendencies of governmental progress, and the advance already made in certain directions toward paternalism and state socialism.

My purpose is not to discuss generally the many forms of state aid and supervision, but to dwell wholly upon the live question of state library commissions or boards.

It is a source of vital interest to us of Southern birth, that in moulding our progress, we should follow closely such lines of development as will tend to promote the interests of our people. In doing this it is well to bear in mind that libraries broaden the minds of men more rapidly than many other educational institutions. It is, therefore, imperative that they should be governed after the most approved ideas, and by such people as have vested in them the power of capable administration.

To accomplish this end it is necessary: First, that politics and libraries separate; second, that non-partisan library boards or state commissions be created; and lastly, that the birth of a library of the people, instituted in their behalf, and operating solely for them, be announced. Until this is done civic encouragement cannot be expected nor healthy progress maintained.

With the advent of the library commission, wherever created, are recorded its duties in unmistakable form:

1. The establishment of permanent local libraries.

2. The organization and improvement of existing libraries, including the training of librarians in necessary technical knowledge.

3. The circulation of free reading matter in places which have no libraries, commonly in the shape of traveling libraries. These three divisions will cover almost, if not all, the work which a commission can do, especially in the South, where the field is large and opportunities greater than elsewhere.

Judging the library situation from the common point of view it is well to bear in mind that the experience of others, even in adjacent states, cannot be accepted as a guarantee of the ultimate outcome of the undertaking in North Carolina. Experience teaches the trained librarian that the same principles applied in different localities rapidly conform with conditions characteristic of surroundings and seldom, if ever, evolve similar results. This is due in every instance to exigencies peculiar to location, and is largely affected by climate, class and clientele. It is, therefore, unwise to accept the results of any commission outside of your state as indicative in any particular of the success or failure of your project.