ciation never been organized. But it is entirely safe to state that much more has been accomplished with it in existence than would have been without it.

The Association's fifteenth Annual Report shows that in the last fifteen years there has been an addition of no less than thirty-four parks, one covering three hundred acres and the rest averaging six and one-half acres; that one great parkway, ten miles long and three hundred feet wide throughout its entire length, is in course of construction, including, as component parts, three circular parks and Philadelphia now has no circles; and that the Fairmount Park Parkway has been placed on the city plan, a boulevard which when constructed will be the greatest park approach in this country. There are no public playgrounds unconnected with schools, except in Fairmount Park and one or two of the largest of the other parks; but this last report contains the first definite argument for such playgrounds, and it is hoped will have as definite results.

The

The sum total of these achievements seems large, but it is a small percentage of the work that is to be done. In one report it is stated that, had William Penn's plan of squares been adopted in the enlarged city, Philadelphia would to-day have two hundred and eighty squares instead of forty-seven. Association is endeavoring to institute a radical alteration in "the cast-iron gridiron city plan " upon which Philadelphia has grown, to secure a system of outer parks joined by connecting parkways, and to add a large number of small triangular parks less than one acre in extent. Washington has two hundred and seventy-five of these very small green spots, while Philadelphia at the beginning of 1903 had seven.

How has an Association entirely nonpartisan in character been able to accomplish what it has accomplished, and how does it hope to secure some proportion of these proposed improvements, all of which it thoroughly believes to be so necessary?

It may be stated that its very nonpartisanship has been a considerable help in obtaining the public hearing

which such agitation requires. Among its members and officers are Republicans and Democrats, reformers and antireformers, stalwarts and independents. Having no political ends to serve. no attempt has ever been made to use it for political purposes, and it has therefore gained no political enemies. Numbering among its six hundred members nearly all the prominent individuals of the community, it has been enabled to exercise a strong influence through its arguments.

One very great help has been the attitude of the newspapers of all shades of political opinion, which have generously set forth its arguments at length, given full notices of its reports among their news items, and reviewed them in editorials. They have frequently given support, not only to the general objects of the Association, but to particular ordinances of Councils, the passage of which was advocated by the organization. The newspapers have taken not merely an approving attitude, but one of aggression, and a recent Special Report of the Association, one of its most important publications, was undertaken at the suggestion of the managing editor of one of Philadelphia's great dailies. This exceptionally valuable support was obtained by simply going to the editors, asking them how they wanted the reports or arguments digested, acting accordingly, and asking for their approval of particular suggestions for the reasons set forth.

The Association cordially accepts invitations from other organizations to join in various movements which are germane to the objects for which the Association was incorporated, as may be instanced by its support of the Parkway Association-an organization formed for the sole purpose of advocating the approach to Fairmount Park; the majority of its members also belong to the City Parks Association. The managers of the latter as freely request the co-operation of other societies when they believe the object to be attained will interest such organizations.

When it is stated that the six hundred members' dues are but two dollars a year, it will readily be concluded that

the Association has not borne any of the expense of purchasing or improving the ground secured for parks. It has urged individuals to donate land to the city for park purposes, and a number have done so, but most of the expense has been borne by the city-which means that ordinances to secure the ground have been passed by the City Councils and approved by the Mayor. It follows that, while the Association has nothing to do with politics, it necessarily has a very great deal to do with politicians. The officers are sometimes asked how, considering the non-political character of the Association, they can induce politicians to take the time to listen to its desires. There has been no difficulty in this regard. All members of Councils, of the Board of Surveys, and of the city administration have been most courteous in hearing and considering the short, concise, and direct arguments that the managers have made, and perhaps that conciseness on previous occasions has helped on subsequent ones. Individual Councilmen frequently ask, "What's doing in the park line?" The

matter of securing parks is one that touches politics in but a small degree. That it does so at all is due to the fact that if one politician is allowed to secure a park for his ward, the politicians of another ward may want a park for theirs, and therefore the leaders may be unwilling to undertake the expense of the one; but this works conversely, too. The lines of his ward generally do not limit a Councilman's interest in the city at large, and the bigger he is the less do they affect him.

When the city takes ground for a park, it must of course pay the owner for it. There is a danger here for the Association. Should it advocate the purchase by the city at any certain price, and should the city do so, land in the park's immediate vicinity may shortly thereafter sell at a lower rate; whereupon might come the clamor that the Association, or, more likely, some officer thereof, was financially interested in the transaction. In order to avoid this possibility, the practice has been adopted of urging that the city take the ground by condemnation proceedings, in which case a

Fifteen years' existence has taught useful methods. Frequently individuals with good motives but no experience will decide that a certain thing ought to be done, rush to the newspapers, and persuade them to back it. The news papers will do so for a while and then the matter drops out of sight. When the managers of the City Parks Association decide on a course of action, they draw up an ordinance such as they want, have it introduced, follow it to a committee of the Councils, learn to what sub-committee the ordinance has been referred, keep after the members of the sub-committee and take them to the ground in question, and, when the subcommittee is about to report to the committee of the Councils, this being the time when the fate of the ordinance is

matter to the attention of the newspapers. Then the valuable advocacy by the newspapers of the passage of the pending ordinance is well timed; with the result that energy is spent, not in fighting the air, but in applying the pressure of public opinion when and where it will most avail.

The arguments of the Association constitute an important part, perhaps the most important part, of its work. Many are delivered vocally before the various committees of Councils, the Board of Surveys, and the members of the Administration, but the ones that attract the widest attention and comment are those advanced in the official reports. These reports have grown from single sheets to three parts of many pages each, as the work of the Association has expanded.

One part of the last report is