MY AMERICAN FRIENDS

spaces, if vender the right kind of supervisfon, are a social
insurance of enormous importance in that they prevent
much lawlessness among children, young people and adults
and tend to make for happiness and contentment. And
finally they provide many opportunities for the self-
development of body, mind and cultural interest which
make for a life more abundant for each individual citizen.'*

So much for general principles* Mr. Weir
then goes on to remind the City Fathers of their
professions—and to confront them with their
performance,

"The City Government in its published year books
for the last few years has stated that providing of recreation
opportunities for all the people is one of the three or four
great functions of a municipal government. But it has
not always been dear that this high position of recreation
is fully recognized in actual accomplishment; as witnessed
by the, fact that Oklahoma City is the only city of its
class in the South-West that does not have a year round
system of organized recreation; that its facilities for active
recreations are far behind the more progressive cities of
its class; that the moneys allotted to operation and main-
tenance of its parks are an exceedingly small percentage
of the total public expenses; that large sections of the city
are unprovided with neighbourhood playing parks, that
the majority of the children are without an adequate
system of play centres under leadership during the summer
months."

But are you not becoming a little too hard,
Mr. Weir, on a city only forty-three years old, a