Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 192, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1918 — Playgrounds for Children Are Big Necessity to Conserve Health [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Playgrounds for Children Are Big Necessity to Conserve Health

By CHARLES E. HUGHES.

Former Governor of New York State

The successful worker must have the spirit of play in his heart, and the successful man is only a boy with a man’s experience. He must have the zest,Lthe devotion, the-spirit of comradeship, the selfforgetfulness, the boy’s wholesome olftlook upon life, if he is to do a man’s work in the world. Hdw are we to'save civilization from being caught in its own toils? How are we to preserve childhood from being too early drawn into the contests of life ? How, are we in our great urban population to make possible ef ?play, the opportunities for childish sports vfliich are

essential to the development of normal manhood and womanhood? To the solution of that 'problem you are devoting your study with & little measure of Access already attained. I cannot aid you by experience or suggestion, but I bid you godspeed from tile bottom of my heart. We want play—«imply play, for the' children of our greafrcitie». Those who are fortunate enough to live in the Country have in their own homes the playground. The orchard, the meadow, the brook, the swimming pool, the near-by wood, constitute the never-failing source for gratifying the appetites, the normal appetites, of childhood in the country. And with what feeling akin to despair do we look upon the growing thousands teeming in the congested quarters of our cities, with the slight opportunities of the roadway to take the place of the open country! We do not think of.them in their early years alone, but we look forward to the time when they come to play the parts of men and women in the world, and we wonder what is to be the future. Is their experience of life merely to be that of the hard taskmaster, the struggle fov bare existence? Is the growing feeling of discontent to be accentuated and increased because of abnormal deprivation ? We want playgrounds for children in order that we may conserve the health of our people. A great deal is being done in these days to protect us against the spread of disease. We are fighting with intelligence and with new-found zeal the great white plague, but the dread disease of tuberculosis must be successfully fought by developing stamina, physical strength, through exercise in all the physical activities. We must nourish that strength in childhood. We'do not want simply hospitals and pavilions and notices giving instructions to those who are unfamiliar with necessary precaution. We want to save the health of our children, so that we may nurture a strong, well-favored community. That is the surest way to stamp out disease.