Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/873

 NOTES AND ABSTRACTS

The Field for the American Society of Municipal Improvement. It i true, as the president states in his paper on the American Society of Municipal Improvement, that this society has a right to exist because it is doing a work for municipal engineering which no other society attempts to do ; but it has a greater right in that it is doing equally good work for other technical depart- ments of the city government, which is not done by any other society. There are many members of the society who would not wish to see its field restricted to that of municipal engineering, and the best interests of all the members, as well as of society at large, demand that the field of the society be as broad as its name, and that it cover al kinds of municipal improvements.

There has been in the past a very salutary effort to restrict the number of questions to be discussed at convention to those practical problems actually covered by the title, leaving theoretical and political questions to other association* ; and this restriction has greatly aided in strengthening and enlarging the society. It seems, however, that this selection has proceeded far enough, and that the society should in the future, as it has in the past, serve al the various departments repre- sented in its membership, and offer inducements in the way of fact and discussion for workers in all these departments in the cities of the continent to become members. Editorial in Municipal Engineering, October, 1905. H. W.

American Society of Municipal Improvements. Eleven years ago the American Society of Municipal Improvements was organized in Buffalo with sixty members. Its good work has continued, and the society has maintained a high reputation for earnest endeavor, which it is to be hoped it will continue to deserve.

If there is a certain area in the field of municipal advancement which is pecu- liarly our own and I firmly believe there is then our best work will result from a study of its nature and confining our energies within its boundaries.

As stated by our constitution, the object of this society is " to disseminate information and experience upon, and to promote the best methods to be employed in, the management of municipal departments and in the construction of muni- cipal works." The National Municipal League is largely composed of citizens as such only, who consider " politcal, administrative, and educational phases of the municipal problem." In the League of American Municipalities are gathered the mayors and other officials of our cities to study " all questions pertaining to municipal administration." The purpose of the American Civic Association is " the cultivation of higher ideals of civic life and beauty in America."

The first two consider chiefly municipal administration as a whole and the methods of co-ordinating various municipal departments, but in only a minor degree the details of the management of individual departments : while this last would seem to be explicitly stated as one of the objects of this society, and one worthy of our earnest consideration.

At first thought, it might seem that the field of engineering was already more than covered by existing societies. An examination of the work done by these. however, will show that this is not the case. The municipal engineers of Greater New York have recently formed a society which has a most promising future, but its membership is limited to that corporation. There is a place, then, for a society which will do for all the other and smaller cities of the country what this last society does for New York. One division of municipal engineering, tamely. water supply, is cared for by several societies, notably the American Water Works Association and the New England Water Works Association. But street-paving, cleaning and general maintenance, refuse collection and disposal, sewerage and

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