Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/774

758 Starting with a demand for a man of superior talents for director of the municipal play-house, a demand for excellence in all lines of municipal administration would logically follow.

The municipal play-house would need to offer a scale of popular prices which would make fair seats accessible to all. In addition to this the generous promenade space of the continental theaters—a place for the intermingling of all the people during the long intermission—should be provided. This relaxing expedient affords opportunity for social contact, a basis for the growth of the community spirit under the very roof of the most delight-giving of the community's properties.

The sense of community enjoyment thus aroused might find greater expression in the enjoyment of the public gardens and parks. They might become more social and pleasure institutions, and less places for the parade of ostentation.

The culture development achieved by the theater and the opera would provide a larger clientele for other forms of art, and the art museum would become, in a broader sense, a community institution. The people would come to constitute a spur to its excellence.

Following the growth of the social habit, and with the demand for excellence in provisions for culture and pleasure, would come a demand for expert skill in the construction and administration of the practical utilities.

As to the political side of the question, which is the practical side, such a program may be far from realization. A considerable amount of educational work may be necessary to convince the citizens of American cities that catering on a large scale to the pleasures of the people is the proper function of the city. Quick returns for such a propaganda are not among the probabilities, but if returns are attainable at all, they are worth waiting for. Other reforms had better be deferred until civic consciousness has been directed to this vital point.

The cooperation of private philanthropy may need to be enlisted at first. The habit of private persons making the municipalities the beneficiaries of gifts for such purposes, conditioned