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The question might well be asked why such work as this was not undertaken sooner by the government. The principal reason is that every officer of the government directing the affairs of the national parks is burdened with a mass of administrative details relating to other matters. The parks have been placed by law under the direct supervision of the secretary of the interior and the detailed administrative work is all done by officials immediately subordinate to the secretary. The Hot Springs of Arkansas were made a government reservation in 1832 and in 1872 the Yellowstone, the first of the great