Page:The Preservation of Places of Interest or Beauty, 1907.djvu/29

 It may be suggested that there is something artificial and untrue to history in this attempt to perpetuate an old style in new buildings; but those who remember the "Römerplatz" and other charming fragments of old Frankfurt, will be grateful for legislation which excludes from such places jarring forms and associations.

The principle of preserving the general effect of both town and rural landscape is further recognized in the most emphatic manner by a recent Bill introduced by the Prussian ministry into the Prussian Parliament, and strengthened by a Special Commission to whom it was referred. Under this Bill, which apparently has every prospect of becoming law, municipal bodies are authorized "to prohibit building-undertaking which disfigure the Streets and Squares (Plätze) or the general effect of a town-district (geschlossene Ortschaft), or which in places of natural beauty tend to disfigure the landscape." The Prussian Minister of Education has also issued an Instruction to Local Authorities as to the protection of the natural features of their districts, which leaves nothing to be desired on the score of thoroughness.

Time will not permit me to extend my examination of the position of the movement for preserving Places of Interest or Beauty to the other nations of Europe, or to the New World. It is sufficient to say that scarcely any civilized Continental State has treated its historic monuments with such indifference as this country; while in America, despite the general absence of restrictive legislation, endeavours to preserve the grand natural features of the country have been made on a scale, and with a thoroughness of method, which are nowhere to be found in the United Kingdom.