Luxury and Waste

IN his address to the sculptors who collaborated in the embellishment of the Sieges Allee, at Berlin, last December, Emperor William alluded to "the cultivation of the ideal as the highest mission of civilization."

"Our sculpture," he said," stands to-day pure from modern tendencies. Do not give up the great principles of the old at which thrusts itself beyond the esthetic laws. It is the workshop art, the proneness to more technical tasks, which leads to a sinning against the very wells of art. Art, furthermore, should educate the people and offer ideals to the lower classes, after a hard day's toil. The great ideals have been with the Germans a lasting good, while they have been more or less lost with other peoples.

"It only remains for the Germans to preserve, foster, and hand down to posterity these great ideals. The working classes must be edified by means of the beautiful. If art represents misery as more hideous than it is, it sins against the German people. The cultivation of the ideal is the highest mission of civilization, and if we are to be and to remain a model for other nations in this respect, the whole people must work in unison. Art helps when it raises the people, but not when it runs to the gutter. A true artist does not require to be cried up in the market-place. The great masters of Greece and Italy at the Renaissance knew nothing of the present-day newspaper advertising.

"They worked as God gave them inspiration, and let the people clatter as they pleased. It is for the cultivation of this feeling that I need you. I thank you for having accomplished such work in the Sieges Allee. The impression it exercises on strangers is stupendous. In all lands there is the deepest respect for German sculpture. May this be maintained."

"The Sieges Allee," known in English as "The Avenue of Victory," has been embellished by thirty-two exedras, each displaying three portrait statues; the series illustrating various epochs in Hohenzollern history. At a conservative estimate and if executed by contract they would cost at least $25,000 a piece in the United States, and collectively they would represent an outlay of $800,000.

Eight hundred thousand dollars spent on the embellishment of a single thoroughfare!

And for the purpose of aiding in the cultivation of the ideal! What do you think of that?

Does it represent extravagant luxury or criminal waste?

Before considering the answer, think of the effect the introduction of a bill into Congress

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asking for such an appropriation for such a purpose would have.

The mover would be derided and laughed to scorn. He would be called "the Great American Humorist ;" and long before completing his address he would be urged by many voices "to go way back off the earth and sit down."

And yet the Sieges Allee is but one of the monumental features of modern Berlin, and trifling in comparison with the Avenue of Sphinxes at Luxor and many another pageant of antiquity.

The ANNUAL claims it is no extravagance, believing every nation should enshrine its history, and more especially since history proves that such patriotic investments pay well in the long run.

Listen to the words of Mr. Brooks Adams: "I venture to assert that no investment ever yielded such a large return, through so long a period, as that made by Pericles on the Acropolis. To-day, those ruins are the best assets that Greece owns; and every year Americans leave some portion of the $100,000,coo I just mentioned in the hands of the Athenians as their contribution to the tax which Greek genius still levies on the world."

In the able article from which the above is quoted, Mr. Adams shows that $100,000,000 a year is squandered abroad because Americans are attracted across the ocean to more beautiful cities, where more congenial surroundings and a more leisurely life induces even the hard-fisted business man to spend his money; arguing, that if our own cities were equally attractive, this vast drain on our resources would cease, and that what our people would then spend abroad would be counterbalanced by expenditures made by foreign tourists to the United States!

"The greatest economic pitfall of our Western civilization is, in my judgment, waste; and our chief item of waste is the leakage of income to Europe." Thus again he pleads for public art in America, placing it entirely on an economic basis, and showing conclusively that it is a good investment, not only financially but primarily in the cultivation of the ideal. Public art to him is the test of the greatness of a people.

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de Vinne, of New York, the celebrated typographer and printer who, for more than a generation, has held a preeminent place and done much to elevate artistic standards of printing.

It is a matter for congratulation that he should be thus recognized and honored. People of culture and those who esteem men for what they have done to dignify civilization are always glad to see distinction conferred on such a man. We have long been an admirer of Mr. De Vinne, and more especially of his "type," and only wish there and only wish there were more like him for our universities to reward.

"Americans are a fine people-great, restless, rushing, even too quick. They want their paintings, all their sculpture, all their buildings in a hurry. Here, they say, here is the land, draw the plan, put up the building. The results are wonderful-but art is slow."-Henri Benard.

WE

The Garnier Memorial

WE endorse with great pleasure the Garnier Monument Fund which is being raised by a committee of French architects, supplemented by the following committee from the United States : Walter Cook, chairman; John M. Carrère, J. H. Freedlander, Cass Gilbert, Charles F. McKim, George B. Post, Whitney Warren and Edward L. Tilton.

It is proposed to erect a monument, including a statue of the distinguished architect, at one side. of his famous opera house; and it is to be hoped that Americans will contribute liberally, especially those who have enjoyed the hospitality of the École des Beaux Arts, and are thereby doubly able to appreciate how much Charles Garnier contributed to the advancement of architecture.

The monument is to be placed against the round pavilion of the opera house, facing the Rue Scribe and between the monumental lampposts which mark the inclined state carriage entrance to the building. M. Thomas, sculptor, and M. Pascal, architect, who was closely associated with M. Garnier in constructing and designing the Novel Opera, will execute the design.

"No other land that history has yet recorded numbers so many people having both the leisure and the equipment to be of use in the Commonwealth who yet frivolously wash their hands of all concern in their country's welfare."-Owen Wister.

Self-Help

Go O to a night-school, join the local architectural club, and don't be afraid of working overtime at the office.

Everybody has not it in him to be an architect; but those that have a real love for the work, a

natural aptitude, need never feel that a thorough education is beyond their reach.

There are mentions to be won and scholarships to be gained by the poorest. A college education is by no means absolutely necessary, for it will be remembered that at the first civilservice examination for positions in the government offices at Washington, it was not a college man nor a Beaux Arts man (though many of each class competed) that passed the highest examination, but a student of the Scranton Correspondence School! During the past year four new architectural clubs have been organized in remote cities of the United States by young architects and draughtsmen for the purpose of mutual advancement. This is the spirit that makes architects; and there are hundreds of young men who have been thus encouraged to persevere and pursue arduous night-study in order to hold their own in the profession.

A man must have courage to be an architect. It is uphill work for the ablest, and the man without ambition and ability had better drop out before he is too old to learn some other occupation.

Architects and draughtsmen are singled out on their merits, and even the youngest struggler is being watched and marked for promotion. If his industry is coupled with natural ability to design, many will be found to aid him. Ant architect is an artist, and as such finds his true level, be he rich or poor, college or dunghill bred.

“Creative ability is not measured or paid for by the clock. The eight-hour day never did an original thing in its life, and it never will.” — Seymour Eaton.

McKinley Memorials

AS we go to press, the country is just recover ing from the shock of the cowardly assassination of President McKinley.

Throughout the country, cities and organizations are preparing to raise funds for a suitable memorial, and a national movement is on foot to erect at Canton a monument suitable to the occasion, both in scale and magnificence.

The memorial bridge, which is to be part of a well-considered plan for the improvement of the city of Washington, furnishes a valuable suggestion in this connection. The time has gone by for a massive pile, isolated from vital interests, like the Garfield monument in Cleveland.

The purpose of a memorial is to bind the remembrance of the great man to the thoughts and interests of those who follow him, and the means to this end is to give it such form, that, as a bridge, a hospital, a park, or a swimming-pool

building, as is suggested in Chicago, it will have place as a pleasure or benefit in the daily lives of the people.

That kind of monument will do its work.

"The language of Art has many utterances. It will speak to us- In the solemn tenor and deep organ tone'—from the sublime of architecture; with the note of law and reason out of the wellknit ordered structure; in accents pregnant with associations that gather around country and shrine and tomb, etc."—G. B. Brown.

FOR

Clearing the Way

OR the past six months no feature of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be held at St. Louis in 1903, has commanded so much favorable newspaper comment as the proposed Municipal Art and Science Section, commonly spoken of as the "Model City."

When the Pan-American Exposition was yet in embryo, Mr. Wm. M. Crandall, editor of Municipal Journal and Engineer, made an heroic effort to have a somewhat similar exposition, which, however, would have been devoted primarily to municipal administration, incorporated in the Buffalo scheme.

The following resolutions, passed at the annual convention of the American League for Civic Improvement, in August started another campaign which, at the present writing seems likely to result in the adoption of the project in a more comprehensive form:

WHEREAS, The improvement of towns and cities, in the judgment of this convention, is a subject of widely recognized importance to the people of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Civic improvements of a public and permanent character must soon transform many communities, reflecting "man in his full twentieth century development, exhibiting not alone his material, but his social advancement, in a most conspicuous manner; and

WHEREAS, Municipal art and the science of modern city-making has formed the subject of a department exhibit at three international expositions abroad; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the American League for Civic Improvement, in annual convention assembled, petitions the commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to make provision for an exhibit which shall have this characteristic.

A committee from the Municipal Art Society of New York, and another representing the Ameri

can League for Civic Improvement, have been to St. Louis to lay the matter before the exposition authorities. Many other societies have adopted resolutions favoring it, and several sermons have

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been preached in various cities looking to its execution as a much-needed object lesson.

In short, it is proposed "that those departments of the general exposition, which are similar in their functions to the same departments in modern cities, be incorporated as working models in the general plan of the "Model City." With such a nucleus to start with, an organic civic scheme will be created, including many phases of unborn life, from the baby incubator to the crematory. Particular attention will be given to "municipal housekeeping," and by means of photographs, casts, plans, etc., the exhibit will also represent all that has been done in recent years to make city-life more healthful and enjoyable.

At the present writing no site has been definitely determined upon, though it is reasonably sure that the suggestion will be adopted in some form or other; and if organically presented it will do much to clear the way for a new start in many of our backward municipalities.

“A finer public spirit and a better social order." Watchword of the Twentieth Century Club, of Boston.

"Progress Before Precedent" IN the slow evolution leading to the inevitable birth and growth of American architecture, "Progress before precedent" has played its little part.

Used as a rallying cry during the formative period of the now permanently organized Architectural League of America-it did its work well -was referred to editorially as a maxim "which contained much thought-provoking wisdom,” and elicited from the Brickbuilder an elaborate symposium which aroused a transcontinental discussion.

It was never the official maxim of the League, though it still clings to it after having been officially repudiated; and we who know something of its paternity now bewail its fate with less reverence for the deceased than the old colored woman had who, at the age of 107, heard of the death of one of her sons aged eighty-eight, and sighing, said: "Ah nevah quite expected to raise dat chile."

"A grammar for the New Architecture' must partake of the spontaneity and flexibility of that art, or go by the board."-Louis H. Sulli

van.

Congratulations

IT is our pleasant duty to record the appointment of Mr. John Gaylen Howard as architect of the first of the great buildings to be erected by the University of California. It is a double pleasure because of the way the appointment has

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been received by the profession at large. Nothing could augur better for the future than the generous attitude of old and young towards him. His ability as an architect and his personality as a man enabled him to accept a position that for three years had been the most cherished goal of every aspiring architect, with the hearty congratulations of his peers and without a dissenting voice being raised in criticism.

Those who remember the meeting some years ago between the regents of this university and the architects of one of our Eastern cities, where the most conspicuous of the latter attempted to impress himself upon the former by recounting the magnitude of the annual output of his planfactory, could hardly then have hoped for such an eminently satisfactory and entirely professional

outcome.

The University of California is to be congratulated. Mrs. Hearst, to whose intelligent forethought and generosity the university is under obligation, is to be congratulated; and, lastly and above all, the profession is to be congratulated upon having an opportunity to show how well the seat of a great and growing institution may be organized, planned and embellished when under the direction of one or more of its most accomplished members.

In this connection-for Mr. Howard is a young man-we extend our felicitations to Messrs. Lord & Hewlit, the successful competitors for the Department of Justice Building, to be erected at Washington, D. C., and to those magnanimous older members of the profession who made an opportunity for several other new firms of talented young men to compete in such an important and exclusive competition.

It likewise gives us cordial pleasure to congratulate the many members of the profession who contribute so generously to the upbuilding of architectural ideals, who, by their writing and lecturing, and more especially owing to their tact. and patience, are doing so much to draw a sharp line of demarcation between architecture and building; who, in the face of overwhelming odds, are making the profession feared and respected, and who, above all, in their office-practice, are setting a worthy example to both architects and laymen.

pired since the appearance of the first volume. With becoming modesty we abstain from printing them. Many testimonials have also been received, which did much to make the ANNUAL a success and a permanent addition to architectural literature.

To those who had a good word to say for the tyro-enterprise, we would now repeat what long since was communicated to them (even before the sales justified the thought of continuing the venture) that we sincerely appreciate their generosity, and that it is in no spirit of rivalry that we have entered the journalistic field, but with the idea of extending good, fellowship, raising higher standards, making a broader circuit for architectural publications, and to arouse a better and more sincere interest in architecture. A purpose is behind our effort, and if we assist in shaping an ideal, looking to concerted action, for the purpose of creating a native modern style, and a more organic system of city-making, our work will not have been in

vain.

With its second issue the ANNUAL is firmly established, though it has not yet got its pace.

We invite criticism and suggestion. As yet our efforts are immature, and the reader, at a glance, can detect our mistaken policy and set us right next year.

We invite your co-operation in order that we may widen our scope and add suggestive value to the work. Show us how the ANNUAL may be made of more immediate usefulness to you. Show us how the ANNUAL may better serve the profession. Show us the hopeful signs, the progressive symptoms, the living in our young architecture, and we will profit by your advice.

T

HIS has been a year of prosperity for the American Institute of Architects. Fiftysix Associates and one Fellow have been elected, and nineteen more await a final vote. One Chapter has entered the Institute and others are forming. Our debts are paid and we have a balance on hand in our treasury. We have a journal of our own to represent us before the world, and we have a dignified home, in which we all take the greatest pride, where our growing possessions are handsomely housed and which we hope may for a long time to come serve as a centre of national usefulness and influence.

We are, therefore, enjoying great material good fortune as I welcome you to this thirtyfourth annual convention of the American Institute of Architects.

The report of the Board of Directors will present to you in detail a review of the year's work. Among other things this will call to your attention what has been accomplished by our new "Quarterly Bulletin." You must have noticed the great amount of devoted labor given to its preparation by our Secretary. As we are now closing the first year of its publication, and as it causes a substantial increase in our expenses, you may wish to discuss methods of increasing its usefulness.

Among other things, it has been proposed that the proceedings of the Judiciary Committee should be published therein to insure to them greater publicity than they now receive. It has also been suggested that papers read at the Convention be printed in the Bulletin and only be referred to in our printed proceedings. I ask you to act on these subjects.

Perhaps you will also decide whether it is necessary to insert advertisements in the Bulletin, a practice that many find objectionable in the catalogues of our local exhibitions, and which. seems to me quite unworthy of the American Institute of Architects, no matter what similar cases may be cited, or what distinguished bodies may be held up to us as examples. I think we had better publish no more than we can pay for. I cannot be led to believe that the advertisements are very willing investments. They are the more or less unwilling contributions from people who are employed through us, and we ought not to accept this aid in our local exhibitions, and still. less in this publication by the American Institute.

Finally, after reviewing this first year of the life of the Bulletin, you may determine to consider the question whether the work thus prosperously begun shall be changed in any other respects or continue in the general form to which we are now becoming accustomed.

The report of the Directors reviews the amendments to the constitution on which you are to vote, and that relate to the election of Associates and Fellows. One point, however, that seems to me important, is not covered by these new amendments, nor is it referred to by the Directors. Under our present by-laws it is possible for a man to be a member of the Institute who is not a member of a local Chapter, although the Chapter would, presumably, know most about the candidate. This has seemed so improper to some of the Chapters, that they have acted in the matter, and by the adjustment of dues have made it simple for their members to be members of the Institute also. Others have agreed to vote against the admission to the Institute of any of their neighbors who are not members of the local Chapter. This is an unsatisfactory situation, and it seems very desirable that all the Chapters should treat this important question in the same

manner.

I might thus comment further on the details of the year's work that will be presented to you in the report of the Directors. But these conventions give us opportunity to recall the purposes for which we are united and to inquire whether these ends are advancing. Such inquiries are much to be desired. As we have passed the stage of constitution-making, as our membership is now large and increasing, and, as we have become a strong and well-organized body, we should make sure that we exert properly an influence which now extends from one end to the other of this great country. For this reason, in what I have to say before you, I desire to draw your attention to four general subjects. I wish briefly to review the relations of our National Government towards the art of architecture, our attitude towards the youth of our profession, the condition of our professional intercourse with one another, and our position in regard to the art to which we have devoted our life-work.

As a national institution, our first duty is to our country. We all wish to help to our utmost those in authority in their endeavors to make

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