The high talents and national reputation of the members of this commission insured that their recommendations for the beautification and development of the Capital would really be a new, grand, basic plan. After mature study, in the light of the finest examples the world had produced, this commission reinstated the authority of the L’Enfant plan and carried it to its logical conclusions in new territory. This action reflected credit not only on the genius of L’Enfant but also on the commission itself, which had the wisdom to recognize the supreme merit of the original plan and the good sense, and modesty, to build upon it. However, the 1901 commission’s plan never received general legislative sanction, and approval of some of its individual major projects was obtained only after great effort and much urging by the executive authorities and some far-sighted Members of the Congress. First, the railroads arranged for a Union Station (1903), and the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. removed its tracks and station from the Mall, so that to-day the traveler by rail enters the city through a great monumental portal and finds himself in sight of the Capitol. In 1913 the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway was authorized, to connect the Rock Creek Valley with the Potomac Park system. In 1911 the Lincoln Memorial and the development of the Mall between it and the Washington Monument were provided for. A law approved in 1901 provided for construction of the General Grant Memorial at the east end of the Mall at the base of Capitol Hill, while a memorial to Gen. George G. Meade, located in relation to the Grant Memorial, was subsequently (1926) accepted from the State of Pennsylvania. In 1924 the Arlington Memorial Bridge was approved. [Illustration: PARK AREAS ACQUIRED TO JULY 1, 1938] In 1910 the National Commission of Fine Arts was set up to-- advise upon the location of statues, fountains, and monuments in the public squares, streets, and parks in the District of Columbia, and upon the selection of models for statues, fountains, and monuments erected under the authority of the United States and upon the selection of the artists for the execution of the same. This commission, which has numbered in its membership the greatest architects and artists of the country, has helped greatly not only in raising the standard of the public works of art but also in securing the adoption of important parts of the 1901 plan. With the general paving of streets, the filling of vacant lots with houses, and the increasing automobile traffic, it became necessary to provide safe play places for children and necessary recreation facilities for adults. In response to this demand, a system of playgrounds was adopted and a playgrounds department set up in 1911.