In the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the state may take private property, but only for a “public use” and only upon payment of just compensation. No man can, in this country, be required to surrender his property, even for full value, unless the use for which it is taken is public. The right assumed by some European governments to condemn large areas of land in order, by selling part of it, to defray the cost of improving the rest, would be subject in this country to the inquiry whether such a purpose is “public,” within the meaning of that term as expounded by the courts. No judge grounded in the principles of American jurisprudence would countenance the argument that mere pecuniary advantage to a municipality could, without other pretext, justify the taking of private property against the will of the owner. It is quite another question, however, whether the condemnation of more land than is directly involved may not be justified as an incident of a public improvement, when it could not be defended as an independent speculation. The last of the three governmental powers mentioned is the power of taxation. Like the power of eminent domain, it is inherent in every sovereign state, but no taxes can be levied for other than public purposes. They may be general, representing the tribute due from every person to the government which protects him; or special, measured or limited by the particular benefit accruing to his property from a local improvement. The cost of public works may be paid for outright from the proceeds of a single levy or assessment, or may be defrayed from the proceeds of bonds to be liquidated by annual contributions distributed over a term of years. The constitution of Illinois requires provision to be made for paying all municipal bonds within twenty years, and limits the amount of indebtedness which any municipal body may incur to five per cent of the assessed value of taxable property therein; but does not impose any general limitation upon the amount or rate of taxes which municipal bodies may be authorized to levy. Such is a brief characterization of the three functions of government upon which chiefly depends the execution of public enterprises in this country. The Plan of Chicago, now under consideration, embraces as its leading features the acquisition, maintenance, and control of parks, boulevards and arteries of communication throughout the metropolitan territory tributary to Chicago; the establishment and control of similar parks, circuits and avenues within the city itself, and incidentally the reclamation of slums and congested areas; the embellishment of the shore of Lake Michigan; the consolidation and rearrangement of freight and passenger terminals; and the creation of a Civic Center connected with other parts of the city by convenient avenues, and in or about which shall be grouped important public buildings which may hereafter be erected. OUTER PARKS, BOULEVARDS, AND CIRCUITS