During the second half of the nineteenth century the population of Chicago increased from thirty thousand to two millions of people. To-day all conditions point to continued gains. The days of chance and uncertainty are past. The days of doubtful ventures are gone, and the hazards of new fortunes. The elements which make for the greatness of the city are known to be permanent; and men realize that the time has now come to build confidently on foundations already laid. The growth of the city has been so rapid that it has been impossible to plan for the economical disposition of the great influx of people, surging like a human tide to spread itself wherever opportunity for profitable labor offered place. Thoughtful people are appalled at the results of progress; at the waste in time, strength, and money which congestion in city streets begets; at the toll of lives taken by disease when sanitary precautions are neglected; and at the frequent outbreaks against law and order which result from narrow and pleasureless lives. So that while the keynote of the nineteenth century was expansion, we of the twentieth century find that our dominant idea is conservation. The people of Chicago have ceased to be impressed by rapid growth or the great size of the city. What they insist asking now is, How are we living? Are we in reality prosperous? Is the city a convenient place for business? It is a good labor market in the sense that labor is sufficiently comfortable to be efficient and content? Will the coming generation be able to stand the nervous strain of city life? When a competence has been accumulated, must we go elsewhere to enjoy the fruits of independence? If the city does not become better as it become bigger, shall not the defect be remedied? These are questions that will not be brushed aside. They are the most pressing questions of our day, and everywhere men are anxiously seeking the answers. The remark is often heard, that if, after the great fire of 1871, the people had realized what the future growth of the city would be, they would have saved a vast amount of money by planning for a convenient city. The undaunted courage with which a debt-burdened community of three hundred and fifty thousand people then set about rebuilding their city must absolve them from the charge of lack of foresight. To-day there is no excuse for the second city in the United States with its destiny made manifest and its wealth secure, if it shall now fail to keep pace with the march of progress that is gathering into its ranks the progressive cities of the world.