At no period in its history has the city looked far enough ahead. The mistakes of the past should be warnings for the future. There can be no reasonable fear lest any plans that may be adopted shall prove too broad and comprehensive. That idea may be dismissed as unworthy a moment’s consideration. Rather let it be understood that the broadest plans which the city can be brought to adopt to-day must prove inadequate and limited before the end of the next quarter of a century. The mind of man, at least as expressed in works he actually undertakes, finds itself unable to rise to the full comprehension of the needs of a city growing at the rate now assured for Chicago. Therefore, no one should hesitate to commit himself to the largest and most comprehensive undertaking; because before any particular plan can be carried out, a still larger conception will begin to dawn, and even greater necessities will develop. The two prime considerations for every large city are, first, adequate means of circulation; and second, a sufficient park area to insure good health and good order. In those portions of the city where congestion has brought about hindrances to traffic and consequent waste, new streets must be created at whatever present cost. Chicago has now reached that point in its growth when the congestion within the city demands new and enlarged channels of circulation, in order to accommodate the increasing throngs that choke the narrow and inadequate thoroughfares. There is need, also, for an orderly arrangement of public and semi-public buildings, and for proper approaches to such structures, to express the power and dignity of the city. One thinks of Paris, not as a place of so many millions of people, but as the beautiful capital, in which the artistic sense of the French people has found fullest expression. London impresses one, not so much on account of its size, but because of those monuments which the genius of the Anglo-Saxon race has reared to mark great events and to commemorate great names in the progress of civilization. In Berlin, in Vienna, and in every great city of Europe it is the plan of the city, the character of its monuments, the impressive location of its public buildings, the picturesqueness of its thoroughfares, the development of its parks and gardens, or the treatment of its water front that give the character and charm which create individuality and interest. [Illustration: LXXXV. CHICAGO. PLAN OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF STREET CIRCULATION AND SYSTEM OF PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS, PRESENTING THE CITY AS AN ORGANISM IN WHICH ALL THE FUNCTIONS ARE RELATED ONE TO ANOTHER. COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO ] [Illustration: LXXXVI. CHICAGO. PLAN OF THE STREET AND BOULEVARD SYSTEM PRESENT AND PROPOSED.