Village case. The head note in this important case, not as yet officially approved by the Court but closely following the language of the opinion, is as follows: Zoning Extent of Police Power-U. S. Supreme Court case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.-Appellants contend that views of our own courts are not in harmony with those of our sister states and have been repudiated by the Supreme Court of the United States. Held, that so far as the decisions of some of our sister states are concerned, the fact that they take a different view from our own is no reason why we should change our own; that so far as the decision of the Supreme Court is concerned, there appears to be no conflict with our own position; that the reference in the opinion to the narrowly limited power of the New Jersey legislation to authorize the adoption of such ordinances was based upon the Nutley case decision, as expressed in the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which was not adopted by the Court of Errors and Appeals; that the Federal Supreme Court expressly declared that when, if ever, the provisions set forth in the ordinance under review should come to be concretely applied to particular premises, or to particular conditions, or to be considered in connection with specific complaints, some of them or even many of them, might be found to be clearly arbitrary and unreasonable; that the Euclid case was brought to test the broad power of the Legislature to authorize such ordinances, a power regarded a broad one by this Court, and not to determine some concrete case of the exercise of the police power. It seems to the writer that this case does not in fact justify the hope, which might be entertained at first reading, that zoning, as practiced with much benefit to the public in other states, will, without constitutional amendment, be useful in the same way in New Jersey; for the instances in which provisions in zoning ordinances are upheld in New Jersey do not furnish the basis for comprehensive systematic regulation, so essential in this field. W PENNSYLVANIA. Ward's Appeal, Supreme Court, May 9, 1927. The Appellant Ward owns a one-story frame building in a residential district. It has been used many years as a store. In 1926 the city authorities notified him that the building was in a dilapidated and unsafe condition, and that he must repair or raze it. He submitted plans, which the building inspector refused to approve on the ground that he was practically erecting a new structure to be used for business. He applied to the Board of Appeals, which refused relief on the ground that a building used for a non-conforming use could be repaired but not built practically new for the continuance of the use, and there was no unnecessary hardship. The upper court sus-. tained the Board of Appeals. VIRGINIA. Gorieb v. Fox. See page 11 of this issue. Recent Zoning Literature The Real Estate Magazine of Philadelphia in its issue of February, 1927, contains an article on zoning by James J. Walker, Mayor of the city of New York, in which he says that this system of regulation has been a "marked success" in New York City. The Baltimore Daily Record for May 10, 1927, publishes an address of C. Arthur Eby of the Baltimore bar before the Barristers Club of that city on zoning, which has been republished by the Real Estate Board of that city as a pamphlet. The address discusses zoning generally, and also with especial reference to the statutes and decisions affecting it in Baltimore. The Municipal Bond Market By Sanders Shanks, Jr. Editor, The Bond Buyer HEN due consideration is given to the tremendous volume of new securities which have been offered to the public since the first of the year, the reactionary trend of the bond market in recent weeks is not surprising. For the full six months' period ending June 30, it is estimated that new capital issues reached the recordbreaking total of $4,000,000,000, of which about $800,000,000 were state and municipal loans. With bonds piling up on dealers' shelves and no sign of a reduction in the volume of borrowing for weeks ahead, the municipal market softened during the first week in June and has continued irregular with state, county and city borrowers of first-grade credit paying net interest rates from five to fifteen one-hundredths of one per cent higher than the market would have demanded in April or May. A contributing adverse market factor was the Treasury Department's decision to offer holders of Second Liberty 4's and 44's (previously called for payment on November 15) a long-term 33% per cent bond. It was expected that the holders of these bonds, of which some $1,700,000,000 were outstanding, would be offered only a short-term bond in exchange and that many would switch into other classes of bonds, especially municipals of medium to long maturity, rather than take a lower interest rate on a short U. S. Government note. Obviously, the prospective volume of such switching operations was greatly reduced by the unexpected offer of a twenty-year Government bond. Expert opinion on the municipal bond market is fairly well agreed at this time that a quiet market will prevail during the summer with prices close to, but possibly a shade below, the current level. By early fall, the surplus volume of bonds now carried by dealers should be considerably reduced and new offerings by states and cities will probably be much smaller, the result of which should be reflected in a resumption of the forward movement of prices which characterized the market during the first five months of this year. The following list of representative issues indicates the prevailing price level of municipal bonds at original sales: D OVERY railway official recognizes only one supreme command-keep the trains running. When openings through the embankment are required for gas mains, water pipes and other public purposes, the tracks must be kept ready for use. Where the open-trench method is used, piling and falsework must be provided-expense is a secondary consideration. But there is a way to avoid trenching, and the attendant expense and uncertainty of piling and falsework. An When conduit openings are needed through existing roadbeds just an ARMCO through! keep running at top speed. And this better operation is secured at an actual saving in installation cost-often two thirds or more. Wherever openings are needed through existing embankments for conduits, for increased drainage, or to replace failed structures, push an Armco Culvert through instead Armco corrugated pipe can be jacked RMCO through the embankment. This provides the conduit opening with no interference to traffic. The trains do more than keep running-they of digging it in. Hundreds of jacking jobs have been completed throughout the country. . . and everyone with a decided saving in money. An informative bulletin, "Reducing the Cost of Culvert Placements," gives complete details. Your name on a post-card brings it. ARMCO CULVERT MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION MIDDLETOWN Forty manufacturing plants throughout the United States and Canada assure you ARMCO CULVERTS 88 Predominant in use---because predominant in quality Do you mention THE AMERICAN CITY when writing? Please do. Municipal and Civic Publications Prices do not include postage unless so stated The aims of this readable book are, in the first place, to describe a few representative examples of civic improvement in small towns and neighborhoods; secondarily, to point out the advantages of smaller cities and towns and the ease with which they can be improved; and, further, to urge the establishment of more new towns, planned for modern requirements and higher standards, and intended to be kept small rather than be distorted into metropolises. The examples selected include an industrial town extensively reshaped (Walpole, Mass.); an old seacoast town undergoing more gradual improvement (Cohasset, Mass.); and five small cities or urban suburbs planned and built as completely new projects or nearly so. These are: Kingsport, Tenn., and Kistler, Pa., industrial communities; Union Fark Gardens, Del., industrial in origin, as a war emergency project, and now a general residential suburb; Mariemont, Ohio, a suburb, in the building, for industrial workers; and Myers Park, N. C., a suburb of exclusive type. The last chapter of the book also mentions a number of other places planned to meet new conditions. The book is very fully illustrated with many striking photographs, including several airplane views; there are also many maps and plans, but the relatively small page size interferes somewhat with their legibility. A bibliography of town-planning reports relating to small communities, and of books and articles on town and city planning, is given. International Housing and Town Planning Congress, Vienna, 1926.-Part III of the report of the Congress, containing an account thereof, with the discussions at the five sessions, on the subjects of land tenure in relation to planning, raticnal distribution of cottages and tenements, and the housing situation, with special reference to public housing. The report is in English, French and German; the addresses are given in full in the original language of the speaker and summarized in the other two languages. 196 pp. (Apply to the Federation, 25, Bedford Row, London, W. C. 1, England.) National and Municipal Governments.-A booklet by George W. Knox, Corporation Counsel of Niagara Falls, N. Y., giving the principles involved in the three chief forms of American municipal government, and the difference in principles for sovereign and municipal governments. 22 PP. (Apply to the author.) History of the National Capital and Work of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission.-A speech of Hon. Frederick N. Zihlman of Maryland, in the House of Representatives at Washington, February 28. 1927. It sketches the history of the District of Columbia and describes and commends the activities of the Commission referred to. 16 pp. (Apply to the author, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.) A Research into the Economics of Land Subdivision.A report by Robert Whitten, city planning consultant, New York City, prepared under the joint auspices of the School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University and the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs. It presents existing conditions and problems and considers costs of land, street improvements and houses, with particular reference to the plan of complete neighborhood units for low- or medium-cost housing. An article by Mr. Whitten, dealing with this study, appeared in the March number of The American City. 72 pp. (Apply to School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y.) The Jurisdiction of Planning Commissions Relating to Land Subdivision.-A 5-page mimeographed paper constituting the May 1 Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Association of Planning Commissioners. (Apply to Bureau of Municipalities, Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, Harrisburg, Pa.) Keeping the City Clerk's Records.-A two-page ar ticle by W. C. Hail, Senior Municipal Accountant, League of Kansas Municipalities, in Kansas Municipali ties for May. It describes records and procedure, as an aid for new city clerks. 25 cents. (Apply to Kansas Municipalities, Lawrence, Kans.) Aircraft Year Book, 1927.-Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America, Inc., New York. 1927. XIV + 396 pp. $5.25, postpaid. The progress of aviation in 1926 is recorded in this volume, gotten out by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America, which promotes the interests of manufacturers and dealers in aviation equipment, and the advancement of the aeronautical art. The Air Commerce Act of Congress, 1926, and the adoption of continuing and progressive five-year aviation programs for the army and the navy, together with the provision of assistant secretaries of aviation in the war and navy departments, are given special mention and commendation. It is said that whereas at the end of 1923 the United States held practically all the world's sporting records for aircraft performance contests, the volume of production of the American aircraft industry lagged behind that of other countries; whereas at the end of 1926 the records had been lost, but the foundations for a satisfactory volume of business had been achieved. Besides giving a compact and interesting chronology, the book reviews at considerable length, civil aviation, both private and governmental; military activities; foreign aviation; airships; airways; technical development and education; and the aeronautical industry. The book is handsomely printed and illustrated, and contains an extensive appendix. One feature in the latter is a list of 369 cities with one or more municipal or commercial airports. Airports and Airways. By Lieutenant Donald Duke, Chief, Airways Section, Army Air Corps. The Ronald Press Co., New York. 1927. XII + 178 pp. $5.00. Maintaining that the establishment of airports should be a responsibility of city governments rather than of commercial aeronautical enterprises, and that the cities should anticipate a large development of commercial aviation, this book presents a survey of present conditions and gives much detailed and semi-technical information for the guidance of municipal authorities, cham bers of commerce and others faced with the problem of building airports, besides having considerable general interest. Accessibility of airports so that the advantages of airplanes speed may not be neutralized, is stressed. The laying out of airways and the provision of beacons, identification signs, maps, bulletins, meteorological data and other navigation facilities are gone into. Aviation. This is the topic dealt with in the May number of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The editor in charge of the volume is Frank A. Tichenor. There are 26 contribu tions on as many subjects, including the various uses of aviation, its history, certain aspects of the art, aeronautical education, regulation, etc. 210 pp. $2.00. (Apply to the Academy, Rumford Press Building, Concord, N. H. Concrete Cradles for Large Pipe Conduits.-By W. J. Schlick and James W. Johnson. A highway research investigation conducted at Ames, Iowa, by the Iowa Engineering Experiment Station in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Public Roads, including results of tests on cradled pipe, and conclusions drawn. Bulletin 80 of the Experiment Station. 43 pp. (Apply to the Station, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa.) Fire Waste and Its Prevention.-A paper by Richard E. Vernor, Manager, Fire Prevention Department, Western Actuarial Bureau, Chicago, presented at the Second Short Course for Fire Fighters at Ames, Iowa, October 26-29, 1926. Bulletin 90, Engineering Extension Department, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. 7 pp. (Apply to the Engineering Extension Department.) Sewage Treatment and Refuse Disposal.-An article by H. Burdett Cleveland, consulting sanitary engineer, New York City, reprinted from The American Year Book, 1926; it relates to progress during the year 1926. 2 pp. (Apply to the author, 38 Park Row, New York.) Water-Meters and the Elimination of Waste.-A study of New York City's water-supply problems, compiled by the Water Works Research Bureau, and dated April. 1927. It shows the amount of waste at present and the saving that metering would bring about as to water 36 pp. furnished and new investment needed. (Apply to the Bureau, 50 East 42nd Street, New York.) Firestone Tires, 40" x 8", on our 750 Gallon Engine, now 3 years old, show very little wear. They have answered 443 calls. I consider the tread very good for snow. Frank P. Hall, Chief Fire Dept., Athol, Mass. Firestone Dealers Can Save You Money and Serve You Better Tire conservation-getting out of tires all the mileage built into them at the factory-is an important part of the service of Firestone Dealers. They have modern repair equipment, especially designed by Firestone, to assure Fire Departments quick, uniformly dependable repair dependable repair service. Firestone Dealers are trained in the latest tire repair methods at the Company's Repair Schools, conducted at the Factories and in principal Branch Cities throughout the United States. They are experts in rebuilding, at low cost, tires that have been injured, protecting tire users from loss. Firestone Dealers have also had the advantage of Tire Educational Meetings, where by means of motion pictures, charts, tire samples and engineering data, they learned details of tire design and construction. This keeps them up-todate on all matters of tire development, from the source best qualified to give it -Firestone. The Firestone Dealer can give you better service, for he receives Firestone Gum-Dipped Tires and Steam-Welded Tubes direct from the nearest of 148 Factory Warehouses. He can save you money and serve you better. MOST MILES PER DOLLAR AMERICANS SHOULD PRODUCE THEIR OWN RUBBER.. Harveyertone 89 Yes we should like you to mention THE AMERICAN CITY. |