FLOWERS FOR LONDON [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I
was delighted to see the contribution by " M. A." in your last issue. This matter of opening the squares has been a hobby of mine for years, and that it should, at last, be put forward in a paper so authoritative as the Spectator is a great satisfaction to me. I have travelled a good deal, but I know no city the better quarters of which are so well provided with unused open spaces as London. One would think, in these days when the overcrowded and insanitary conditions under which the mass of the people live have becoLl.e a burning question, that those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to live in the best quarters should feel it our duty to insist that these squares, the amenities of which are generally monopoliied by cats, should be opened to those who would enjoy that which we make no use of. Apart from the social-hygienic side, there is the aesthetic one. It stands to reason that the opening of these squares, if accompanied by a suitable laying-out and arrangement, .would immensely add to the beauty of London. One need make small demands on one's imagination to realize what a transformation could be wrought. In no great city in Europe has less advantage been taken of decorative potentialities than in London. Our monuments are mostly 'eye-sores. Here surely is an oppor- tunity to make amends, give our sculptors a chance to per- petuate the memory of citizens who have deserved well of the Commonwealth. Would not the London Society or the Metro- politan Public Gardens Association support propaganda for opening the squares ? Is not this politically the psychological moment for a slight display of unselfishness by property
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