Too Long; Didn't Read

Our recent articles on "Scientific Destitution in New York" and "The Scientific Value of the Central Park," have called forth numerous letters from correspondents, and have been extensively noticed by the press. We now learn that the legislature of the State has taken the matter in hand, and there is some prospect, with an honest administration of the appropriations, of something being done to relieve our city of the opprobrium that rests upon it. A bill is pending, before the Senate, authorizing the Park Commissioners to build, equip, and furnish, on Manhattan Square, or any other public square or park, suitable fire-proof buildings, at a cost not exceeding $500,000 for each corporation, for the purpose of establishing a museum of art, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and of a museum of natural history, by the American Museum of Natural History, two societies recently incorporated by the Legislature. This is a million dollars to begin with, and an ample site, without cost, to the aforementioned corporations. Manhattan Square extends from Seventy-seventh to Eighty-first streets, and from Eighth to Ninth avenues, and spans about eighteen acres. Until it was set apart by the state Board of Commissioners, for the purposes of a Zoological Garden, it was proposed, by a number of enlightened citizens of New York, to devote it to the uses of four of our existing corporations, giving to each one a corner, and an equal share in the allotment of space. The societies were, "the Academy of Design," for art, "the Historical Society," for public records and libraries, "the Lyceum of Natural History," for science, and "the American Institute," for technology. These have been incorporated for many years, and are known to include the leading artists, men of letters, science, and the arts, of the city, on their lists of members. The committee went so far as to have plans of the building drawn by competent architects; but, like many other well-meant schemes, want of money compelled the originators of the plan to abandon any further attempts. In the meantime, the Legislature chartered the American Botanical and Zoological Society, and gave the Commissioners of the Park authority to set apart a portion of it, not exceeding sixty acres, for the use of the Society, for the establishment of a zoological and botanical garden. This society was duly organized under the act, and Mr. Hamilton Fish was made its president, and considerable sums of money were subscribed. But, according to the sixth annual report of the Board of Commissioners, "the society never manifested its desire for an allotment of ground." It appears to have died, and made no sign. Some of our citizens, fearing that the Central Park would go the way of every other public work in the city, made strenuous effort to revive the Zoological Society, for the purpose of obtaining a perpetual lease of a suitable site, on which to establish a zoological garden, similar to those in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Cologne. Their object was to remove this part of the Park beyond the reach of political intrigue. Subsequent events have shown that the fears of these gentlemen were well founded. The Legislature of the State, on the 25th of March, 1862, gave ample powers to the New York Historical Society to establish a Museum of Antiquity and Science, and a Gallery of Art, in the Central Park. They have submitted designs for a building, but, for some reason, no decisive steps have been taken towards its construction.