canals and rivers where they exist, placing them, if possible, on the east of the town so that the prevailing wind would carry away such smoke, noise, and smell as improved methods of production may still leave as necessary accompaniments of a manufacturing area. Such an industrial district would be intimately connected by direct highways, provided with suitable means of locomotion, with the different residential suburbs; and in close proximity to the factory area there would be provided accommodation for those who must needs live very near their work, a belt of open space sufficient to secure the amenities of the area, being, however, preserved between the two. In the heart of the town would be the main public buildings, surrounding a central square, or otherwise grouped to produce a dignified civic centre, and including the cathedral or whatever other building may in the future most suitably represent the spiritual aspirations of the community. But I must not discuss the civic centre to-day. We are dealing with the town extension plan, and it is perhaps time to leave the consideration of the ideal town extension and see how far Mr, Burns' Town Planning Act will enable us to approach this ideal. We shall find that is further than at first we think, and that the obstacles, based on real economic difficulties, are less than at first they seem.
The definite powers given by the Act are not many, but they are far reaching. The community is empowered, through its municipal council, to make a plan laying down the lines upon which all land surrounding it, not yet built upon and likely in the future to be built upon,
