from foreign experience. France has never attempted to prohibit signs and posters in all parts of her cities. Disfigurement not exceeded in all the world, one is inclined to think, may be seen in many places within the limits of any of her cities, not excluding Paris, the most beautiful of them all. Instead she forbids all advertising on 70 or within a certain distance of structures and natural sites 71 of historical and artistic importance listed under her classification statutes of 1887 and 1913, already referred to.72 In certain localities, also, advertising is made a government monopoly under the statute giving the authorities power over publicity and the press," .73 the municipalities erecting small tasteful kiosks and forbidding all posters elsewhere. In France, also, outdoor advertising is heavily taxed, the principle of a rate increasing progressively with the size of the advertisement, being adopted under a late statute.74

Outdoor Advertising in England.-In England the law on this subject was until recently like our own, and the situation worse. Comfortable and convenient as they are, nothing could be uglier, for instance, than the London busses and the London underground stations, nothing more confusing than the mass of signs which make it difficult to discover the destination of a bus or the name of a station.

In 1907 England passed her "Advertisements Regulation Act" 75 under which any local authority may make bye-laws:

"(1) For the regulation and control of hoardings and similar structures used for the purpose of advertising when they exceed twelve feet in height;

"(2) For regulating, restricting, or preventing the exhibition of advertisements in such places and in such manner, or by such

To Passed Jan. 27, 1902; Bull. des lois, XIIe Sér., Bull. 2348, No. 41492, p. 1878. The title of the act is "Law Modifying Art. 16 of the Law of July 29, 1881, with regard to the Press."

"Law of April 20, 1910, Bull des lois, Nouv. Sér., Bull. 32, No. 1481 p. 1123.

"In Italy municipalities may prohibit advertisements that are on or near public buildings or monuments, or that deface the locality. Law of Public Security of 1889, Art. 65. See Raccolta ufficiale delle leggi e dei decreti, Vol. 91, No. 5888 decies.)

73

13 Law of July 29, 1881. Bull. des lois, XII Sér., Bull. 637, No. 10850.

Law of July 12, 1912, Bull. des lois, Nouv. Sér., No. 4336, p. 1964. 17 Edw. VII, ch. 27.

means, as to affect injuriously the amenities of a public park or pleasure promenade, or to disfigure the natural beauty of a landscape."

Bye-laws made under this act may apply either to the whole of the area of the local authority or to any specified part of it and must be confirmed by the Home Secretary who must consider the objections of those likely to be affected. The local authorities may also under sec. 19 of the Ancient Monuments Act, already quoted,76 prohibit advertisements on or near any monument or structure of historic, traditional, artistic or architectural public interest, as may be done in France. New "sky signs" on the roofs of buildings were also forbidden in England in 1907 77 as they had been previously in London.78

Outdoor Advertising in Germany. In almost if not quite all the German States, there are now statutes under which outdoor advertising may be forbidden if it disfigures a structure, street, square, or mars the beauty of a city or country view. Such statutes were to be found prior to 1907 79 but have become much more numerous and strict since about that time.80

Outdoor advertising is also controlled under the various statutes with regard to publicity and the press. In many parts of Germany this advertising is a profitable government monopoly conducted, as in France, with due regard to the appearance of public places.

The æsthetic regulation of private property exposed to

"P. 399 above.

"Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907 (7 Edward VII, ch. 53), sec. 91.

18 See Cubitt, Building in London, 1911, p. 180, citing the London Building Act, 1894; 57 and 58 Vict. ch. 213, Part XII.

79

See, for instance, the Prussian statute of June 2, 1902; sec. 90 of the Saxon Building Ordinance of July 1, 1900, as amended May 20, 1904. 80 Outdoor advertising is regulated under sec. 3 of the Prussian Statute of 1907, and sec. 1 of the Saxon Statute of 1909, already cited; in Baden by virtue of the "Polizeistrafgesetzbuch" of October 31, 1863 (Reg. Bl. p. 439), sec. 130, as amended by the law of August 20, 1904 (Ges. u. V. O. Bl., p. 397) and ib. sec. 116, by virtue of which secs. 33-35 of the General Building Ordinance were issued; in the Duchy of Anhalt, by virtue of sec. 64 of the Building Ordinance already cited above; in Württemberg by virtue of art. 98, par. 3 of the Building Ordinance; in Bavaria by virtue of art. 22, b., par. 11 of the Polizeistrafgesetzbuch, as amended July 6, 1908; see note 3 in edition of Englert (Munich 1912, Beckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung) of the Building Ordinance for Bavaria, p. 183,

public view is important because public beauty is both an asset and an amenity. This the citizen of continental Europe, where æsthetic considerations have long prevailed, fully recognizes. The Parisian knows that the beauty of his city attracts multitudes of tourists to it every year, to his net financial profit; and he also appreciates to the full its æsthetic charm, and will allow no one, with his consent, to deface it. Of the two motives for his intense regard for the appearance of his city, who can doubt that the love of its beauty is the stronger? However that may be, the general recognition of the worth of beauty is everywhere essential before popular support for provisions to secure it and preserve it can be obtained on any ground. Our only hope in this country of such a recognition is in the gradual increase in civic pride and taste. It is, therefore, encouraging to read in McQuillin's book on municipal corporations 81 that in the opinion of the writer of this standard work for the practical lawyer:

81

"It is certain that much of the legislation [in the United States] of recent date, particularly during the past two decades, has been induced largely by æsthetic and artistic considerations, and this desire to render the urban centers more attractive has found a firm lodgment in the popular mind. It is destined to increase with the years, and in the development of the law in this respect courts will be inclined to give a broader interpretation to such regulations, and finally sanction restrictions imposed solely to advance materially attractiveness and artistic beauty."

Note F

Note I. THE FRENCH LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF PLACES OF 82 NATURAL BEAUTY

ART. 1. In each department there shall be formed a commission with relation to places of natural beauty. This commission shall be composed of the prefect* (four other officials and five laymen distinguished in art, science and letters).

ART. 2. This commission shall make a list of lands the preserva

* Summarized.

1 Sec. 929.

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Passed April 21, 1906; to be found in Bulletin des lois, 1906, XII• Sér. Bull. 2736, p. 735 (No. 47713).

tion of which on account of their artistic or picturesque character would be of general interest.

ART. 3. The owners of the lands designated by the commission shall be asked to agree not to destroy or change the condition of these places without the special authority of the commission and the consent of the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts.

If this agreement is made, the property will be classified by decree of the Minister of Public Education and Fine Arts.

If the owner refuses to make this agreement, the commission shall notify the department and the commune within which the property is situated. Declassification may be effectuated by the same

method and under the same conditions as classification.

ART. 4. The prefect on behalf of the department, or the mayor on behalf of the commune, may under the law of May 3, 1841, expropriate the properties designated by the commission as susceptible of classification.

ART. 5. After the establishment of the servitude 83 of classification every change of the locality without the authority mentioned in art. 3, shall be punished by a fine of from one hundred francs (100 f) to three thousand francs (3000 f).

Article 463 of the Penal Code is applicable.

The prosecution shall be made on the complaint of the commission. ART. 6. This law shall apply to Algeria.

No. 2. THE FRENCH LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF PLACES AND OBJECTS OF HISTORIC AND ARTISTIC INTEREST

84

ART. I. Real properties, the conservation of which possesses, from the point of view of history or of art, a public interest, are classified as historic monuments in whole or in part in the care of

84

Known in our law as "easement."

Entitled "Law with Regard to Historic Monuments"; passed December 31, 1913, superseding former laws; to be found in the Bulletin des lois for 1913, Bull. 120, p. 3416 (No. 6459). The translation is that of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society in its report for 1914, p. 306.

85

The French word thus rendered is “immeubles." It means literally things which cannot be transported and includes lands and buildings which in their nature are immovable. In a general way it means real estate as distinguished from "meubles," movables, or personal property. But on account of the awkwardness of using the words "real estate" or "real estates" in such expressions as "the destruction, pulling down, mutilation, injury or removal of a classified real estate" (see art. 34), we have used instead the words "real property" or the word "property"

the Minister of Fine Arts according to the provisions established by the articles following.

Included among the real properties susceptible of being classified according to the terms of the present law are megalithic monuments, prehistoric stations or deposits and real property the classification of which is necessary to isolate, separate or make safe a property classified or proposed for classification.

From the day when the Administration of Fine Arts gives notice to the proprietor of his proposition for classification, all the effects of classification apply in full force to the property. They cease to apply if the decision to classify is not reached within six months from this notification.

Every order or decree which shall pronounce a classification after the promulgation of the present law shall be transcribed, under the direction of the Administration of Fine Arts, to the Bureau of Mortgages of the locality of the classified property. This transcription shall not be subject to any collection or profit of the Treasurer.

ART. 2. There shall be considered as regularly classified, after the promulgation of the present law, 1st, the properties inscribed in the general list of classified monuments published officially in 1900 by the Direction of Fine Arts; 2nd, the properties, whether comprised or not in this list, which have been made the object of orders or decrees of classification conformably to the terms of the law of March 30, 1887.

Within a period of three months the list of properties considered as classified before the promulgation of the present law shall be published in the Official Journal. There shall be drawn up, for each of said properties, an extract from the list, reproducing all that which concerns it; this extract shall be transcribed to the Bureau of Mortgages of the locality of the property, under the direction of the Administration of Fine Arts. This transcript shall not be subject to any collection or profit of the Treasurer.

The list of classified properties shall be kept open; and re-edited at least every ten years.

There shall be drawn up, furthermore, within a period of three years, a supplementary inventory of all buildings or parts of buildings

alone in this translation. While the significance of "immeuble" is frequently that of "building," yet the word "bâtiment" does not occur in the law and the word "edifice" only two or three times. In those cases, and those only, we have used the word "building." It should be understood, therefore, that the word "property" in this translation means immovable property or real estate. There is also in French an "immeuble fictif" or fictitious real estate which consists of a movable object which has become affixed to, and therefore a part of, real property. It is called "immeuble par destination." This we have rendered as "fixture." (See art. 14.)