Home Truths from Abroad

London, noted an approving dispatch in the Philadelphia Inquirer, is remarkable for the "cleanliness of the streets, sidewalks and parks." Yet, remonstrated the Inquirer's fact-primed correspondent, "the City of London performs less cleaning service per square mile and per citizen than does Philadelphia, which goes to show that all the street-cleaning service in the world is not of much help if the people continue to mess up the streets."

If these home truths from abroad did not surprise Philadelphians, it was because the story carried the byline: "Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia." On a month's vacation in Europe that ended last week, Democrat Dilworth wrote a series of mayor's-eye-view stories for the Inquirer that found a moral for the home folks almost every place he visited. Describing the rebuilt sections of West Berlin, for example, Yaleman Dilworth said they offer "conclusive proof of how essential it is to the health and well-being of a large city to have ample, well-planned open space." In Norway he was impressed by the complete absence of slums, the "extraordinary" beauty of Oslo's city hall, the "extremely attractive small public beaches," the "profusion of attractive parks."

Mayor Dilworth even kept an eye peeled for traffic problems, reported pointedly from London that drivers move and stop "promptly on signal, automobiles stay in their proper lanes, and you see no weaving or cutting in or out." Concluded His Honor: "It is just another example of what decent observance of the law, and of regard for one another, can accomplish."

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