A Memorial Bridge.

In regard to the new bridge which is to be constructed across the Charles river from West Chester Park in Boston to Front street in Cambridge, General Hazard Stevens has written a letter in which he expresses some very sensible opinions. He says that the plan prescribed by the law, which provides for a low, flat structure without any ornamental features is not worthy of two such growing cities as Boston and Cambridge. The bridge proposed would be unsuitable for the broad river basin which is soon to be surrounded by a series of parks. The bridge should not be for merely useful purposes, but also for an ornament and a pride to future generations. It should be sufficiently high to allow the passage of tugs and barges underneath. It should have some memorials of illustrious men and great events - a statue of John Harvard, an arch to Wendell Phillips, or a tower to Longfellow. The estimated cost of the present plan is $416,000. A suitable bridge would cost a million more, but a mean structure is the worst extravagance, and the extra money could easily be obtained by appropriations and subscriptions. The wealthy residents of the Back Bay, the land companies and the horse-railway companies to be benefited by the bridge would gladly subscribe if thereby they could secure the finest structure in America.

The bridge is greatly needed, and its construction should not be delayed.