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CITY DOCUMENT No. II.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR,
CITY GOVERNMENT OF 1900,
TOGETHER WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE OFFICERS OF THE
CITY OF QUINCY,
MASSACHUSETTS,
FOR THE YEAR 1899.
16
179
1625
MANET
2
1141
QUINCY
11888
QUINCY : GEO. W. PRESCOTT & SON, 115 Hancock Street. 1900.
City Government, 1900.
MAYOR, JOHN O. HALL.
DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS.
Commissioner of Public Works, CHARLES F. KNOWLTON.
City Treasurer,
H. WALTER GRAY.
City Clerk, EDGAR G. CLEAVES.
City Auditor, GEORGE A. SIDELINGER.
Chief Engineer of Fire Department,
Chief of Police,
PETER J. WILLIAMS.
WALTER H. RIPLEY.
City Solicitor, RUSSELL A. SEARS.
Overseer of Poor, E. W. H. BASS.
Collector of Taxes, A. LINCOLN BAKER.
City Physician, JOHN F. WELCH, M. D.
City Messenger,
HARRY W. TIRRELL.
City Engineer,
HAMILTON FLOOD.
Inspector of Plumbing, JEREMIAH J. KENILEY.
Inspector of Animals, FRANCIS ABELE, JR.
Inspector of Meats and Provisions,
ROBERT T. JOHNSON.
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CITY COUNCIL.
Regular meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7.35 P. M. CHARLES M. BRYANT, . CHRISTOPHER A. SPEAR,
President.
Clerk.
Councilmen-at-Large.
WILLIAM E. BADGER,
RICHARD R. FREEMAN,
EUGENE N. IIULTMAN, HARRY S. NICOL,
JOHN E. POLAND.
Councilmen from Wards.
Ward One. ELISHA PACKARD,
HENRY M. FAXON, GEORGE H. WILSON.
Ward Two. ARTHUR W. NEWCOMB,
JAMES S. CLEVERLY,
JOHN W. WALSH.
Ward Three. JOHN L. JOHNSON,
DANIEL McLENNAN,
THOMAS W. SMITH.
Ward Four. THOMAS F. HOGAN, WILLIAM H. CALLAHAN, JAMES H. ELCOCK. Ward Five. CHARLES M. BRYANT,
EUGENE F. DE NORMANDIE, WALTER F. NICHOLS. Ward Six. WALTER P. HILL, CHARLES ALDEN, WILLIAM G. GASSETT.
City Council Committees.
Finance, Accounts, Claims, Contracts and Salaries,-FREEMAN (chairman), BADGER, PACKARD, POLAND, ALDEN, JOHNSON, WALSH.
Streets, Ways, Sidewalks, Bridges and Lights,-POLAND (chairman), NEW- COMB, McLENNAN, NICHOLS, ELCOCK, GASSETT, WILSON.
Public Buildings and Grounds, -PACKARD (chairman), HOGAN, NICOL, FAXON, DE NORMANDIE.
Sewers and Drains and Water Supply,-HILL (chairman), HULTMAN, SMITH, WALSH, CALLAHAN, DE NORMANDIE, FAXON.
Fire Department and Police,-HULTMAN (chairman), HOGAN, NICOL, ELCOCK, SMITH.
Ordinances, Licenses, Printing, Rules and Orders,-NEWCOMB (chairman), McLENNAN, JOHNSON.
Legislative Matters, Elections and Returns,-ALDEN (chairman), GASSETT, CLEVERLY.
Health, Poor, State and Military Aid,-WILSON (chairman), CLEVERLY, CALLAHAN.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
Office : No. 1 Faxon Block, Hancock Street. Regular meetings on the last Tuesday of each month at 8 P. M.
CHARLES H. PORTER,
SUPT. H. W. LULL,
Chairman Secretary
At Large-HENRY C. HALLOWELL,
Term expires 1901
NATHANIEL S. HUNTING,
66
1902
66 CHARLES F. MERRICK, .
1903
Ward 1-CHARLES H. PORTER,
Term expires 1901
2-FREDERICK H. SMITH,
66
66 1902
3-MABEL E. ADAMS, .
60 1902
66
4-THOMAS J. DION,
1903
5 -WELLINGTON RECORD,
1901
6-FREDERICK J. PEIRCE,
1903
Truant Officer,-CHARLES H. JOHNSON.
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Permanent Police.
CHARLES G. NICOL,
MARK E. HANSON,
JOHN HOLLORAN, FRANK J. DAVOREN,
THOMAS F. FERGUSON, JAMES W. MURRAY, DANIEL R. MCKAY, PATRICK H. BRADLEY,
DAVID J. BARRY,
JOHN T. LARKIN.
Special Police.
JOHN H. NEWCOMB,
SAMUEL D. DE FOREST,
HENRY O. DAWSON,
GEORGE A. CAMERON,
DAVID L. GORDON,
JEREMIAH HINCHON, PATRICK A. MILFORD, ALFRED W. GOODHUE, JOHN P. REDDINGTON, JOHN J. BRADLEY, JOHN A. O'BRIEN,
TIMOTHY J. MCCARTHY,
EDWARD J. CURTIN,
EDWARD J. SANDBERG,
DANIEL F. MURPHY,
GEORGE A. MCKAY,
CALVIN T. DYER,
WILLIAM S. LYONS,
WILLIAM E. MORRISEY,
JOSEPH W. HAYDEN.
Constables to Serve Civil Process.
NAPOLEON B. FURNALD,
ALBERT G. OLNEY,
AMOS L. LITCHFIELD,
HENRY P. FU RNALD,
WILLIAM D, BURNS.
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Inspector of Milk. HENRY C. HALLOWELL, M. D
Sealer of Weights and Measures. FRANCIS A. SPEAR.
Weighers of Coal.
HERBERT D. ADAMS, E. FRANK MITCHELL, FRANK S. PATCH, FRANK W. CRANE,
WILLIAM W. CUSHING, GEORGE P. MEAD, EBEN W. SHEPPARD, GEORGE B. PRAY, HERBERT A. NEWTON.
FRANK W. CRANE,
Measurers of Grain.
CHARLES H. HERSEY, WILLIAM C. HART.
JOHN HALL, WILLIAM E. BROWN,
Undertakers.
A. W. FAY, EDWARD L. BEAN.
Measurers of Wood and Bark.
FRANK S. PATCH, HERBERT D. ADAMS, THOMAS J. FOLEY,
GEORGE K. CARTER,
EBEN W. SHEPPARD, GEORGE P. MEAD, LYSANDER W. NASH, E. FRANK MITCHELL,
FRANK W. CRANE.
Fence Viewers.
Ward 1-RICHARD NEWCOMB, Ward 2-GEORGE CRANE, Ward 3-JAMES NIGHTINGALE,
Ward 4-JOHN R. O'NEIL, Ward 5-QUINCY A. FAUNCE, Ward 6-GEORGE B. BRYANT.
Field Drivers.
WILLIAM FAXON, RICHARD NEWCOMB,
GEORGE CRANE, BARTHOLOMEW REARDON, WINSLOW HOBART.
Pound Keeper. FRANKLIN JACOBS.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
1900.
JOHN O. HALL, Mayor.
1
Mayor's Address.
GENTLEMEN OF THE CITY COUNCIL :
Custom has chosen this season of the year as a fitting time of taking account of stock, closing up the old business and laying lines for new enterprises.
The harvests of the past year have been gathered and the successes or failures have been recorded.
The days have shortened to their lowest limit and all nature is in the grasp of its winter sleep.
Humanity sits in the long twilight complacent in the successful outcomes of its ventures or cast down in the con- templation of its defeats and failures.
But the heart of man is always buoyed by hope, and the beginning of the year seems to be a turning point in the affairs of the world; the lengthening days give promise of a brighter future and the anticipation of the opening buds and brilliant verdure of spring and the beauties of the summer so soon to come, give new vigor and life and we hasten to new fields which we hope to till to greater profit and more successful harvests than any of former time.
Prompted by this custom, cities have adopted the beginning of the year as the time for installing the newly elected officials and laying their plans for the work for the welfare of the com- munity.
And so, gentlemen, we are met today to begin the work which the citizens have committed into our hands; to cast our eyes back for a little over the past, only to learn the lessons which it may teach, to examine briefly the conditions with which we have to deal, and then to push forward with
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faith and hope, and an honest, courageous and consecrated purpose to the work before us.
We have been honored with the suffrages of the people, and it is incumbent upon us to return our thanks for the confi. dence and trust reposed in us.
It is indeed an honor to be intrusted with the transaction of the business of a city like ours.
It is a grave responsibility which is committed to our charge and while we return our thanks for the honor, we should approach the labors of the position with the most profound and serious contemplation.
While we may feel tempted to exult that we are officials of "no mean city," yet we must never forget that we have hard and trying problems to solve, and difficult and perplexing situations to consider.
Let us approach the work before us with a calm confidence but with a firm resolve to do our part in an honest, conscientious manner, with a heart and brain always alive to the interests of our city and an all embracing purpose to conduct its affairs in every way free from prejudice or political bias, and strictly and solely on a broad yet conservative business basis.
The task before us is particularly difficult from the fact that we have large needs which seem to be imperative, and which call for substantial sums of money, and at the same time we are not a wealthy city and our revenue comes from hardworking citizens of comparatively small means.
To supply the essentials of our every day existence as a city, and at the same time to keep pace, as well as we can, with the constant and pressing demands for advance and improvement, will require of us constant care and serious thoughtfulness and the constant presence of a deep and permanent fund of con- scientious service. To maintain retrenchment in our expenses and practice the most rigid economy in our administration, and at the same time to progress and improve wisely, will prove to be no light or easy task. Our means of revenue should be taken into account as we seek to legislate for improvements.
We must not pattern after other cities in our methods and desires but study well our own needs and our own resources and legislate wisely for our own city.
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We are responsible for the welfare of our city and we must be careful to have a well matured judgment and then be firm in maintaining our position, though strong pressure and winning sophistries be meted out to us to swerve us from our course.
We must have the welfare of the city always in view and not allow our minds and judgments to be warped by selfish pride, or a sense of vain-glorying that this or that mighty work was undertaken and accomplished in our administration.
Rather let our record be that ours was a wise and economical government, than that this wonderful and expensive undertaking was during our administration.
To those of the Council who for the first time will take · part in the administration of the business of the city, I will suggest a careful study of the requirements of the charter that you may be thoroughly familiar with the duties and privileges, and also the limitations of the Council under the charter.
I wish to call the attention of the Council at this time to the necessity of being very explicit in your legislation, that there may be no good ground for dispute as to the meaning or wish of the Council in the orders which are passed by it when those enterprises come to the executive department for accomplishment.
I should be much pleased to see the number of our Council meetings reduced and the length of the sessions very much abbreviated. During the early weeks of the year the business of the city in its legislative department should be carefully and painstakingly considered.
The plans for the welfare and improvement of the city should during those weeks occupy the close and careful scrutiny of every member of the body, and the amount of work to be done during the year outside the regular current work of caring for the community definitely determined.
During this time the Mayor, in consultation with his heads of departments, is determining the amounts needed for current expenses, and such imperative needs as are in evidence at that time.
By the time the annual recommendations are ready, the work of the Council should have been definitely arranged and determined upon, and at that time, with the revenue well
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considered, the expenditure for the year can be safely fixed and the legislation needed to carry forward that work could be enacted. Then the principal work of the Council should be ended, and the regular meetings of the Council provided for under the charter would be sufficient for the transaction of such business as should present itself of a nature unforseen when laying out our plan for our yearly expenditure.
With this idea always in view, the sessions of the regular prescribed Council meetings would be of short duration and the comfort of the Councilmen and the welfare of the city would be enhanced.
I would not in the slightest degree, infringe the right of petition belonging to our citizens, but I maintain that the stated meetings of the Council would amply provide for that right.
· If this idea should be carried out, many citizens would con- sent to serve in the Council, who now absolutely refuse to be candidates, because if elected to the position, the Council meet- ings would take so much time. The city is thus deprived of the services of many men whom it would gladly welcome to its Councils.
In this connection, I wish to refer to the provision in the rules of the Council setting a date beyond which no project requiring the expenditure of a considerable sum of money should be introduced.
A former Council established such a rule, but subsequent Councils have stricken it out. I think such a provision is of great advantage to the city and I strongly recommend it to the attention of this Council.
A great deal of labor on the part of the executive depart- ment must follow the legislation of the Council, and any method of procedure which will prevent a large amount of work coming during the last months of the year should be gladly welcomed and most readily adopted. A policy of this kind established and carefully maintained would prevent a vast amount of hasty and and imperfectly considered legislation on very important sub- jects.
Improvements in City Hall.
While we are to practice the greatest economy in our expenditure we must recognize the fact that the world moves and
15
we must keep pace with it, and we must avoid passing from econ- omy to penuriousness, and in this connection I wish to call the attention to the absolute necessity of a rearrangement of the present city building for the work of the various departments in the regular business of the city. I trust the Council may see its way clear to the remodelling of the present building substantially on the lines of a plan of Mr. Burgin now on file in the office of the City Clerk.
Ordinances Concerning Forms and Methods of the Accounts.
Some five years ago, as Auditor, I introduced into the Council the matter of a fuller requirement by ordinance of certain forms of returns and books in the keeping of records, receipts and expenditures of the city monies, but though I brought these to the attention of succeeding Councils I failed to secure their adoption.
Recognizing the importance of my recommendations at that time, I shall at an early date ask your attention to the subject, with the recommendation that you report such ordinances as will protect the interests of the city, as its business increases and becomes more complicated.
Grade Crossings.
The subject of grade crossings will doubtless come before you for consideration, and in this, great care must be exercised that we do not plunge into greater expense than we intend, or than we can bear, with the many demands which will come upon us in the next few years.
I see the need of proceeding with great caution in this matter, and while I recognize fully the importance to the public, yet I also see the magnitude of the burden and wish to counsel that we know very well indeed where our action will end before we institute proceedings in the case.
Boulevards.
The matter of Boulevards is of great moment to us and we must not overlook the fact that if we wish the cooperation of the
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State in the laying out and building of these great avenues the citizens of Quincy must meet the Commission of the Common- wealth in a spirit of fairness, and many things must be conceded, that we may get a larger benefit to the entire city.
As the result of the combined efforts of the committee appointed by Mayor Sears when in office, by the administra- tion of the past year and of many citizens, the Park Commission- ers have decided to construct a boulevard in our city the details and extent of which you are already familiar with.
Finances.
An examination of the annual expenditures will show that in every year quite a sum has to be borrowed at the end of the year for current expenses and charged into and provided for in the revenue of the succeeding year, because of the appropriation in the Annual Budget of every dollar of estimated income, leaving no other resource for providing for an unforseen demand, but to procure on a note to be charged into the next year's resources. This state of affairs I shall try to avoid by having a portion of the receipts held in reserve for such contingencies.
I am of the opinion that the appropriation for Miscellaneous City Expenses shall not be large enough to provide for court awards and claims, but that these matters should be provided for by the Council when they occur.
The suggestion is advanced at this time whether or not it would be well to change the ordinance on salaries relating to the salary of the Collector so as to have the fees and emoluments revert to the city treasury and also whether or not that officer should be the collector of all the revenue, whether from taxes or from whatever source.
I wish to call attention to whether or not the placing of edgestones and the building of sidewalks should be by special legislation of the Council on petition, or by special act and not by an item in the current expense.
Refunding the City Debt.
A matter of considerable importance to the city which came before the people last year, advanced by your chief executive at that time, was the refunding of our debt.
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Personally, I am of the opinion that it would be a very unwise financial measure but there is to be considered the temporary relief which may come and the executive must consider for his guidance in the action which he must take, whether the citizens are willing to bear the additional burden of interest to be added to the debt for the sake of that temporary gain.
The extension of the debt adds to the burden, instead of lessening it, and the only relief is in distributing it over a number of years.
If the temporary relief which is gained by that extension is to be the excuse for a more generous expenditure by the Council to be distributed over those same years, and thus adding to the additional burdens which those same years must carry in the certain increased demands which the growth of the city will surely bring, then it seems to me to be the part of wisdom to let the maturing debt stand as a check against financial legislation. The only way to have a low tax rate is by limiting the expenditure but if our needs are imperative we must expect a higher rate than if our revenue were liberal and our wants few.
The statutes provide two ways under which cities borrowing money shall provide for their payment. One is to establish a sinking fund, in which case they shall add to the amount needed to pay the expenses of conducting the business of the city each year such a sum as will with its accumulation of interest, pay the money so borrowed within a period of ten years, and that sum shall not be less than one-eighth of the sum so borrowed.
The other way is to borrow on notes of the city extending over a period of not more than ten years from the year of said borrowing, in which case proportionate amount shall fall due each year and the assessors shall add to their other items of assessment, an annual proportionate amount.
It is easy to see that this system, while doing away with the expense of a board of Sinking Fund Commissioners, causes larger amounts to fall due in the earlier years, but it serves as just the check which was intended, by showing to the tax payer by the size of his yearly tax, the freedom with which the legislative body deals with the borrowing capacity, and gives the
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. public the necessary information co call a halt if necessary on that body.
The debt of the city on Dec. 31, 1899, is as follows :
Debt January 1, 1899,
$265,505 86
Paid during 1899,
81,950 25
$183,555 61
THIS AMOUNT IS MADE UP AS FOLLOWS :
Loans for Streets,
$64,105 61
Loans for Permanent Sidewalks. 15,000 00
Loans for Engine Houses, 5,000 00
Loans for City Stable,
6,000 00
Loans for Gridley Bryant and Mas- sachusetts Fields Schoolhouses,
52,500 00
Loans for Repairs for Schoolhouse,
6,550 00
Loans for Chemical, Ward 1,
1,800 00
Loans for Land for High School,
10,000 00
Loans for High Schoolhouse,
16,000 00
Loans for Land for Gridley Bryant Schoolhouse, 3,000 00
Loans for Land for Massachusetts
Fields Schoolhouse, 3,600 00
$183,555 61
TO THIS HAS BEEN ADDED DURING THE YEAR THE FOLLOWING LOANS :
For Streets,
$71,025 00
Health, additional,
300 00
House Connections with Sewer,
6,000 00
Miscellaneous Fire Expense, addition- al appropriaton, 850 00
Hook and Ladder Truck,
2,200 00
Land on Whitwell Street for Schoolhouse,
5,000 00
Wiring Almshouse for Electric Lighting,
150 00
Fire Alarms Boxes and Making Two Circuits from One, 875 00
Footway over Beale Street Bridge,
275 00
For Bills of Fire Department for 1898,
1,475 98
$88,150 98
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TO THIS IS TO BE ADDED THE FOLLOWING LOANS AUTHORIZED, BUT NOT YET ISSUED.
Plumbing in Schoolhouse, Dated Jan- uary 1, 1900, $2,500 00
School-house on Whitwell Street, dated March 1, 1900, 40,000 00
Land Wollaston Engine House Jan. 1, 1900, 5,500 00
New Hose, Fire Department Jan. 1, 1900, 2,000 00
Poor Department, Additional Appropria- tion, dated January 1, 1900, 1,500 00
$139,650 98
Making the total Municipal Debt,
$323,206 59
DIVIDED AS FOLLOWS :
Streets,
$135,130 61
Sidewalks,
15,000 00
Engine Houses,
5,000 00
Land Wollaston Engine House,
5,500 00
City Stable,
6,000 00
Gridley Bryant and Massachusetts Fields School- houses, 52,500 00
Repairs Schoolhouses,
6,550 00
Plumbing Schoolhouses,
2,500 00
Chemical Wagon, Ward 1,
1,800 00
Hook and Ladder Truck, Ward 1,
2,200 00
Land for High Schoolhouse,
10,000 00
Land for Schoolhouse, Whitwell Street,
5,000 00
High Schoolhouse,
16,000 00
Land Gridley Bryant Schoolhouse,
3,000 00
Land Massachusetts Fields Schoolhouse,
3,600 00
Health Loan Additional Appropriation,
300 00
House Connections, Sewers,
6,000 00
Miscellaneous Fire Expenses,
850 00
Wiring Almshouse for Electric Lighting,
150 00
Fire Alarm Boxes,
875 00
New Hose, Fire Department,
2,000 00
Footway Beale Street Bridge,
275 00
Schoolhouse, Whitwell Street,
40,000 00
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Bills 1898 Fire Department,
$1,475 98
Poor Department, Additional Appropriation, 1,500 00
FALLING DUE IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS :
In 1900,
$69,975 00
In 1901,
46,805 61
In 1902,
29,925 98
In 1903,
27,550 00
In 1904,
27,150 00
In 1905,
26,650 00
In 1906,
29,650 00
In 1907,
16,150 00
In 1908,
15,150 00
In 1909,
11,450 00
In 1910,
6,750 00
In 1911 to 1924 inclusive, $1,500 each year,
21,000 00
THE INCREASE IN THE MUNICIPAL DEBT FALLING DUE EACH YEAR HAS BEEN INCREASED DURING THE PAST YEAR AS FOLLOWS :
In 1900,
$7,275 00
In 1901,
14,150 00
In 1902,
12,625 98
In 1903,
10,650 00
In 1904,
11,150 00
In 1905,
11,150 00
In 1906,
11,150 00
In 1907,
11,150 00
In 1908,
11,150 00
In 1909,
11,450 00
In 1910,
6,750 00
Sewer Debt.
Jan. 1, 1899,
$319,500 00
Amount paid during the year,
8,000 00
$311,500 00
Amount of Loan added,
73,000 00
$384,500 00
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Water Debt.
Jan. 1, 1899,
$720,500 00
Amount paid during year,
29,500 00
$691,000 00
Amount added during year,
30,000 00
$721,000 00
Total Debt.
Municipal Debt,
$323,206 59
Water Debt,
721,000 00
Sewer Debt,
384,500 00
Playground Debt,
44,000 00
$1,472,706 59
Net Increase,
$122,200 73
Licenses. *
While I am in thorough sympathy with the spirit of the times, which seeks to welcome the Sabbath as a day of relief to the tired laborer, and would accord to him every opportunity to get away from the crowded and perhaps dismal surroundings of every-day life, and get rest and recreation in the beauty and freedom of the open country, yet I am more strengthened as I grow older in the belief that the welfare of this nation, and the sure measure of its power and glory is in the closeness with which it is held to the belief of an all-supreme power which we call God, and that the welfare of man is best secured by his faithfulness to that belief and by the constancy with which he adheres to the faith that service to Him is man's crown- ing glory.
When we lose sight of the importance which should attach to the conscientious observance of the Sabbath, I. feel sure that we cut loose from the mighty influences which have made New England the power that it has been in the past in the advance- ment and glory of this nation, and that we shall then begin on that course which will end in our forgetting God and bring upon us as a people that dark and dismal night when God has for-
22
gotten us, and the glorious beauty of the land of the free and the home of the brave shall be eclipsed. I charge you therefore that when you come to legislate on licenses concerning the observance of the Sabbath, free from bigotry and superstition, but with a firm reliance on Divine Providence, you weigh the subject care- fully and do not let the seeming advantage of the individual work to the injury of the whole community. In your desire to give the individual the thing he wishes, you sow the seeds which in time will spring up into a harvest of tears and distress to one and all.
We should be thankful in the highest measure that we have not to consider the granting of licenses for the sale of liquors in our borders, yet I cannot let this occasion pass without calling attention to the fact that we have many in our community who would sacrifice the public good and the safety of the individual to the gain of the few, and to urge upon you by every act and word and deed to set your strong disapproval against its every encroachment.
Franchises.
While we recognize the benefits to the public which come from the telegraph, the telephone and the street railway, and would in every way assist the citizens to secure the benefits resulting therefrom, I believe it to be your duty to exercise extreme care in the grants to these agencies, and see that the community is in every way protected. The importance of this matter cannot be overstated.
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