USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1874 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6542 4
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CITY DOCUMENT, NO. 29.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF
HON. CLARK JILLSON,
MAYOR, JAN. 4, 1875 ;
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR, TRUANT' SCHOOL, CITY PHYSICIAN, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, FIRE DEPARTMENT, CITY HOSPITAL, FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY, CITY MARSHAL, COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS, COMMITTEE ON WATER, WATER COMMISSIONER, WATER REG- ISTRAR, CITY ENGINEER, CITY TREASURER, CITY AUDITOR, CITY CLERK, AND COM- MITTEE ON REDUCTION OF CITY DEBT,
OF THE
CITY OF WORCESTER,
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING NOV. 30, 1874.
WORCESTER : PRINTED BY CHARLES HAMILTON, PALLADIUM OFFICE.
1875.
R
352.07443 W922C . v. 2.9 1874
CITY OF WORCESTER.
IN CITY COUNCIL, January 11, 1875.
Ordered :
That the Committee on Printing be, and they are hereby authorized to cause to be published, 1500 copies of the annual "City Document," to be numbered 29; to contain the Mayor's Inaugural Address, together with the Reports of the several De- partments, for the year 1874.
A Copy, Attest:
SAMUEL SMITH,
City Clerk.
INDEX.
PAGE.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS
5
REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. 21
REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE
TRUANT SCHOOL
55
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN 57
REPORT OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
61
SUPERINTENDENT
67
SECRETARY
91
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1875.
130
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS 137
REPORT OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
165
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL. 221
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 243
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY. 277
REPORT OF THE CITY MARSHAL. 285
REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
295
REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON WATER
313
REPORT OF THE
WATER COMMISSIONER
318
REPORT OF THE WATER REGISTRAR 332
REPORT OF THE
CITY ENGINEER.
336
REPORT OF THE
CITY TREASURER
347
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR 351 SCHEDULE OF CITY PROPERTY. 398
REPORT OF THE CITY CLERK.
401
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON REDUCTION OF CITY DEBT.
402
CITY GOVERNMENT AND OFFICERS FOR 1875
405
SALARIES
.413
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the City Council :
WE have assembled to-day by virtue of the expressed will of the people of Worcester, to receive their annual trust, committed to us with a willing confidence that cannot fail to strengthen our fidelity, and inspire devotion to the welfare of our beloved city.
We have resolved to be faithful in the performance of our duty, and that resolution has been consecrated under the solemni- ty of an oath, in the presence of these witnesses.
Just as we are entering the broad field of labor in behalf of the city, it seems but simple justice earnestly to express our grateful emotions for the prosperity of this industrious and intelli- gent community in the past, while we rejoice in the unfaltering hope that lends its charm to the untried future.
We should not occupy the places to which we have been elected, for any special purpose of our own, but to promote the wishes of the people and protect their rights. If we are careful to use common sense and good judgment in the performance of this work, no matter what the conclusions of to-day may be, the future will strike an unerring balance.
The first and most important subject to which I desire to call your attention, is that in relation to the
FINANCES.
We are now burdened with heavy taxation, on account of a large and heretofore constantly increasing debt, and there seems to be no remedy except by the adoption and practice of good management and the strictest economy. Such action is impera- tively demanded by the people, and we have been elected to com- ply with that demand. The burden is upon us. There is no mistake in the issue. Therefore, let us begin the work carefully,
2
6
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
judiciously and harmoniously, with a firm determination to meet and satisfy the wants of the people.
- It is true that a penurious policy will not answer the purpose. We must not check the legitimate growth and prosperity of the city. The schools must be sustained, the poor must be liberally cared for, the streets must be kept in repair, the fire department must be well equipped, and needed improvements must go on; but no public work should be performed except it be for the public good. Our constituents do not expect that we shall cease to be liberal, or fail to do all that reasonably ought to be done to maintain that progressive spirit, so long a leading feature in the history of Worcester; but they do expect that we shall practice economy, and use at least ordinary judgment as to what the pub- lic necessity and convenience requires.
The laying out of streets before they are needed for public travel, under defective decrees, so that double or triple damages may be collected, under the false pretence of giving employment to the poor laborers of the city, and then contracting for such work to persons out of town, to be performed with non-resident help, while our own citizens and their families are suffering for want of employment, is a wicked misappropriation of the public money.
Committees who exhibit a determination to violate the ordi- nance by spending more money than has been appropriated for their particular department, ought to receive the most severe censure. The practice of contracting for ordinary work to be done when it is known that the appropriation for such work has been exhausted, and thereby compelling an additional appropria- tion to be made, and a corresponding increase of the debt, shows such want of fidelity to the best interests of the city, and is so near criminal in its nature, that it deserves positive rebuke.
We have continued to borrow money till our interest account amounts to more than one quarter of the entire sum raised by tax- ation each year, and no one pretends to claim but that this debt is a burden, and that its gradual decrease would be welcomed by every tax-payer.
Credit is the grand promoter of extravagance, and in munici- pal affairs should only be tolerated to carry forward some extra- ordinary and much needed enterprise.
7
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Our sewers have been constructed, our water pipes laid, and there remains no extensive, extraordinary work to be performed in any single year ; therefore, we ought now to insist that our expenditures shall not exceed our income, and that all money re- ceived from sewer assessments shall be applied to the payment of the sewer debt. Any other course, long pursued, will insure complete financial ruin.
It has been stated by those who are familiar with figures, that the City Debt was decreased $5,716.74 in 1874; but the Audi- tor's books show that the cash assets of the city were also de- creased $107,301.46 during the same time.
The following statement shows the debt of the city each year, since its incorporation, together with the interest paid thereon. This statement does not include the amount in the treasury at any of the periods stated. It will be seen that we have paid in- terest on the debt since 1850 to the amount of $1,033,218.59.
A. D.
DEBT.
INTEREST.
1849, March 1,
$95,630 20
1850,.
28,
96,996 07
1851, April 7,
98,741 88
3,655 98
1852, Jan. 5,
101,829 89
2,651 07
1853,
3,
108,758 40
6,245 72
1854,
2,
98,567 70
5,747 77
1855,
66
1,
98,435 33
6,182 04
1856, יי 7,
118,955 48
6,585 05
1857,
5,
103,993 65
6,949 37
1858,
66
4,
100,188 80
6,781 81
1859,
3,
99,533 95
8,017 18
1860,
2,
99,429 10
4,646 02
1861;
66
7,
102,324 25
6,055 10
1862,
66
6,
129,319 40
6,334 16
1863,
5,
208,414 55
8,607 54
1864,
4,
214,759 70
11,818 93
1865,
2,
364,459 70
14,758 65
1866
1,
424,418 59
25,360 84
1867,
7,
458,305 14
28,445 85
1868,
6,
619,949 85
29,014 75
1869,
4,
773,290 00
46,251 85
1870,
3,
1,185,718 65
59,465 36
1871,
66
2,
1,899,808 04
101,244 58
1872,
1,
2,456,788 72
106,465 35
1872, Nov. 30,
2,687,910 55
136,259 70
1873,
30,
2,941,227 31
186,776 30
1874,
30,
2,984,780 00
209,897 62
·
FUNDED LOAN.
CITY.
SEWER.
WATER.
Coupon.
Registered.
Coupon.
Registered.
Coupon.
Registered.
1875 .
$6,000 00
$20,000 00
$50,800 00
$83,000 00
$159,800 00
1876 .
8,000 00
87,400 00
1877 .
2,000 00
$87,600 00
18,500 00
108,100 00
1878 .
6,000 00
$170,000 00
33,600 00
27,500 00
237,100 00
1879 .
4,000 00
170,000 00
16,300 00
14,500 00
204,800 00
1880 .
8,000 00
79,000 00
64,000
00
1,100 00
10,000 00
162,100 00
1881 .
4,000 00
512,000 00
1,000 00
67,900 00
1,000 00
2,000 00
587,900 00
1883
10,000 00
5,000 00
5,000 00
1885
.
85,000 00
20,000 00
105,000 00
1886 .
26,000 00
50,000 00
76,000 00
1887 .
23,000 00
23,000 00
1888 .
.
1890 .
.
·
·
·
.
.
.
.
2,300 00
2,300 00
1892 .
621,500 00
178,500 00
·
·
· ·
800,000 00
$680,500 00 $1,030,500 00
$217,500 00 $151,900 00 $306,800 00 $252,300 00
$2,639,500 00
Interest at
5 per ct.
$59,500 00
6
66
621,500 00
$690,500 00
$217,500 00 $151,900 00
2,240,000 00
7
66
.
340,000 00
$ .
.
· ·
· .
. . . ..
340,000 00
$680,500 00 $1,030,500 00
$217,500 00.$151,900 00 $306,800 00 $252,300 00
$2,639,500 00
The following table shows when the city debt is payable, with
$130,000 00 $215,280 00 $345,280 00
10,000 00
10,000 00
10,280 00
48,000 00
207,000 00
$60,000 00
TOTAL.
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
8
PAYABLE TO.
TEMPORARY LOAN, DEC. 1, 1874.
10,000 00
10,000 00
80,000 00
$30,000 00
6 PER CENT. !
10,280 00
48,000 00
127,000 00
$30,000 00
7 PER CENT.
John Jepherson Charles Bowen .
Peabody Museum Fund .
Worcester Co. Free Ins. Ind. Science .
State Mutual Life Assurance Co. .
Merchants & Farmers Mut. Fire Ins. Co. .
1882.
6,000 00
12,000 00
18,000
10,000 00
1884 .
·
3,000 00
3,000 00
50,000 00
50,000 00
1891.
.
.
·
·
.
$39,000 00
$500 00 306,300 00 $252,300 00
the amount due each year :
WHEN DUE.
TOTAL.
44,400 00
35,000 00
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
It is for us to determine whether or not this debt shall be in- creased during the present year. The voters have spoken upon this subject, and we cannot mistake the language they have uttered. Let us do our duty.
THE SINKING FUND.
Two years ago I called attention to the ordinance making pro- a vision for a sinking fund, and recommended its amendment or re- peal. After careful further consideration of the whole matter relating to the finances of the city, I am clearly of opinion that the ordinance, in its present form, ought to be repealed. So long as a temporary loan exists, or a permanent one is becoming due each year, it is not easy to define the benefits of a sinking fund ; but it would be within the comprehension of all to appropriate a given sum each year for the reduction of the city debt, and then in good faith apply it for that purpose, with the understand- ing and determination that the expenditures should not exceed the other appropriations.
But if you should think it important to retain a sinking fund, it should be placed in the custody of a commission consisting in part of citizens not members of the City Council, such commission to be constituted by proper legislation, making it imperative for the Treasurer to pay all moneys belonging to said fund to said commission, to be by them invested, with its accumulations, either in the permanent or temporary loan of the city, the bonds of the State of Massachusetts, or the bonds of the United States, and in no other securities.
Under this ordinance the sum of thirty thousand dollars is raised annually by taxation, which, together with the unexpended balances remaining at the close of the financial year, pass into the custody of the committee on the reduction of the city debt. If this money was safely invested by the committee at seven per cent., and its accumulations properly applied, some of the objec- tions now existing would thereby be removed.
But under the present arrangement this money is borrowed by the City Treasurer, who gives his note therefor to the committee,
10
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
and in this way the whole amount is absorbed in the current ex- penses, while the so-called sinking fund exists only upon the books in the Auditor's office.
Suppose the committee .should undertake to collect the amount of their note, where would the money come from ?
It is quite certain that the Treasurer would have to increase the liabilities of the city in order to satisfy this demand, and after it had been so satisfied it would require but one more manipula- tion for him to borrow the money back from the committee, and thus absorb the sinking fund a second time, and so on indefinitely.
This kind of management, which makes our financial matters look so much like a stupendous puzzle to the average tax-payer, together with the novel idea that the city can borrow money of itself to extinguish its own liabilities, is a common sense reason why the ordinance should be repealed.
It may be refreshing to the tax-payer to tell him that the city debt can be imperceptibly paid by the wonderful virtue existing in a sinking fund ; but a moment's reflection will elicit an inquiry as to who pays the debt, after all ; and the irresistible conclusion will be that every dollar must be raised by taxation in some form, and that the sinking fund system treats the tax-payers as bank- rupts by compelling them to pay in advance, on the ground that the money is safer in the city treasury, or in the hands of a committee, than it would be in their pockets.
In 1873, $30,000 were raised as a sinking fund by taxation for a specific purpose, to wit, for the reduction of the city debt ; but that money was misapplied, under the then prevailing rule of extravagance, and the debt was not reduced. A similar state of affairs existed in 1874, and now I submit that the tax-payers hereafter will have to raise $60,000 for that specific purpose a second time, or the debt will never be paid. It may be said that the $30,000, although used up in current expenses, did help to reduce the debt by preventing the necessity of borrowing just that amount for such expenses. This theory may have a plausi- ble appearance, but it is nevertheless true that this money was appropriated to pay the debt known to be due when the appro- priation was made, and afterwards used for other purposes,
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
another appropriation having been made to pay current expenses in anticipation of the amount to be raised by taxation.
Suppose we have a real sinking fund of $60,000, it would be quite as plain and straightforward to disperse the dim halo that hangs about the city finances, by paying off a corresponding amount of the temporary loan, and stopping the interest thereon at seven per cent. as it is to carry on the farce of loaning it to the Treasurer at six per cent., to be used for purposes not con- templated in the original appropriation.
The tax-payers of Worcester have always been willing to pay their obligations to the city, but when the details of their work are done through agents, they desire and have a right to know how it is done. They are intelligent enough to know that a sink- ing fund does not create any money, but that every dollar must be raised by them in some way before the debt can be paid ; and when it is so raised there is nothing more simple than to apply it directly to the payment of the debt.
The safest and best sinking fund a private individual can have is that with which he has paid his debts ; and such an one is what Worcester stands most in need of at the present hour.
SCHOOLS.
Our children ought to be educated with a view to make them useful when they come to occupy the positions of trust and honor which await them in the future.
No diligent student should be urged or over-crowded in school for the purpose of keeping up with somebody else. It is far better to graduate without honors, and pass quietly into the busy world with good health and a firm constitution than to stand Number One amid the applause of admiring friends, enfeebled by overwork.
It is unfortunate that our American system of conducting the business of most of our large manufacturing establishments, by a systematic division and classification of labor, has crept into our schools, and been there used to reduce to a common level all grades of talent and all shades of opinion. I do not desire to have it understood that I am opposed to graded schools, but
12
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
when committees and teachers undertake to grade an expanding human intellect, a protest cannot be entered and acted upon too soon.
The wide difference between children even of the same family as regards their capacity for receiving, comprehending and retain- ing instruction, together with their varied powers of physical endurance, cannot fail to impress every intelligent teacher with the solemn fact that the scholar should not be compelled to con- form to any fixed and unalterable rule made for hundreds of others unlike himself; but that the rule should conform to the genius, capacity, and physical condition of the scholar. Each human being possesses an individuality which ought to be strengthened by an education adapted to the organism to which it is applied.
It is enough that the destinies of men are controlled by natural causes without seeking to make them automatons by artificial means. Individual genius and well meaning, virtuous, individual inclination, should be encouraged, even if rules have to be sacrificed to accomplish it. Military rule and discipline may compel grown up men to act in harmony with each other for certain purposes, through the medium of imitation ; but intel- lectual growth or moral culture can hardly be circumscribed with safety in any such way, and the rule that retards or misdirects in any form the out-reaching scintillations of thought, or interferes with natural physical development, is a positive evil. The com- mander of a military organization deals with men of mature years. He knows their habits, their inclinations and their char- acter ; but the teacher seldom knows the scholar he is trying to teach.
I do not make an assertion based entirely upon presumption when I affirm that there is more than one child in our public schools to-day who will occupy, in the not far distant future, a more prominent and important position than that occupied by Mayor, Aldermen or School Committee. But these children are now plodding along under the discipline and rule of some teacher, undiscovered ; and when attention is called to them it will not be on account of their strict adherence to the grammatically con- structed rules of the school, for it does not require genius or
13
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
ability to do that. But most likely it will be on account of the discovery that the young mind has been reaching out between the meshes of discipline to indulge in the realms of abstract thought, beyond the scope of principal or teacher.
Such kind of discipline as is expressed by the term "good order," and well understood fifty years ago, is worth more than all the paper discipline that can be devised.
Any child of ordinary capacity who has creditably passed through all the lower grades, ought to be admitted into the high school, so long as there is room for admission, without cavil or conditions, for the reason that this school constitutes an important part of our grand system of popular education, the benefits of which should be free to every citizen.
The subject of semi-annual promotions is one to which I would most respectfully call attention.
HIGHWAYS.
The cost of constructing a highway, bridge, or other public work, is a matter that should be considered with great care be- fore any expense is incurred in such construction.
Nearly all of our public improvements are first brought to the notice of the city officials by private individuals, and many of them for private ends. The official is made to believe that it is for his interest to urge on the work and present it to the city council in such favorable light as to secure its speedy adoption. The estimated expense for the work is spread upon paper by the interested official, whose political eye discovers that a true esti- mate would be fatal to the success of the enterprise, and so he parades a false estimate before the city council, the amount of which will not pay two-thirds the expense to be incurred.
In this way streets are laid out and constructed, sidewalks and sewers built where they are not required by public necessity or convenience, and the city swindled out of thousands of dollars by willful false pretension, and for the benefit of private persons.
This plan of conducting public business is not new, but has been carried on for years with such vigor and persistence that when a check was first applied to it in the form of a veto, it was sustained over the veto by almost a unanimous vote. To illus- trate the evils of this municipal fraud, it may be interesting to
3
14
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
cite the following cases, showing the difference between estimated damages and those actually paid :-
STREET.
ESTIMATE.
PAID.
EXCESS.
Front
$33,526 35
$54,241 31
$20,714 96
Chatham
10,522 25
19,183 93
8,661 68
Canterbury
3,785 00
8,430 27
4,645 27
Newton -
8,418 40
13,065 14
4,646 74
Bowdoin
nothing
1,947 27
1,947 27
Pratt
19,300 68
20,262 70
962 02
Totals
$75,552 68
$117,130 62
$41,577 94
The ordinance provides that the Mayor and Aldermen shall determine what damages, if any, are sustained by any persons in their property, by the laying out or altering any street or high- way. The duty of the Mayor and Aldermen is plain under the ordinance, but in the above six cases they have either made a slight error in judgment to the amount of $41,577.94, or they have willfully made a false estimate for reasons best known to themselves.
Such estimates, though they may help to pass decrees through the city council, open wide the doors of litigation, and make a verdict against the city almost certain in every case. It may be said that the city cannot help being sued, but a few suits dis- posed of by a verdict for the defendant, for the reason that the award for damages has been a reasonable one, will discourage the bringing of such suits, and show to the people that the officials mean to treat them honorably and fairly.
The city debt has been increased thousands of dollars by the imperfect and reckless way in which streets have heretofore been laid out and the damages awarded.
I submit that one or more disinterested persons ought to make all awards for damages when an amicable agreement cannot be made with those whose estates are damaged, and when such agree- ment can be made, it should be in writing, and signed by both parties.
WATER.
The constant call for an increased supply of water in many of
15
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
the large cities, together with the diminution of streams and springs, occasioned by the clearing away of forests and such kinds of vegetation as take up and hold in reserve the rain and moisture that fall from the clouds, cannot fail to suggest the great importance of securing the benefits of the entire available water- shed in and about the city. The reservoir dam ought to be raised at least five feet, but the easterly portion of it is in such condition as to create grave doubts in my mind as to its entire safety in case it should be so raised.
Whoever devised the high service scheme must have been in- fluenced more by its novelty than by its real value. Had a fifteen- inch pipe been laid from the Lynde Brook reservoir directly through Main street to Paine's hill, the water supply upon the highlands would have been substantially the same as it now is, after proper distributing pipes had been laid, and the most popu- lous part of the city would have been thereby amply supplied; whereas, at the present time, Main street has only a six-inch pipe, the pressure upon which would be very much reduced by drawing from it with one hydrant.
When All Saints church was destroyed by fire last spring, there appeared to be a scarcity of water, and the city council immedi- ately took active measures to lay a large pipe in Newton street, to remedy this defect, but had this been done at the time of the fire, the same trouble would have existed from the fact that there is only a four-inch pipe in Pleasant and Pearl streets.
POLICE.
The police department is supposed to be instituted for the pro- tection of our citizens in their civil rights, and when it fails to ac- complish this purpose it becomes comparatively useless and ought to be disbanded. This is true of each individual member, and I have no doubt the Board of Aldermen will cooperate with me in promptly discharging any member of the department, from Mar- shal to Patrolman, who does not reasonably meet the require- ments applicable to the station he occupies. From all the facts that have come to my knowledge, there seems to be but little doubt that a large number of the members of the police force
16
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 29.
have, during the past year, been in the habit of drinking intoxi- cating liquor in saloons and other places while on duty. It is quite probable that I shall be deceived and appoint some of these men, but they are unworthy to hold any such position under a respectable city government.
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