USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1876 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6544 0
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CITY DOCUMENT, No. 31.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF
HON. CHARLES B. PRATT,
MAYOR, JAN. 1, 1877 ;
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE
CITY MARSHAL, OVERSEERS OF THE POOR, TRUANT SCHOOL, CITY PHYSICIAN, COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, FIRE DEPART- MENT, AUDITOR, CITY TREASURER, COMMISSIONERS OF THE SINKING FUNDS, COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTS, CITY CLERK, COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEME- TERY, COMMITTEE ON WATER, WATER REGIS- TRAR, WATER COMMISSIONER, COMMITTEE ON SEWERS, CITY ENGINEER, FREE PUB- LIC LIBRARY, CITY HOSPITAL, AND SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS,
OF THE CITY OF WORCESTER,
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING, NOV. 30, 1876.
WORCESTER: PRESS OF CHAS. HAMILTON, CENTRAL EXCHANGE. 1877.
R 352. 07443 W9220 v. 31 1876
CITY OF WORCESTER.
IN CITY COUNCIL, January 8, 1877.
Ordered :
That the Committee on Printing be, and they are hereby authorized to cause to be published, 1300 copies of the annual " City Document," to be numbered 31; to contain the Mayor's Inaugural Address, together with the Reports of the several Departments, for the year 1876.
A Copy, Attest :
E. H. TOWNE, City Clerk.
INDEX.
PAGE.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS 5
REPORT OF THE CITY MARSHAL. 19
REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR 31 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE TRUANT SCHOOL 71
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN 74
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS 77
REPORT OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT 101
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR
177
REPORT OF THE CITY TREASURER 181
SCHEDULE OF CITY PROPERTY. 229
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SINKING FUND
235
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTS 238
240
REPORT OF THE
CITY CLERK
REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS
241
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 267
SUPERINTENDENT
273
SECRETARY
331
ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1877
370
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY 379
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON WATER 389
REPORT OF THE WATER REGISTRAR 397
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONER 403
REPORT ON NORTH POND DAM 410
REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER 416
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 425
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL 453
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 469
ORDINANCES PASSED SINCE PUBLICATION OF THE SUPPLEMENT 486
APPENDIX.
CITY GOVERNMENT AND OFFICERS FOR 1877
1
SALARIES
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen,
and of the Common Council :
WE have been called by the votes of our fellow-citizens to take charge of our Municipal affairs for the year upon which we are now entering. We have come together this morning in obedience to that call, to take the oaths of office, and to assume the respon- sibilities thus laid upon us. The duties which are before us are arduous, the responsibility which attaches to the discharge of them, grave. Those of you who have had experience in the admin- istration of public affairs will easily and fully realize that a proper discharge of those duties is of no holiday character. It involves constant watchfulness and care, unremitting application, and earnest, severe labor. Upon the spirit and purpose with which we enter upon our labors will depend, in a very great measure, our success or failure.
No prudent man, in the conduct of his own business affairs, ever enters upon a new enterprise or experiment, without first counting the cost, and estimating carefully his chances of failure or success ; and it is only when his judgment indicates, with a tolerable degree of certainty, the probabilities of the latter, and the attainment of the results aimed at, that he decides to enter upon his work. In conceiving, maturing and carrying forward his plans, he takes council of his real wants, rather than his fan- cied ones, of necessaries rather than luxuries, and adopts the wiser conclusion that it is better to dispense with those things, which, although they may be desirable, are not indispensable and
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 31.
which cannot be obtained without financial burden and possible embarrassment.
Now, I hold that the same maxims, and the same rules of action, which govern a prudent business man, in the most careful management of his own business, should also govern him when called upon to take part in the management of public affairs. Indeed, the obligation resting upon him is greater-more exacting. In the one case, the results of his acts affect the indi- vidual only,-in the other, the whole community feels the effect of his prudence and faithfulness, or the want of them. A faithful public servant guards with more jealous care and watchfulness, if ยท possible, the interests which are committed to him by his constitu- ents than he does his own. The interests of others are in his hands, and he feels the sacredness of the trust. He realizes the obligations that rest upon him,-that while those interests are in his keeping, they shall suffer no detriment, and when he restores them, they shall be in such condition as his constituents have a right to expect.
He who enters upon the execution of a public trust, or upon the management of public affairs, with other feelings and other purposes than these, not only betrays the confidence which has been reposed in him, but is false to the oath which he has taken.
The interests of our city have been committed to us for the present year. We have accepted the trust. We have taken the oaths to faithfully discharge our duties under it. Let us weigh well the significance of these acts. Let us enter upon our work with the full purpose and determination to do our duty, and our whole duty, according to the best of our ability. Our constituents can demand nothing more, and will be satisfied with nothing less. And it seems scarcely necessary for me to admonish you, that in order to do this, it will be of the utmost importance that there should, at all times, be prompt attendance, both at the Council Board, and in the Committee Room ; that in this way, and in this way only, can we become thoroughly familiar with the details of the work which may, from time to time, come before us, and thus be enabled to carry on that work in an intelligent manner, and upon strict business principles ; with prudence and energy,
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
with honesty and economy, with special favor to none, and with justice to all.
The reports from the various departments of the City Govern- ment will be before you, and will furnish details of the receipts and expenditures for the past year, and in relation to the various works which have engaged the attention of our predecessors dur- ing that time, the present condition of the different branches of our municipal service, and the work which has been left for us to carry to completion. In addition to these reports, and in accord- ance with a long established and reasonable custom, I desire very briefly to call to your notice some of the principal subjects which will be likely to demand your attention during the year.
FINANCES.
We enter upon our duties at a time of very general and unex- ampled depression in business. The mechanical interests of our city, which constitute the foundation upon which rests all our growth and prosperity, are, to a very great extent, paralyzed. The other business of the city, acting in close sympathy with those industries, languishes in corresponding degree. How long this depression is to exist, none of us are wise enough to say, and few rash enough to predict. It is the more unfortunate for us that we are burdened with a large public indebtedness. Our city, in past years, has not escaped the very generally prevailing, but pernicious, and what may in the end prove, ruinous, tendency, in municipal bodies, to indulge in large and extravagant expendi- tures. At one period in our municipal history, our expenditures were apparently measured only by the facility with which money could be had, for the time being, from money-lenders. Large 'enterprises, some of them, of at least questionable expediency under any circumstances, were undertaken without any accurate estimate of their cost, and carried forward in an expensive man- ner, at a time when the cost of labor and material was at its highest, and without making any provision for their payment, beyond the issuing of scrip, to be cared for in the future. The policy of developing property upon which taxation could be based to meet these expenditures, visionary and deceptive as it
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 31.
was, had its full play. To-day we are witnessing the fruits of that policy. In times like these, the debt of the city, thus created, has become burdensome to our citizens, and the property thus developed, from its decreasing rental, or its increasing expense, is fast becoming burdensome to the holders of it.
Perhaps no more vivid illustration of the rapid increase of our public debt can be afforded, than the simple statement, that in 1871 our Interest Account, alone, was nearly equal to the whole amount of money raised by taxation, for municipal purposes ten years before. It is to be hoped, however, that a reaction has already taken place, and that a more healthy sentiment has taken hold of, and is gaining strength with, our people, generally, upon this question of our public expenditures. And will it be too much to hope for a substantial return to the more rational policy fol- lowed in the earlier days of our City's growth ?- a policy which was defined in language so clear and sharp by two of my earlier predecessors,-one of whom died holding fast to the doctrine which he uttered, the other, one of our distinguished citizens, furnishing in himself to-day, a living illustration of the soundness of that doctrine,-that I cannot forbear giving two short extracts. One of them says :-
"No sensible man will contend for one moment that the debt of the City should be increased. It already amounts to the sum of about $90,000. Those who may come after us will have calls enough upon their means, without being obliged to provide for the payment of our bills, and it is, therefore, our bounden duty, to act in this matter like wise and prudent men, and 'pay as we go.'"
The other says : -
" In regard to the city debt, I should but reiterate the advice given by each of my predecessors if I were to say,-and with emphasis too,-that it ought never to be augmented beyond its present amount, and that there should be a vigilant anxiety and a constant effort for its reduction."
These utterances embody the principles upon which our City Government was launched and carried forward so successfully in its earlier years. A permanent return to them, only, will ensure us prosperity in the future.
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The existence of the debt, however, cannot be ignored. We must take it as we find it, and deal with it as best we may. But, in my judgment, under no circumstances should it be increased by the inauguration of any new enterprise, which is not of un- questioned necessity, or by any expenditures which can in any way be reasonably dispensed with. The words retrenchment and reform have a substantial and well defined meaning. They are too often used as a rallying ery simply to bring voters to the polls, to be forgotten at onee by the candidates who profit by it. But they are susceptible of a better use. And I ask you to co- operate with me, in the conduct of our affairs, to give them their full force and effect. In fact it becomes scarcely a matter of choice with us. Necessity gives us our law. The very circum- stances by which we are surrounded and to which I have alluded, compel us to adopt the most rigid rules of economy in our acts for the present year. We may be subjected to the charge of being niggardly by those whose private interests would be better promoted by a more lavish expenditure. We may expect carping criticism from those who have enjoyed an open and profuse public hand, and who can not, or will not, discriminate between parsimony and economy, or between a wise and liberal expendi- ture and unwarranted extravagance. But with an eye single to the duty that is before us, and with the courage fearlessly to per- form that duty, we can safely and confidently abide the result.
The present funded debt of the City, as I am informed by the Treasurer, amounts to $2,392,300, of which $45,500 is bearing interest at five per cent., $2,006,800 at six per cent., and $340,- 000 at seven per cent. Of the latter sum, $170,000 matures in 1878, and the balance in 1879, when, it is to be hoped, it can be funded at a much lower rate of interest. The last of the five per cent. bonds mature in 1884, and the last of the six per cents. in 1892. In addition to the above indebtedness there is a tem- porary loan of $100,000, payable on demand, at four per cent.
In compliance with the Act of 1875, " To regulate and limit municipal indebtedness," a sinking fund has been created for the payment and reduction of the City debt, and a Commission has been established for the custody and management of said fund.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 31.
The system has now been in operation a year, and promises most satisfactory results. The large sum of $238,861.61, being the unexpended balances of the appropriations for 1875, together with sundry sewer assessments, was placed to the credit of this fund in January and February, 1876. Of this sum, $110,000 have been applied to the payment of a temporary loan, and $87,- 400 to the redemption of so much of the funded debt of the City as matured during the year. A further sum of $127,484.55, being the unexpended balances of appropriations for 1876, and the amounts received for street betterments and sewer assess- ments, will be contributed to the general sinking fund during the present month.
A special contribution of $1,500 was also made as required by law, for the extinguishment of the New Water Debt of $100,000. In consequence of these large contributions to the Sinking Fund, it will not be necessary to raise by taxation, at the next annual assessment, any money for the purpose. The fund has been kept securely invested, and has yielded satisfactory interest to the City. The amount in the hands of the Commissioners at the close of the financial year, November 30, 1876, was $46,640.96. The payment of $108,100 of the present funded debt of the City which matures during the current year, will be provided for out of the funds now on hand, and the balances to be transferred to the hands of the Commissioners.
SCHOOLS.
One of the largest items, if not the largest one, of our expendi- tures is for public schools. The appropriation for the School De- partment for the last year was nearly one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars, which seems to have been exhausted. We cannot well afford, ever, to do anything to impair the efficiency of our schools. They constitute one of the strong defences of our insti- tutions, and should at all times be cheerfully, heartily, and gener- ously sustained. We have for a long time congratulated ourselves upon the excellence of ours. It will not be questioned, however, that a too settled conviction of our superiority in this respect,
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
.
may, in time, lead to laxity and abuse. It must be borne in mind that the comparative excellence of the schools in one city over those in another, does not consist merely in the fact that the amount of money expended is greater.
The sum appropriated to the support of our schools is a large one, and the disbursement of it should be an object of watchful- ness on your part. A careful and judicious examination might reveal places in our system where retrenchment could be reason- ably effected, without in the slightest degree affecting the excel- lence of our schools, or lowering the standard which they have hitherto maintained.
HIGHWAYS, STREETS AND SIDEWALKS.
The expenditures of this department are always necessarily large ; and the amount to be raised this year will not prove an exception. The Committee which is charged with the care of this department has no slight task. The calls upon it are inces- sant from all parts of the City, at all times, and the service re- quired at the hands of its members, requires great patience, and much care and discrimination. The disbursements of the appro- priations for highways should be scrutinized with great care, and a proper and wise direction be given them.
The extension of Foster street will demand your attention at an early day ; and its construction will constitute an extra, and an important, item of expense. Aside from this, I am not aware that there is any work in this department beyond that required for the usual care of the streets. The outlays for new streets and sidewalks in the City, generally, will, in all probability, be much less than usual, and it is to be hoped that the appropria- tion for this department may be materially diminished without detriment to its efficiency.
The Ordinance of the City in relation to clearing snow and ice from the sidewalks, appears to be defective, and to a certain extent, practically inoperative. Some further provision may be required at your hands, in this respect, for the protection of the public.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 31.
In this connection, I call your attention to a certain want of concert in the workings or operations of this department, in con- nection with those having charge of the sewers and water,- perhaps more often the former. The line of distinction between the duties of those attached to these several departments is so nicely drawn, that it requires not a little diplomatic information on the part of our citizens to know how to proceed in their search for assistance or relief; and I think it must have been a matter of observation with many of you, that the servants of the several departments frequently go over the same ground succes- sively in their operations, each leaving the premises in excellent order, and as if not to be disturbed again, with only sufficient time to elapse between to cause the greatest amount of expense to the City, and the greatest degree of inconvenience to the public. I submit to your consideration, whether some plan can not be devised by which some portion of work may not, under certain circumstances, be made common to all these departments, without trespassing too much upon the province of either, and at the same time be productive of a saving to the Treasury.
SEWERS.
It will be a matter for your consideration whether, in the present condition of our financial affairs, and depression in business, any very material addition can be made to our Sewers. The history of our present system of sewerage, and our experience as a City, in regard to this branch of our public works, in the past, will afford you much assistance in your deliberations. There are parts of the City where extensions to the present sewers, and the construction of new ones, would doubtless be desirable, and in ordinary times might be practicable ; but you will judge whether the necessity for them is so imperative as to warrant any con- siderable outlay at the present time, much more, such outlay as will be likely to involve any increase of our permanent debt.
WATER.
The work of rebuilding the Lynde Brook Dam, which has been
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
in progress during the last Summer and Autumn, under somewhat unfavorable circumstances, owing to a conflict of opinion between those having it in charge, and those of our citizens who are right- fully interested in its proper construction, has been suspended for the season. It is understood, however, that a few weeks more will be amply sufficient to complete the structure, and put it in proper condition for use.
The claims against the City for damages occasioned by the destruction of the old dam, will require your early attention. The amount of these claims, as they are made, is very considera- ble. If the liability of the City is determined, by what you shall regard as competent authority, I should recommend a speedy adjustment, wherever it can be made upon terms which are equita- ble, and just to the City. In this, as in all other cases where questions arise between the City and individuals, litigation should be avoided as much as possible. A proper spirit of compromise is often productive of beneficial results to all parties, and in a large proportion of cases will prove less expensive to the City.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
I have every reason to believe that our Fire Department is in most excellent condition, well disciplined and efficient. No part of our public service, in a city like ours, is more important than a thoroughly organized and well-trained Fire Department. Situ- ated as we are, with many of our buildings constructed of a light and combustible material, a fire, once in the ascendancy, would result in a conflagration which would cause incalculable damage. We can not be too vigilant, therefore, in providing the means for averting such a calamity. Every effort should be made to keep our Department up to its present state of efficiency, and no pains should be spared in making improvements whenever opportunity offers. All reasonable expenditures made in this direction will, I am quite sure, meet with the ready approval of our citizens.
I would suggest, in this connection, the propriety of instituting a thorough and careful examination of all public buildings with reference to the safety, in case of fire, of those who may be
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 31.
assembled in them. The recent appalling calamity in Brooklyn warns us of the necessity of some action of this kind. A neglect of this duty, and of requiring every proper provision to guard against such emergencies, where it does not already exist, is scarcely less than criminal.
POLICE.
I doubt if there are any duties of a more delicate character, or any, the faithful and conscientious discharge of which are more necessary to the well being of any city than those which come within the province of the Police Department. I long since arrived at the conclusion, and that conclusion was the result of a consider- able personal experience, that a well-organized and efficient police force cannot be the creation and growth of any one year. To make such a force what it should be for the service required of it, demands experience and training, and experience and training can come only by time. Of course all the qualities desirable in members of the force are very rarely found com- bined in any one man. Decision and firmness, coolness and courage, keen perception and good judgment, discrimination and discretion, and above all, kindness and courtesy, are desirable ; and whenever any member of the force possesses any consider- able number of these qualities, united with an aptness to learn his duties, and a will and purpose faithfully to discharge them, that member should be retained. There can be nothing gained by putting an untried man in his place. Nothing is gained by frequent changes. The effect is rather to demoralize the force and render it inefficient. As a rule, removals should only be made for special cause, or for unfitness, ascertained by fair trial. Entertaining these views, I shall look with confidence for the co-operation of those associated with me to make our police force as efficient and reliable as possible.
CHARITIES.
On account of the existing want of employment, there will doubtless be more frequent calls for assistance during the present
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
season than usual. Many deserving persons will require aid, who have never needed it, or called for it, before. There will be many calls where the applicant for relief would much prefer to be em- ployed. If any of the Departments should be in need of labor- ers, such persons should be employed, thus benefiting them and saving expense to the City.
While the City should be generous and open handed to the poor, always remembering that it is better to err on the right side, still there should be a careful discrimination made between the deserving poor and the professional tramp. Both claims should be properly dealt with, but in quite different ways.
While making this brief allusion to our charities, I am remind- ed of one subject to which I cannot forbear making allusion. I refer to the noble bequest made to the City in 1872, by the late George Jaques. Its present condition is a proper subject for your enquiry,-its future care deserves your most careful and serious consideration. The gift was a most munificent one, and the purpose of the donor in making it was too plain to be mis- taken or misunderstood. It reflected the highest credit upon his name and character. His connection with the management of our City Hospital, then in its infancy, gave him an insight into the ills and sufferings of our poor in their seasons of sickness and pain. It was to him a new revelation. His experience there, from day to day, touched the tenderest chord in his nature, and the response was noble and generous. He placed almost his entire fortune,-and it was of no small proportions,-at the dis- posal of suffering humanity. He made us the almoners of his bounty. He enjoined upon us to devote the income of his gift to the generous and humane object of the Institution to which he devoted his last care and services. The trust thus committed to us should be held sacred, and the benevolent purposes of the giver should be scrupulously and religiously carried out. I may be laboring under a wrong impression, but it has seemed to me, that the manner in which the gift has been managed has been hardly creditable to us, as a City, who have been made the recipients of so noble a benefaction. Nobody seems to have
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