USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Town of Newton annual report 1879-1880 > Part 1
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PUBLIC DOCUMENTS,
1879-80
AN UNION
Alderman
William P. Ellison.
WR
3 1323 00360 5069
€
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https://archive.org/details/publicdocuments1879newt
THE
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
ROYAL M. PULSIFER, OF
MAYOR OF NEWTON, TO
THE CITY COUNCIL,
JANUARY 5, 1880.
LIBERTY AND UNJO
FOUNDED 1630.INC
N
M.
679.A CITY 1873
ON
ORA
Boston: PRESS OF ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL, 39 ARCH STREET. 1880.
NR 352 N48P 1879/1880
NEWTON FRE- LIBRARY
AUG 17 1973
NEWTON, MASS.
ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council: -
You have been selected to represent the citizens and tax-payers of Newton during the year 1880, to the extent of determining how much money it is wise and best for the tax-payers to devote to municipal uses, and in what manner the sums so devoted shall be expended. To a large degree your duties are similar to those which devolve upon the Directors of a large business corporation. In your case, how- ever, you have interests in your charge more impor- tant than the expenditure or investment of money for the sake of a mere money return. On your action depend very largely the peace, security, and comfort of living, which together have rendered our city a desirable place of residence.
You may properly feel a pride in the general ad- vantages which have accrued to those who have made their homes in Newton, and it should be your aim to continue and enlarge those advantages. The people of this community demand excellence in every
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department of public work which will come under your supervision. They demand good streets and sidewalks, streets well lighted, an efficient force of police, a well-organized Fire Department, decent and proper care for the unfortunate poor, liberal provi- sion for the excellent Public Library, and the main- tenance of the schools at their present high standard. These demands are just. Action in accordance with them is not only economy for the present, but a judi- cious investment for the future. I do not believe that the citizens of Newton will tolerate in the future, in the departments which I have mentioned, or in others, any lower degree of excellence than has been enjoyed in the past. Whatever methods you may adopt the results must be, in the several departments, not inferior to those to which our people have become educated, and for which they are willing to pay.
Taxation has always been spoken of as a burden, and probably always will be, while it ought to be a cheerful contribution to secure such advantages as we have always enjoyed in Newton.
In my judgment the only possibility of reducing the city expenditures lies in the adoption of some new methods, which, while costing less, shall accom- plish results equal to the past. To this, then, your attention should be directed.
The economy which the city should practise is the
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economy of thrifty management; frugality in the use of money and time and labor. Instead of true econ- omy it may be the veriest parsimony to simply reduce expenditures. I believe in a policy which shall be marked by liberal economy.
You are to be congratulated that the municipal corporation, upon the management of which you to-day enter, has been honestly managed in the past; that there have been found, willing to accept the bur- dens of office, citizens who have endeavored to meet their respective duties with an eye single to the public good; that, while methods and systems have been criticised and, from time' to time, modified, there has never been a suspicion that money has been corruptly used for the benefit of the officials by whom expendi- tures were directed.
As the financial year of the city is now coincident with the calendar year, it is impossible for me to speak definitely in regard to the financial history and condition of the various departments. For such par- ticulars I must refer you to the department reports which will be made to the City Council as soon as it is possible to close the several accounts. I do not find that the City Engineer is called upon by either ordinance or standing rule to make any regular report. The importance of the work under his charge, and the very large amount of money which
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is annually expended in prosecuting it, seem to me to render such a report desirable.
The total amount of the appropriations for the year 1879 was $375,400. Of this amount $75,500 was appropriated for interest on permanent and tem- porary loans, and $25,000 for the annual contribution to the Sinking Fund. Deducting these two sums there remained $274,900 for current expenses. Of this sum about thirty-one per cent. was appropriated for the Public Schools; about twenty-four per cent. for the Highway Department, in which I include all the work performed and material purchased under the direction of the City Engineer and Superintend- ent of Highways; about eight per cent. for the Fire Department; about seven per cent. for the lighting of streets, and five and one-half per cent. for the Police Department, leaving about twenty-five per cent., or, say, $68,000, for all other expenses, includ- ing maintenance of Public Library, expenses of Water Department, salaries of officers, care of poor, etc. I judge that the expenditures have been generally kept within the appropriations during the past year, excepting the appropriation for drains and culverts, and the appropriation for land damages. The former was largely exceeded, under the direc- tion of the Board of Health, for the construction of the drain east of Central Avenue in Ward Two;
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and the latter by reason of the damages awarded by arbitrators on account of the construction of the Cypress-street bridge. This bridge has been con- structed by the New York & New England Rail- road Company, and both the bridge and the approaches to it are to be maintained by the same corporation.
Notwithstanding the expenditures have exceeded the appropriations in the two cases above noted, the actual receipts from various sources have so far exceeded the receipts as estimated at the beginning of the year, that the estimated excess is reduced to about $2,500. The city's claim for betterments on account of construction of the Newtonville drain, and for improvement of Cheese-Cake brook, will, when collected, more than balance this deficiency.
THE CITY DEBT.
The annual statements of the City Auditor and the City Treasurer, which will be submitted to the City Council on or before March 1st, will furnish detailed and accurate accounts of the city's financial condition.
The following is a statement of the debt of the city December 31st, exclusive of unrendered or un- adjusted accounts: -
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Water Loan . $835,000 00
Accrued interest on same
23,875 00
$858,875 00
Town and City Notes .
323,000 00
Accrued interest on same
4,238 72 327.238 72
Municipal Bonds
34,000 00
Accrued interest on same
850 00
34,850 00
Temporary Loan, made in anticipation of taxes of 1880
60,000 00
Accrued interest on same
240 00
60,240 00
Uninvested portion of principal of Ken- rick Fund
1,500 00
Accrued interest on same
75 00
1,575 00
Total .
$1,282,778 72
SINKING FUNDS.
The sinking fund for the redemption of Water Bonds consists of $47,000 in Newton five per cent. Water Bonds and $1,962.78 in cash. The sinking fund for the redemption of other loans consists of $8,000 in Newton five per cent. Water Bonds, $10,000 loaned on collateral of United States four per cent. Bonds, and $3,445.98 de- posited in bank. From this latter fund $30,000 was drawn during the last year to cancel a note which matured, and the two funds were jointly increased last year by $25,000. No part of the present debt, excepting the temporary loan, ma- tures during the current year.
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I remind you that there is to-day no money
appropriated for any purpose, and one of your earliest duties must be the appropriation of funds, if any, now in the treasury, for the payment of liabilities incurred under the direction of the last City Council, and for the maintenance of the several departments. One of the next duties will be to authorize the borrowing of money in antici- pation of taxes which will be assessed in May, and collected next October. As a matter of fact, the City Council of 1879 was compelled to borrow $60,000, more than a month ago. It is not at all probable that you can wisely and care- fully determine how much money should be ap- propriated for the several departments much be- fore March 1st. In the mean time, all the various departments must be kept in operation, and tem- porary appropriations must be made to maintain them. Such a procedure seems to me disorderly and unbusiness-like. I very earnestly renew the rec- ommendations of my predecessor, which provided an adequate remedy both for the necessity of appro- priating money before the Council can have oppor- tunity to carefully consider the needs of the several departments; and, also, the necessity which now exists for borrowing money at current rates, as one of the first duties of each City Council. His suggestions
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were that the financial year should commence May 1st, and that to meet the expenses of the first four months of the year, in which the change should be made from January 1st to May 1st, as the date for beginning the financial year, Municipal Bonds to the amount of $100,000 be issued. If this plan should meet your favor, I recommend that bonds be issued in small denominations, exempted from taxation, and bear interest at four per cent. per annum. Such bonds should find a ready market anywhere, and would afford a desirable form for home investment.
Apparently, but not really, this change would increase the city debt. So far as the amount of the debt is concerned, the only possible difference would be a difference of accounts. In any event the city must borrow the money and must repay it. Under the present system the money would be repaid in November, only to be reborrowed in December. Under the plan which I suggest it would be put in a form in which $100,000 would be borrowed for ten years, and it would be repaid and the debt cancelled . by the opera- tions of the sinking fund at the end of that term, or the loan could be divided into ten equal parts, one-tenth maturing each year. Instead of increas-
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ing the city debt, this provides a plan for a gradual payment of a certain portion of it.
Neither would it increase the amount to be raised by taxation the current year, which, instead of cover- ing the expenditures for the twelve months ending December 31, 1880, would cover the expenditures for the twelve months ending April 30, 1881, and the expenditures for the first four months of the year would be met by taxation spread over the next ten years.
By the statutes and ordinances the duties of the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the members of the Common Council, are clearly defined. I need not enter into any argument to show you that the city will be bound to meet any liability legally incurred, whether by the Mayor, by either branch of the City Council, or by agents appointed by them. For example, by ordinance No. 5 of the new code, the Board of Aldermen are made a Board of Health. If the Board of Health in- curs a liability for abating a nuisance, or by em- ploying a physician or agent, without question such liability must be met by the city. It must be met just as surely as the interest on the city debt must be paid, and it is the duty of the City Council to take care that money is appropriated to meet this and all other proper liabilities; but
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if the City Council neglects its duty, or refuses to perform it, with the City Council the respon- sibility must rest.
There are ways by which the city can be com- pelled to pay its debts; but I shall not consider that it is my duty to approve the payment of any money unless it has either been appropriated by the City Council, or its payment has been ordered by a power which is above the Council.
WATER DEPARTMENT.
In my judgment the large cost of the water works, and their constant importance in supplying water both for domestic and fire purposes, render it essential that they should be managed by per- sons selected solely on account of their fitness for such work. It is also desirable that the management of this very important department should not be liable to radical change each year.
The Water Commissioners, under whose direc- tion the works were constructed, in their final report to the City Council gave their judgment in favor of the management of the water works by a commission. What I joined in recommending, in that report, I now renew.
The following extract from that report gives
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some of their reasons for recommending a com- mission: -
The Water Department differs from other municipal bureaus in several points, which affect the question of its management. It produces an income above its current expenses, the amount of which income must depend upon the careful adjustment of many small details each to the other, and the exercise of that foresight which is taught by experience. If the guiding power is in a Board, the constitution of which provides against abrupt changes of membership, their experience will accumulate into wise traditions and a stable system, and the department will work with the least possible friction, and yield the best attainable result. The continuity of this experience will not be broken by the death, resignation, or removal of any one person ; nor can the defects or eccentricities of any one person much affect the efficiency of the service.
If the water works were managed by a committee of the City Council, such a committee would be liable to be entirely changed each year, while its members might or might not be qualified to give wise direction to the affairs of the department, on account of an intimate knowledge of its workings and its needs. On the other hand, a commission would be composed of men selected solely on account of their special fitness for the work, and would be subject only to gradual change.
So far as I have been able to ascertain the facts, they go to show that Newton is singular in its management of water works by a committee of the City Council. Returns from twenty-six of the
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cities and larger towns of Massachusetts show that their water works are managed either in whole or in part by commissioners, some of them paid, and some of them unpaid. In this list are included Fitchburg, Lowell, New Bedford, Worces- ter, Springfield, Taunton, Lawrence, Salem, and Waltham. The places from which I have not been able to get definite information on this point are nearly all small; certainly none of them have water works comparable with ours in magnitude. In a word, the almost universal experience in Massachusetts is in favor of the management of water works by a commission.
There are now laid in the city about fifty-seven miles of main water-pipe, of which between three and four miles were laid last year. That the use of the water is becoming more and more general is shown by the fact that during the last year 232 service-pipes were laid, against 188 laid in 1878. The total number of services laid to date is 1,917. The gross receipts for water have in- creased from about $23,500, in 1878, to about $27,000, in 1879.
Orders have been passed for a short extension of main pipe in Walnut street, Ward Two, and there are petitions on file for the laying of about two and one- half miles more. There are on hand, and paid for,
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about 12,000 feet of main pipe. Undoubtedly it will be found necessary to make extensions each year.
With ample pumping machinery and reservoir it is desirable to make gradual extensions of dis- tributing pipe, provided, by so doing, a fair return can be obtained in water rates.
During the past year a settlement has been ef- fected with the mill-owners on Charles river, on account of water damages claimed, by paying them the gross sum of $25,000.
The suit of the city against Michael Doherty, as surety for Devlin, Long & Moore, the contractors for laying the water mains, is now being heard. Should it be decided in the city's favor a considerable sum could be placed to the credit of water construction. It is worthy of note that this account is still consid- erably inside of the amount authorized for original construction, notwithstanding the fact that the ad- ditions and extensions of the two years which have elapsed since the commissioners surrendered the works have all been charged to it.
Beyond the extensions of main pipe I am not aware that any considerable extra expenditure will be called for this year, unless it is thought best to erect at the pumping station a dwelling-house for the engineer.
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THE CITY ORDINANCES.
The ordinances of the city during the past year have been revised with great care by the Joint Stand- ing Committee on Ordinances, who were aided in their labors by the advice and long experience of Joseph W. Story, Esq. After being reported to the City Council they were carefully considered, and, as finally adopted, form on the whole an excellent code. To accomplish this work during their term of office it was necessary for the two bodies of the last City Council to hold a number of special meetings; and the thanks of the Council are due to them for this unselfish labor, which might have been transferred to you.
One of the last acts of the City Council of 1879 was to order these ordinances to be printed, for the guidance of members. A manual containing only the ordinances and the statutes, or portions of stat- utes, on which they are based, will soon be printed in a permanent form. A separate manual can be pre- pared to contain the standing rules and orders, lists of city officials, committees, etc. It seems unneces- sary to annually print the ordinances. and statutes, and this will be obviated by printing them separately from matter which is subject to at least annual change.
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THE CITY CHARTER.
Late in the spring of 1873 the town of Newton appointed a committee to procure from the Legislature a city charter. In order to secure action at that ses- sion a form of charter was prepared with compar- atively little consideration, on account of the limited time which the committee could take. As a matter of fact, a form of charter was adapted from the char- ters of several other Massachusetts cities, and these had been largely adapted from the charter of the city of Boston. Our charter was probably as good and as well adapted to our needs as it was possible to obtain from a committee which had to act hastily in order to secure action in the last days of a Legis- lature. Probably, too, had not the charter closely followed the charters of other cities it could not have been accepted by the voters. I have closely watched the workings of our city government for six years, and I am satisfied that it would now be possible and desirable to secure important changes in the charter.
Newton is peculiar in its needs, from the fact that it is part city and part country ; consisting of a num- ber of closely settled villages widely scattered, and large areas of farming or uncultivated land. I should be glad to see Newton adopt a form of charter which would secure the best possible government for its
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diverse interests, and which might differ radically from the charters of other cities. Changes of this kind should not be hastily adopted. I recommend that a commission of five or seven members be ap- pointed to carefully consider this matter, and that such a commission be allowed ample time for the performance of their duties and the preparation of a report to the City Council. I should be disappointed if such a commission did not recommend for one change an extended tenure of office for the Mayor and the members of the City Council. Another rad- ical change which would merit careful consideration would be the government of the city by a single board, instead of two, as is customary. Such a change would have at least one merit, that it would avoid the possibility of such disagreements between the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council as would leave important offices unfilled and inoperative for months. It would also prevent the jealousy which has recently seemed to exist between the two branches of the City Council.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT.
Next to the schools the Highway Department, in its various branches, calls for the largest appropria- tion for its maintenance. Partly because the results
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of its work are conspicuous, partly because its work is necessarily very expensive, and partly because the expenditures in this department have often exceeded the appropriations, its work and the methods of per- forming it have been subjected to more criticism than has fallen to the lot of any other department. For some of these reasons, the department will be liable to adverse criticism in the future. It must be con- stantly borne in mind that we have a very large number of streets, aggregating great length. The expense of keeping these in proper order must be large. It will be a mistake to apply the same treatment to all our highways. Some of the streets are city streets, which must be provided with sidewalks, thoroughly macadamized, and kept free from weeds, etc. Other streets are country roads, which receive comparatively little use from either teams or pedestrians. Such roads should receive entirely different treatment from those first mentioned. Their utility should always be preserved; but to this sidewalks are not essential, neither is it important that every foot should be care- fully gravelled. The beauty of these streets for pleasure-driving will be enhanced by leaving the rural features in a great measure intact.
An example of a model country road may be seen near the Poor Farm, where the sides have been neatly turfed. In this particular instance the care of this
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turf was undertaken by an individual who was anxious that this method of caring for some of our streets might be faithfully tried. The method has certainly been successful in making that portion of the street attractive. There are many other streets which would be improved in appearance by the same treatment.
Whatever other reason for complaint may exist this year, I trust that you will not furnish just cause for one by allowing the expenses incurred in this department to exceed the appropriations.
The members of the City Council who are called upon to serve either on the Highway Committee or as Highway Surveyors will be met with a continual pressure to have certain so-called improvements made. It will require careful discrimination and con- siderable firmness to select, from the mass of work which they will be urged to recommend, those parts which it will be judicious to have done.
By examining Ordinance No. 9 you will notice that the repairs of highways, streets, sidewalks, and bridges are placed under the charge and con- trol of the Highway Surveyors. The Highway Surveyors are chosen by the Aldermen; the Alder- men alone can direct how the surveyors shall expend money, and the Aldermen may revoke their appointment. The work under the charge
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of the surveyors is very important, and involves a large percentage of the money appropriated for highway purposes.
During the past year the work that now de- volves upon the surveyors has been done by a standing committee of the Board of Aldermen. There has also been a standing committee on highways on the part of the Common Council, whose duty it has been "to keep itself informed of any and all expenditures made upon the high- ways, sidewalks, drains, culverts, sewers, and bridges of the City of Newton, under direction of other than the joint standing committee thereon, and to report upon the same or any portion thereof, at request of the Common Council."
As a better method of obtaining information concerning the workings of this important depart- · ment, I recommend that the Aldermen appoint one or more members of the Common Council Highway Surveyors. The work of the Highway Surveyors is so closely connected with the work of the Joint Standing Committee on Highways that I see no objection to appointing that entire committee Highway Surveyors, although it should always be borne distinctly in mind that this commit- tee, when acting as surveyors, will be entirely under the control and direction of the Board of Aldermen.
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The expense of this department can certainly be kept within the sum appropriated for it last year.
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
The police problem for Newton is a difficult one to solve; the difficulties arising mainly from the long distances to be covered, and the large number of isolated residences. Were the force increased ten- fold it would still be impossible to guard each local- ity all the time. I am not prepared to recommend any radical change in the system now existing. I think, however, that the efficiency of the force would be promoted by relieving the City Marshal of his duties as health officer. His present office duties are now so numerous that he is not left suf- ficient time for such thorough supervision of the force, as I know to be desirable. The employment of a health officer, at a small salary, would practically add another efficient officer to the police force. I recommend that the salaries of police officers be graded from a minimum for the first year of service to a maximum the third year. It does not seem just to pay the same salary to men with little experience as is paid to men who have served on the force for a long term.
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