USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1890 > Part 12
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SEWERS.
The city council of 1889 adopted a plan for sewers, recommended by Mr. E. I. Bowditch, a civil engineer of Boston, and contracted with Mr. Jonathan A. Douglass for the construction of a part of said system, covering substantially wards two, three and four. The responsibility for the adoption of the plan, for the employment of Mr. Bowditch to superintend the work, and for making the con- tract with Mr. Douglass, rests upon the city government of 1889.
The contract contemplated the completion of the work by December 1, 1889, and in most of the streets it had been done when the last city government was inaugurated. The intercepting sewer from Market street to Fair street, however, was then still in process of construction. As was well known, there had been lack
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of harmony in the relations of the sewer commissioners with the contractor, and early in the year the city council amended the ordi- nance relating to the formation of the commission, and added two members, making the Mayor, ex-officio, one of them, and hereafter chairman of the board. I entered upon my duties there, sharing to some extent the prejudices that had been influential in the city council. The sewers had not been completed as soon as was expected, the people were unable to use any part of them, the streets had been obstructed for an unreasonably long period, and it was felt that some one was responsible for a very unsatisfactory condition of things. Naturally the blame was laid at the door of the sewer commissioners.
The creation of that board was provided for in the special law under which the sewers were to be constructed. It was their duty to arrange the terms of the contracts necessary for the introduc- tion of the sewers, and when such contracts had been approved and accepted by the city council, it became the duty of the com- missioners, as agents of the city of Newburyport, to see that the terms of said contracts were strictly complied with, and to have charge of the system of sewers when completed. I know very lit- tle as to the manner in which they performed their duty up to the time of my becoming a member of the commission myself. Since then that board has been controlled by but one purpose, namely : to complete the work as soon as possible, and to fully protect the city's interests in the matter. As is well known, the work of con- struction dragged along until late in the spring. Repeated effort was patiently made to come to some understanding with the con- tractor, by which the work might speedily be brought to an end and the people allowed to use the sewers. All such efforts being unsuccessful, I reluctantly advised the commissioners that the work should, with the least possible delay, be taken from the con- tractor and finished by them, as provided in the contract.
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This was done; and rules having been promulgated governing their use, permits to enter the sewer were granted. The extent to which the system is now used is surprising, and has been limited only by the ability of drain layers and plumbers to make the nec- essary connections.
The sewers are now used by 147 tenements, six boarding houses, eighteen stores, eight workshops, five halls, five offices, two hotels, two factories, and three public buildings.
It is now worse than a waste of time to dispute upon the merits of the system. It is the property of the city of Newburyport, is in full operation, and must be maintained. I am happy to be able to say I believe it will prove entirely successful in doing the work for which it was designed, and that is, simply the removal of house drainage. No other use of the sewers can safely be permitted, and they must be properly cared for; and certainly no person should be put in a position of control over them who does not sin- cerely desire that the $75,000 which they have cost shall prove to have been judiciously expended.
No final settlement has been made with the contractor. During the progress of the work his bills were rendered monthly to the commissioners, and so much of the amount thereof as was approved by the engineers, less 20 per cent., was from time to time duly paid, in accordance with the provisions of the contract. When the work was completed a final estimate of the amount due the contractor was made up and forwarded to him.
The commissioners then reported the situation of affairs to the city council, as they did not feel authorized to take any other action in reference to a final settlement. It was my expectation that the contractor would present his claim, if he had one, to the city council, and I urged his attorney at the time to have him do so with the least possible delay. No claim was ever presented, and the first information relating to the matter, which was offi-
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cially given to the city government, was the notice of the com- mencement of a suit for $40,000 in behalf of Mr. Douglass. When that notice was received I sought an interview with Mr. Douglass and endeavored to have him bring the matter before the city coun- cil, in the hope that some basis of settlement might be agreed upon, and thus save the cost and annoyance of a suit at law. He informed me that the matter was in the hands of his lawyer, and that he could do nothing except with his approval. The situation thus made it imperative for us to prepare to defend the interests of the city in the courts. An attorney has been engaged and the case is likely to be brought to a trial at an early day. While none of us would knowingly permit injustice to be done the hum- blest creditor of the city, it is our duty, and should be our unflinch- ing purpose, to defend the public rights as we would our own, by all proper and reasonable means.
HIGHWAYS.
The highway department will always be an important branch of the city government. During the past year what I believe will prove a substantial and satisfactory system of road building has been inaugurated. In my address a year ago I advised the con- struction of a modified form of the Telford-McAdam road. Fur- ther investigation of the matter resulted in bringing to the notice of the last city council a system of road making carried on in the city of Bridgeport. A special committee visited that place, and was so impressed by the apparent success and comparatively low cost of the roads there that it was determined to try the experi- ment of building substantially the same kind here. This necessi- tated the purchase of a steam road roller, which was procured, and the work commenced at once, and pushed with all possible despatch until the advent of cold weather compelled its discontin- uance.
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The McAdam road, as usually built and as now generally approved by engineers, requires a depth of stone superstructure of from ten to eighteen inches, and when so constructed it is very expensive, costing about $1.50 per square yard. Rebuilding our streets at so great a cost would necessarily be a slow process. The success of the Bridgeport experiment should therefore be most gratifying to us; and if roads so built are not disturbed by the frosts of winter, they will answer every requirement here, and the cost will be only from 35 to 50 cents per square yard. When three or four inches of the surface of a more heavily built road is worn away it will need repairs, and no more nor greater repairs will be needed on one more lightly constructed. Five years' expe- rience in Bridgeport seems to have demonstrated their success there. I cannot see why they should not prove equally durable here, but if they do not retain their shape when the frost comes out of the ground, we shall simply be compelled to use more stone in what we build hereafter. We shall be longer in getting good streets all over the city, but there can be no doubt that we are working on the right line, and it must be continued, with only such modifications as our experience may show to be advisable. I therefore urge that the committee on highways be at once author- ized to contract for not less than five thousand tons of broken stone. If practicable, this material, which must be of the hardest and finest description, should be gotten out in this vicinity, and if so, arrangements should be made immediately with some contractor, in order that there may be no delay in commencing work when the season for it arrives.
Road building has occupied a large share of public attention, and rightly so, for there our need was most apparent. There is a collateral matter which should not be overlooked, and now merits special consideration. I refer to sidewalks. Bad streets espec- ially discommode those who ride or drive ; bad sidewalks are a dis-
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comfort to the far greater number of our citizens whose pleasure or necessities compel them to walk. Under the law we have the authority to pave sidewalks and assess a part of the cost thereof upon the abutters. Heretofore the abutters have always taken the initiative in this matter, and the city has paid them a part of the cost of the work, and in this way a very considerable quantity of brick walk has been laid in recent years. Sidewalks once paved are forever after to be kept in repair at the city's expense, and the cost of such repairs must soon be a considerable charge upon the public treasury, but for such uses the tax payers must, and I believe will, cheerfully furnish the means. We should, however, reduce such expenditures to a minimum, while securing the maxi- mum of public advantage, and with this end in view I advise that experiments be made with concrete, which costs less than brick, and is in many ways more satisfactory. I would suggest that as soon as we can we inaugurate the system of laying good sidewalks where most needed, and assessing abutters for their proportion of the cost, as provided by law. A continuously paved walk from the railroad station to State street would be appreciated by the large number of persons who patronize the road, and it is a suit- able place to test the new method of assessment. By selecting this locality we shall also be spared the just criticisms of many strangers who may visit us.
SCHOOLS.
Our public schools appear to be in a very prosperous condition. For some years there has not been a sufficient number of applica- tions from residents of Newburyport for vacancies that have occurred in the corps of teachers. We have been obliged to fill several places by the appointment of persons residing elsewhere. Fortunately, the committee has been able to get teachers entirely competent to do the work, but has felt that it would be better if
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young women of our own city would fit themselves for the profes- sion, and to encourage them to do so the training school for teach- ers was established in 1889. The four lower rooms of the Kelley school are used for that purpose, and the classes attending there are taught by a principal and one assistant, aided by the pupil teachers, who learn the duties of the teacher by actual practice of them under competent supervision. The cost of the school is about $150 per year in excess of what would be the cost of em- ploying regular teachers in the four rooms named. The school has so far failed to attract a sufficient number of Newburyport young women to fill all the classes. The practical education given in such a school is of great value, even if positions are not always open to the pupils when they graduate. Vacancies in our force of instructors frequently occur, and those who desire to make teach- ing a proression could hardly have a more direct and easy way of entering it. Some pupils have been taken from surrounding towns. I think that practice should be discontinued, unless it is of advan- tage to the school; certainly no compensation should be allowed them.
I have heard tax payers complain that they get so little for their money. They have no just cause to be dissatisfied with our school department. Of the thirty-five towns in Essex county we are the thirty-second, and of the three hundred and fifty-one towns and cities in the commonwealth we are the three hundred and fif- teenth, according to the report of the State officials, in the per- centage of our taxable property appropriated for the support of public schools. The large parochial school here may, in a meas- ure, account for this relative standing. The graduates of the high school, however, compare most favorably with those from other cities, if we may judge by their success in passing examina- tions for admittance to higher institutions of learning.
I trust public interest in the common schools will never be
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abated. The most competent men and women should be willing to serve on the school committee, and the citizens generally should see that such persons are always elected to the office.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Our fire department is in every way a credit to Newburyport. We are not a large city ; our liability to loss by fire is proportion- ately small, and it is not necessary that we should possess all the apparatus that might be very desirable in larger places. Efforts have been made for some years to have the city purchase a chem- ical engine, and an order was introduced in the common council for that purpose last year. Knowing that such action was contem- plated, I addressed circular letters to the chief engineers of the fire departments in all the principal cities and towns in this, and to some in neighboring States, asking for information as to the desirability of this piece of apparatus. The replies received very generally favored such a machine, but without exception said it would not be of any practical use unless men and horses were kept permanently in the service connected with it. I am of the opinion that we do not suffer from the prevalence of fires to such an extent as to make it desirable for us to purchase a chemical engine, at an expense of more than $2000, and then be at the further annual expense of from $1200 to $1500 to keep men and horses with it ready for use. It is true that the use of such a machine might re- sult in the saving of property, but such an argument could be used to favor the location of a fire engine on every street, and however desirable any piece or any quantity of fire apparatus may be, there will always be a limit to the field for its economical use, which will make it unwise to incur the expense of maintaining it. I do not believe that the owners of property are in favor of the purchase of uch an engine. When they are, and when they so express them-
(88)
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selves, it will be time for the city to incur the burden of its pur- chase and maintenance.
POOR.
"The poor ye have always with you," and I would not by any word of mine do aught to limit the wise charity of the city at large, of any individual, or of any of our many benevolent organiz- ations. We must remember, however, that mendicity is a conta- gious as well as an inherited disease, and it is our duty to know that those to whom we give are only those who are really worthy to receive. We are an old city, and have not for many years made much gain, either in wealth or population. Many descendants of Newburyport families have in times past made their homes in other parts of the country, and when any of them come to want, their legal settlement is liable to come upon us, and this fact oper- ates as one cause towards making the cost of our poor depart- ment exceptionally large. The number aided here, in proportion to the population, is equalled, I believe, by only one other city in the commonwealth. Large as is the sum we annually spend in charity, however, it might be doubled and no right-minded citizen would complain, if he felt that every cent of it went into the hands of worthy recipients, and in just proportion to their deserts. I am not criticising the conduct of our board of overseers of the poor ; they are exceptionally careful and efficient officers. I feel im- pelled, however, to repeat substantially what I said last year, that the system of out-door relief furnishes such an opportunity for the unscrupulous and unworthy, that any board of oversight would be more than human if they always escaped imposition. We should fail to do our duty if we did not bestow alms upon those whose misfortunes render them unable to care for themselves, but we shall do more harm than good if by our method of almsgiving we encourage others to be improvident, and thus to become paupers,
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and sacrifice their independence and self respect. In more than one way the distribution of public funds is working in this direc- tion ; and while I would utter a warning, I am not doing it in the interest of the tax payer, but in the interest of the poorer classes, whose happiness and well being are in vastly greater danger. We should be slow to find fault unless we are prepared to suggest a remedy. I realize the difficulty of the problem, and I am not sure that I can offer a satisfactory solution. I would either abolish out- door relief altogether, or, if that is impracticable, I would at the end of each year cut off all recipients, and require them to make new applications, so that each case would then be carefully re- viewed, and I would publish in the annual report of the overseers of the poor the names of, and the amount and kind of aid fur- nished to, everyone of those assisted outside the almshouses. We should in this way, perhaps, put more responsibility upon private charitable organizations ; and, if so, the result would, I believe, fully justify such action ; but I leave such considerations of this subject now for the dryer details of its statistics. By the amend- ment to the city charter adopted at the late election, as soon as the same comes into full operation the overseers of the poor will be chosen to serve for terms of three years, and elected so that the term of only one member will expire annually, and in addition the mayor will be ex officio chairman of the board.
The total expenditures in the department have been about $18,000. Of this sum $15,000 was appropriated by the city, and the balance provided for by income from various sources. For the support of insane $4,433.27 have been expended, and $6,251.34 for out-door relief, nearly 600 persons having been so assisted. Of the latter, 27 families reside in ward one, 29 in ward two, 14 in ward three, 19 in ward four, 16 in ward five, and 18 in ward six.
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STREET LIGHTING.
The lighting of the public streets and buildings is now an item of expense of great importance. The cost for the last year has been about $10,000, while before the introduction of electricity the annual charge for the service was about $7000 per year. The electric arc light is so great an improvement, and is so generally satisfactory, that we may safely conclude that it is to be the per- manent means of street illumination. A constant effort is being, and will be, made to add to the number of lights in use. There will hardly be a limit to the demand, if all are complied with, until an arc light shall be placed in front of every man's door. We should indulge in such luxuries only to a limited extent, and only so far as our means will safely warrant us in doing, and therefore I would urge the committee on lighting streets to scrutinize carefully every petition involving additional expenditure in this department, and would suggest that no new lights be established unless they are ordered by the concurrent vote of the city council.
PARKS.
. The appropriation last year of $500 for parks and public grounds was, I believe, the first ever made for that purpose. It was expended mainly in the vicinity of Frog Pond, and I do not think any citi- zen who recalls the former appearance of that locality will ques- tion the wisdom of the small expenditure needed to keep it in the fine condition in which it was put by the Mall Improvement Asso- ciation. An annual appropriation hereafter of $500 will, I think, be sufficient to keep that place in good order, and gradually to bring such other public grounds as we have into an equally satis- factory state. I trust the City Improvement Society, recently or- ganized, will be a valuable assistant to this department, and will also aid the board of aldermen to devise some method by which
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the troublesome question of the removal of shade trees from public places may be more satisfactorily dealt with.
PUBLIC PROPERTY.
An important part of our annual expenditures is incurred through the agency of the committee on public property. The committee is, in my judgment, too small. It should consist of nine members at least, and the mayor should be, ex officio, chairman of it. One of the defects of our system of government is the great power lodged in the hands of committees. They are not responsible to the public, and where their action is important, or involves the expenditure of much money, they should be suffi- ciently large to represent fully the city council of which they are members. A better system of ordering purchases and keeping accounts of the same should be established in all departments. It is not uncommon for accounts to be presented that have run for two years, and if ordered by members of former city govern- ments it is almost impossible to verify them. If it were practica- ble, by some statute of limitation, to compel the presentation of accounts against the city during the year when such liability was incurred, I believe it would result in considerable saving to the city treasury. One very considerable item in the expenditures of the committee on public property is that connected with the care of the school houses. There is a divided responsibility here which is decidedly objectionable. The school committee are inclined to be somewhat careless of what they ask, if the cost does not appear as a charge to their account. They should also know better what is really required for the school houses than any committee of the city council. I would suggest that such action be taken as will result in putting the care of the school property more directly into the hands of the school committee, who have the real power to control it. I would also have the cost of such work, as well as
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the fuel used by them, charged to the account of the school de- partment. We may then know what the education of our children really costs.
POLICE.
Two officers were dropped from the police force at the beginning of last year, and later one was added temporarily, but has been on duty continuously for several months. The service of the depart- ment has been well performed, and the violations of law requiring the interference of the police have this year been less than usual. It is easy to find fault, and statements reflecting upon the efficiency of the police are, I think, carelessly made. Among other things, it is sometimes charged that the provisions of the liquor law are not properly enforced. "Kitchen bar rooms" are said to flourish, and many illegal practices to prevail among those holding licenses. Suspicions and irresponsible statements have no force in a court of law, nor can the police act upon them, unless they are sufficiently definite, and based upon a reasonable probability of truth.
Before the officers can procure warrants to enter a private house to search for liquor they must have satisfactory evidence themselves or the affidavits of two competent witnesses that they believe liquor is being illegally sold in such house. It would be difficult, I believe it is impossible, to find two citizens of Newburyport that will today, or this year, make oath that they believe liquor is be- ing illegally sold in any particular place. I desire to give notice to such, if there be any, that th ir complaints will be properly re- ceived, and, if within the range of possibilities, satisfactorily at- tended to. They may say that it is not their duty to furnish such evidence. I disagree with them and affirm that it is their duty to furnish it. Do they claim such exemption from responsibility if the crime is assault, or theft, or arson? I am well aware that there may be a violation of law where it would be extremely em-
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barrassing for those cognizant of it to give the necessary evidence to the police. If anyone is withholding such information he should be very slow publicly or privately to charge that the officials have not done their duty. There are grave difficulties in the way of a strict enforcement of any liquor law, and they are mainly to be found in the character of the laws themselves as heretofore enacted. In the first place, liquor legislation is generally based upon the theory that a crime may be committed, participated in by two parties, a buyer and a seller, and one only, the seller, is to be punished. Punish the illegal buyer, as well, and a long step will have been taken towards making the law effective. Compar- atively few are satisfied that the present law is just in all of its provisions. There seems to me no satisfactory reason why there should be one license issued to each five hundred of the inhabitants of Boston and one only to each thousand of the inhabitants of Newburyport. All men are not equal before the law when thir- teen men are permitted to do a certain kind of business on certain conditions in this city, and no others are permitted to do it on any condition. To the injustice of such a practice is added the fact that it establishes by law a species of monopoly, and monopolies are always odious. The inconsistencies of the law are strikingly apparent. Any farmer may without license sell all he pleases of native wines or cider of his own manufacture. The dealer in New- buryport must pay $800 for the right to sell the same goods. While the grocer pays $800, and the retail liquor dealer $1, 650, or a license, the keeper of a drug store is allowed to sell liquor for a fee of $1 per year. It is true that the apothecary is supposed to sell it only for mechanical and medicinal purposes, and to keep a record of all his sales. The ease with which he may, by the aid of the peculiar apparatus in his store, carry on an illegal business is apparent to all. The temptation for him to do so can be easily understood, when we realize his ability to undersell his competi-
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