USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1891 > Part 2
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Road building has occupied a large share of public attention, and rightly so, for there our need was most apparent. There is a collat- eral matter which should not be overlooked, and now merits special consideration. I refer to sidewalks. Bad streets especially discom-
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mode those who ride or drive; bad sidewalks are a discomfort to the far greater number of our citizens whose pleasure or necessities compel them to walk. Under the law we have authority to pave sidewalks and assess a part of the cost thereof upon the abuttors. Heretofore the abuttors have always taken the initiative in this matter, and the city ha's 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 expense upon the public treasury, but for such uses the tax payers must, and I believe will, cheerfully fur- nish the means. We should, however, reduce such expenditures to a minimum, while securing the maximum of public advantage, and with this end in view I advise that experiments be made with con- crete, which costs less than brick, and is in many ways more satis. factory. I would suggest that as soon as we can inaugurate the system of laying good sidewalks where most needed, and assessing abuttors 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 suitable place to test the new method of assess- ment. By selecting this locality we shall also be spared the just criticisms of many strangers who 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-
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tions from residents of Newburyport for vacancies that have oc- curred in the corps of teachers. We have been obliged to fill sev- eral places by the appointment of persons residing elsewhere. For- tunately, the committee has been able to get teachers entirely com - petent to do the work, but has felt that it would be better if young women of our own city would fit themselves for the profession, and to encourage them to do so the training school for teachers was es-
tablished 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 employing 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 education given in such a ยท 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 teaching a profess- ion 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 advantage 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 fifteenth, accord-
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ing to the report of the State officials, in the per centage of our tax able property appropriated for the support of public schools. The large parochial school here may, in a measure, 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 examination for admittance to higher institutions of learning.
I trust public interest in the common schools will never be 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 in every way a credit to Newburyport. We are not a large city : our liability to loss by fire is proportionately small, and it is not necessary that we should possess all the appara- tus that might be very desirable in larger places. Efforts have been made for some years to have the city purchase a chemical engine, and an order was introduced in the common council for that purpose last year. Knowing that such action was contemplated, I addressed circular letters to the chief engineers of the fire departments in all the principal cities and towns in this state, and to some in neigh- boring 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 practi- cal use unless men and horses were kept permanently in the service
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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 result in the saving of property, but such an argument could be used to favor the location of a fire en- give on every street, and however desirable any piece or any quanti- ty of fire apparatus might be, there will always be a limit to the field for its economical use, which will make it unwise to incur the ex- pense of maintaining it. I do not believe that the owners of prop- erty are in favor of the purchase of such an engine. When they are, and when they so express themselves, it will be time for the city to incur the burden of its purchase 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 organizations. We must remember, however, that mendicity is a contagious 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 | fami- lies have in times past made their homes in other parts of the coun- try, and when any of them come to want, their legal settlement is lia-
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able to come upon us, and this fact operates as one cause towards making the cost of our poor department exceptionally large. The number aided here, in proportion to the population, is equalled, I be- lieve, by only one other city in the commonwealth. Large as is the sum we annually spend in charity, however, it might be doubted 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 over- seers of the poor ; they are exceptionally careful and efficient officers. I feel impelled,however, to repeat substantially what I said last year, that the system ofout-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 mis- fortune render them unable to care for themselves, but we shall do more harm than good if by our method of alms-giving we encourage others to be improvident, and thus become paupers, and sacrifice their independence and self-respect. In more than one way the distribution of public funds is working in this direction ; 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 can 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 imprac- ticable, 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 reviewed, and I would publish in the annual report
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of the overseers of the poor the name of, and the amount and kind of aid furnished to, every one of those assisted outside of the alms- house. We should in this way, perhaps, put more responsibility upon private charitable organizations ; and if so, the result would, I be- lieve, fully justify the 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 of 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 sup- port of insane $4,433.27 have been expended, and $6,251.34 for out-door relief, nearly 600 persons have 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.
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 permanent means of street illumination. A constant effort is being, and will be, made to add 5
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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 therfore I would urge the committee on lighting streets to scrutinize carefully every petition involving addi- tional 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 parks and public grounds was, I believe, the first ever made for that purpose. It was expend- ed mainly in the vicinity of Frog pond, and I do not think any citi- zen who recalls the former appearance of that locality will question the wisdom of the small expenditure needed to keep it in the fine condition in which it was put by the Mall Improvement Association. An annual appropriation hereafter of $500 will, I think, be sufficient to keep that place in good order, and gradually to bring snch other public gronnds as we have into an equally satisfactory state. I trust the City Improvement Society, recently organized, will be a valuable assistant to this department, and will also aid the board of aldermen to devise some method by which the troublesome ques- tion of the removal of shade trees from public places may be more satisfactorily dealt with.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
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 pub- lic, and where their action is important, or involves the expenditure of much money, they should be sufficiently large to represent fully the city council of which they are members. A better system of or- dering purchases and keeping accounts of the same should be estab- lished 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 governments it is impossible to verify them. If it were practicable, by some statute of limitation, to compel the pre- sentation of accounts against the city during the year when such liability occurred, 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
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would also have the cost of such work, as well as the fuel used by them, charged to the account of the school department. We may then know what the education of our children really cost.
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 usnal. 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. Sus- picious 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 officers can procure a warrant 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 said house. It would be difficult, I believe it would be impossible, to find two citizens of Newburyport that will to-day, or this year, make oath that they believe liquor is being ille- gally sold in any particular place. I desire to give notice to such if there be any, that their complaints will be properly received, and, if
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within the range of possibility, satisfactorily attended 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 embarrassing for those cognizant of it to give the necessary evidence to the police. If anyone is with- holding 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 legisla- tion is generally based upon the theory that a crime may be commit- ted, 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 effec tive. Comparatively few are satisfied that the present law is just in all its provisions. There seems to me no satisfactory reason why there should be one license issued to each five hundred of the in- habitants of Boston and only one to each thousand of the inhabit- ants of Newburyport. All men are not equal before the law when thirteen men are permitted to do a certain kind of business on cer- tain 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 appa- rent. Any farmer may without license sells all he pleases of native wines or cider of his own manufacture. The dealer in Newburyport
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must pay $800 for the right to sell the same goods. While the gro- cer pays $Soo, and the retail liquor dealer $1650 for a license, the keeper of a drug store is allowed to sell liquor for the fee of $1.00 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 competitors. The policy of limit- ed licenses imposes upon the board of. aldermen a duty which it is impossible for them satisfactorily to perform. If persisted in, it will, I believe, become a corrupting influence in our municipal politics. When, as was currently reported last April to have been the case, considerable sums of money are offered in addition to the regular fee for a llcense, the time is not far distant when, even in Newbury- port, men will seek office for the profit that can be made in them.
The liquor traffic must be controlled ; it cannot be prohibited. A high license law, unlimited, with such equitable provisions as shall put all dealers relatively on the same basis, and recognize the culpa- bility of the buyer, also, in an illegal sale, is, in my opinion, the right way to deal with it.
I fully appreciate the fact that it is the duty of the executive officer to enforce the law as he finds it. No effort has been spared by me to enforce it during the past year, and none will be spared during the year to come. In the past the police officers under me have never to my knowledge hesitated to do their full duty ; in the future a no less faithful service will be required of them.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The public library is in a prosperous condition. It is the duty of the city council to select annually one member of the board of di- rectors of that institution, and in the performance of this duty care should be taken to select men who have special qualifications for the position. In dealing with the great mass of publications seeking admission to its shelves, discrimination must be exercised by compe- tent critics, in order that there may be provided by public authority only such books as are of an elevating character.
CITY ENGINEER.
I desire you to take into consideration the advisability of creating the office of civil engineer. There is always work to be done which should be planned and supervised by men of some training in archi- tecture and engineering. In the rebuilding of roads and sidewalks. it is of great importance that proper grades be determined and ac- curately followed. The repair and the ventilation of school houses, the latter being now persistently urged by the state authorities, are matters which require scientific oversight, and the building of cul- verts would have been much better done if some competent person in the employ of the city had been in charge of them. It is also necessary to have an inspector of plumbing and a superintendent of sewers, both of which positions must have men of some technical knowledge. Questions of repairs to bridges frequently arise,-even now it is said that the piers at the draw of the Newburyport bridge need to be rebuilt ; and, if this is so, it will probably be necessary to
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employ an engineer to superintend the work. All these matters, and others which I have not enumerated, seem to me to make it well to consider whether it would not be expedient to employ permanently some man possessed of engineering skill.
THE WIDENING OF STATE AND PROSPECT STREETS.
State street, at the corner of Pleasant street, and also a part of Prospect street, have been widened, in accordance with the vote of former city governments. The owners of the property on the corner of State and Pleasant streets appealed from the award of the former city council to a sheriff's jury, and that tribunal, by its action, con- firmed the popular opinion that it is difficult for a city to secure jus- tice when sued by a private individual. As I understand the matter, two of the abutters on Prospect street have the right to appeal from the city's award, and it is, therefore, impossible to say now what the cost of that improvement will be. It was, however, so much in the nature of a local benefit, that, although it had been voted by a pre- vious city council, I hesitated to act in matter unless those living in the neighborhood would give $500 towards defraying the expense of it. This was done, and the cost to the city will therefore be $500 less than it otherwise would have been. Hereafter I trust any such improvements will be made under the provisions of the betterment law, for although to some extent a public advantage, they are to so much greater a degree a private benefit that they should be paid for mainly by those living in the vicinity, whose comfort and conven- ience they directly serve.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Another objectionable practice has grown up, of which I will speak in this connection. Parties having land which they have de- sired to open up for house lots have petitioned the city to lay out and accept the streets they may wish to have thereon. It has been the custom for the city council to grant such petitions on condition that the street shall be properly graded. As a matter of fact, most of them have been accepted when practically no work has been done upon them, and the city has been put to considerable expense which should have been borne by the abutters. A city does its full share when it accepts and keeps in repair a street that has been properly graded, and which was laid out almost solely for someone's private convenience or advantage. Hereafter, whatever the prece- dents may be, I hope the city government will adhere rigidly to the policy of accepting streets only when they shall have been properly graded.
THE WATER COMPANY.
By the provisions of the statutes under which the Newburyport Water Company received its charter the city has the right to pur- chase the property of that company at any time after the expiration of ten years from the completion of the works. That period of ten years will have expired October Ist, 1891. I believe a very general feeling prevails among the citizens that the city should own the wa- ter works. There is also, apparently, a very general lack of such information in reference to the matter as should be had by the pub- lic before they can intelligently take the preliminary steps to carry their wish into execution. I am advised that under the law it will
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
be necessary, in the first place, that the proposal to purchase be as- sented to by a two-thirds vote, at an election called for that purpose. In other words, no step towards the purchase of the works can be taken until, by a two-thirds vote, the city decides to buy them ; and the vote must be taken before any knowledge can be had as to what the price to be paid will be. After such a vote shall have been passed, " in case the said corporation and said city are unable to agree, then the compensation to be paid shall be determined by three commissioners, to be appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, upon the application of either party and notice to the other, whose award when accepted by the court shall be binding upon both par- ties," and the city will be obliged to take the property, whether the price be satisfactory or not. That, I am advised, is the law in the matter, and under it we shall be compelled to decide a question in- volving the expenditure of a large sum of money, without such in- formation as will make it possible for us to know whether we are making a good or a bad bargain. It may be presumed that the commissioners would fix a fair price; but judgments will honestly differ very materially as to what would be a fair price, and that which might be fixed as fair by the commission might be a very much higher one than two-thirds of our citizens would vote to buy at, and much higher than we could afford to pay, desirable as owner- ship of the water works may be. Whether any change could be made in the law to place Newburyport in a better position, consistent with the faithful performance of her part of the contract, I do not feel competent to say. The great obstacle, therefore, in the way of purchase appears to me to be the fact that we cannot know the price until we are irrevocably committed to take the property, what-
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