USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1894 > Part 20
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HIGHWAYS.
The streets and sidewalks of our city have for several years past, received an unusual amount of attention, requiring the expenditure of a large sum of money, and as a result they are in better condition at the present time than they have ever been before. (I presume it will be understood that I am not referring to the snow and ice with which they are now covered, but to the solid substance under it.)
The appropriation for this department in 1894 was $17,000; the expenditures $33,367.29, making an overdraft of $16,367.29.
Our public fault-finder has informed you that the city has nothing to show for this large expenditure,
37
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
which is false, as the following figures will convince you :
4015 yards brick sidewalk laid . $1,806 75
Repairs on sidewalk 815 95
6512 yards concrete sidewalk laid 1,628 00
10,760 feet new edgestone set 3,200 00
2300 feet old edgestone reset 230 00
Cash paid for sand and labor on icy sidewalks 665 50
Cash paid for crushed stone 3,406 35
5000 yards gutters paved 1,250 00
Cash paid for the unemployed and needy 5,000 00
Cost of keeping city teams
5,500 00
Total
$23,502 55
The balance being expended for ordinary labor and the employment of outside teams to work upon the roads. The following streets were macadamized during the year: Summit place, Orange street, Market street from Washington to High, Fair street from Middle to Prospect, State street from High to Greenleaf, and a portion of High street. On Fair, Orange and High streets the crushed stone was put on without digging up the surface, and in my opinion wherever the street is low enough for the purpose it makes just as good a road.
The steam roller was not used while the work was being done for the reason that the water com- pany refused to allow the superintendent of highways the use of the water from the hydrants, and there
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
being no rain at the time to wet down the roads, there was nothing for the roller to do.
I would again urge upon the city council the ne- cessity of keeping these roads sprinkled during the summer season, for if they are allowed to become dry they will soon wear out. I would also advocate hav- ing as many of the streets sprinkled as possible for the comfort and convenience of the public. In re- gard to work upon the highways the coming season it seems to me advisable that we should move a little slower than in the past, for as much as these improve- ments are to be desired we must bear in mind that it cannot all be done in one year, or even in five or ten years. We must go according to our means, and there are several other matters that will have to be attended to this year.
LIQUOR LICENSES.
Under the present law, which was passed in 1894, the board of aldermen have nothing to do with the granting of liquor licenses or enforcing the law in regard to such licensed places, that power being now vested in the board of license commissioners, thus relieving the aldermen of a very disagreeable duty, for it was not an easy task to be obliged to choose thirteen from about double that number, who should have the privilege of selling liquor.
39
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The present law is in many respects a good one, much better than it would have been had it passed in the form first presented to the legislature, which gave the governor power to appoint the commissioners, for then the law would have been used for the grossest political corruption. The governor would have had no means of knowing the character of the men to be appointed on the commission only as given him by the political wire-pullers of his party, and they would have recommended only such men as could be used for the purpose of controlling the liquor vote in the interests of the party in power, but as the law now stands no mayor of a city would ever think of appointing upon the commission any but the very best men who could be induced to accept the position. Those whom I have appointed did not ask for the place. It was offered to them, and I have the fullest confidence in the men to believe they will do what is right.
One man came to me and asked for the position, giving as a reason for wanting it that he thought it would help him with the liquor sellers in his trade. Perhaps it is unnecessary for me to say that he was one of the prime movers in the attempt made the last two years to get a new mayor. He doesn't think I am a fit man for the office, and I am happy to state that none of the class who want to practice cor- ruption do.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The duty of enforcing the law in regard to unlicensed places still remains with the mayor and the board of aldermen, and if the limit clause could be stricken out of the present license law, which is in all other respects an excellent one, it would be much easier to enforce it.
I have a great deal of sympathy for a man who violates such an unjust law, which says one person shall have the privilege of selling an article, and says another person, who is equally as good a citizen, shall not have that privilege. In my opinion it is contrary to the constitution, and I do not believe any honest, fair-minded man would ever vote for such a one-sided law. Even the honest prohibitionists condemn it in the strongest terms. I have been before the legisla- tive committee the last two years to urge its repeal, and mean to go again the present year. With that one feature left out, the present local option law practised in this state is, in my opinion, the best way to control the sale of liquor, and no good citizen would ever want to see in Massachusetts such a farce as that now carried on under the name of prohibition in the states of Maine and, New Hampshire. The correspondent of the Boston Herald, who has spent a month down in Maine for the purpose of looking into the merits of prohibition in that state, has described the situation truthfully, as I can testify from
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
personal knowledge, having been there and seen it myself just as he has stated it. There is not a city or town in either one of those states, both hav- ing a prohibition law, but that even a stranger can buy all the liquor he wants. It was only last summer that the authorities of Manchester, N. H., declared that the 400 liquor saloons in that city should not be allowed to keep open later than ten o'clock at night.
All these things go to prove that no law can be enforced without public opinion back of it, and I maintain that the prohibitory law regarding the use of liquor never has and never can be enforced either here or anywhere else. Men are much like hogs, they will not be driven. Wherever any city or town has abstained from the use of liquor it has not been on account of the prohibitory law, but because the people themselves did not want the liquor. Such a place may possibly exist but I have never been able to find it, although I have traveled from Canada to Florida and last summer visited the Provinces. While I found many places living under a pro- hibitory law it was in every instance placing a premium upon hypocrisy. But it will be said the present license law is not enforced. That is true, and there are many difficulties in the way of enforcing any law regulating the sale of liquor. There is no question but what there are places in this city where
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
liquor is being sold without a license, but it is not an easy matter to procure sufficient evidence to convict the parties. I know there are persons who claim to have such evidence, but I have always found them unwilling to come into court and present it.
An instance of this kind occurred during my first term as mayor, where a man who a short time before crossed the bridge leading into the city, and like many other new-comers thought it his duty, or at least privilege, to find fault with what was being done here. This man was a preacher at that time, and as I was standing in front of the police station one day he came up in an overbearing manner and wanted to know why I did not order a certain place raided, saying it was a low place, that liquor was being sold there without a license, that the police were not doing their duty; in fact everything in general was going to the bad. I waited patiently until he got out of breath and then asked him if he knew it to be true about this place. He said he did and had the evidence to prove it. I then informed him that he was just the man I had been locking for, that we had suspected the place and had been watching it, but had not been able to secure sufficient evidence to warrant making a raid, but if he would come in court the next morning I would see that the officers did their duty and we could break up the
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
place. This he refused to do, saying that it was no place for him in court. I then told him that it was not his place to come to me finding fault about the officers not doing their duty when he was not willing to do his.
If Dr. Parkhurst had been built of any such weak material as this man there never would have been a Lexow committee to unearth the corruption existing in New York City. Now I do not wish to be understood as believing it the duty of clergymen or other citizens to go about procuring evidence against such places, for I do not, but when they do possess it, and they can often obtain it where an officer could not, I do consider it their duty, if they want the law enforced, to render all necessary assistance.
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Since my earliest recollection there has always been more or less fault-finding with the police force, in all other cities as well as our own. Those who are so prone to indulge in this pastime may properly be divided into four classes.
First, the criminal class who never relish any interference with their law-breaking proclivities, and who naturally have no great love for the police.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The second class is composed of those who always find fault if the police do not enforce some law which in no way affects them personally, and are just as ready to find fault if they do enforce some other law which does affect them. For instance, there is a certain man in this city whom I have often heard complain of the police because they do not enforce the liquor law according to his ideas, but when it became necessary, as it did, for them to enforce a law which he was violating by obstructing the sidewalk with his goods and a lot of old cases, that were a nuisance to everyone who had occasion to pass his store, he began to grumble and has kept it up ever since. Such is the inconsistency of this class.
The third class consists of those persons who are continually complaining about everything. It is second nature with them. Nothing pleases them. If you meet one of these persons upon a fine day with the remark that it is a beautiful day, he will look all around the horizon, and after heaving a long and painful sigh, he will answer, "It is a weather breeder, we shall be sure to have a storm to pay for this; " and as with the weather so with everthing else. Inform him that a police officer has done a very clever piece of work in his line and he is not willing to allow the officer any credit for it. He will bring up some other affair that this or some other officer failed
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
in. I am inclined to think that this class of people are to be pitied rather than blamed. They are so constituted that nothing ever goes right with them. I am not certain but that it is a disease, and possibly in time some learned physician may be able to discover the particular microbe or bacteria that causes it, and afterward some anti-toxine treatment for its eradica- tion; until then we must patiently bear with them.
There is still a fourth class of well meaning peo- ple who have no knowledge whatever of the police department only as some person informs them. They have but a very slight conception as to what consti- tutes a good police force or what is required of it. A man may make an excellent police officer but be wholly unfit to serve as deacon of a church. Another man may make a very poor minister of the gospel but possess every qualification for a good life insurance agent. Now the members of our police force are much better fitted to handle billies than golden harps. They all have their faults, and in this respect are not very much different from the rest of mankind. There is not a single member of the force, from the marshal down, that I would think of recommending for super- intendent of a Sunday school; in fact, I think either one of them would ruin the best Sunday school in the city in a very few months; nor would I recommend the best Sunday school superintendent ever known
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
for city marshal, as he would demoralize the whole force as far as its efficiency was concerned. The re- quirements for the two vocations are radically differ- ent. While it is the Sunday school teacher's duty to instruct children in the lessons of the Bible and the teachings of the golden rule, the police have a very different class to deal with and are often obliged to use measures that might seem even cruel to some persons.
When an officer is arresting a criminal he cannot very well stop to deliver a dissertation upon the moral law, even if he were capable of doing so. If he happens to be struggling with some desperate character, as is often the case, who is striking, kicking and biting, a good stout piece of locust is much more efficacious as an argument and the only proper one to use at such a time. Now, a real good, kind-hearted Christian man would not be adapted for such business, and could not be prevailed upon to accept the position. I have been pretty familiar with the workings of the police department of this city for the past twenty years and I say without any hesita- tion that never in all that time has it been in better con- dition than today. While the members are far from being saints, they are honest and faithful, and I be- lieve are men who try to do their duty. We should not expect too much of them, but have a little of that
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
charity which we all need. Let us not forget that a police officer's duty is often anything but pleasant. When we are stowed away in our warm beds these cold nights, they are obliged to walk the streets keep- ing guard over our property, and possibly our lives, while we sleep, and I would suggest that those who have been in the habit of standing off at a distance and condemning the whole force, take measures to become acquainted with the officers and then encour- age them to do the best they can.
GENERAL REMARKS.
Under this head I ask your consideration for a few moments to some of the difficulties that beset those who are elected to official positions in the city government, and in so doing I shall speak largely of myself, and from my own experience, for I have had a little experience in that line. Many people think it strange that our best citizens as a rule will not consent to accept an office, but if they will stop and consider for a moment what an official is often obliged to put up with they will cease to wonder that it is so. When they see those who hold office abused in the most shameful manner by a disreputable paper, their motives purposely and malignantly miscon- strued, their acts misrepresented in the most outrageous manner, their public and official state-
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
ments twisted around in every conceivable way through sheer vindictiveness and for the purpose of creating political capital for some one else and against them, men who are possessed of a sensitive temperament naturally shrink from placing themselves in a position where there would even be a chance of bringing such things upon them. Quite a number of those who have occupied the mayor's position in this city for one year could not be induced to accept a second term, and most of them after serving two years had quite enough of it. My predecessor in office, Mayor Dodge, had a little of the same experi- ence I have had. He was pretty roundly abused by one of the papers and it published a cartoon for the purpose of bringing ridicule upon him. Now I have been obliged to stand a little more of this abuse than the others, for I am naturally aggressive. I frankly confess that I have not a single particle of the Christian spirit that would lead me, if a man struck me a blow on one side of the head, to turn the other side for him to strike. If a man strikes me he is pretty certain to receive a dose of the same medicine. Therefore whenever an attack has been made upon me I have returned it, but never in a spirit of vindictiveness.
If I have at times said things that seemed harsh it was not with any ill feeling or in a cowardly manner, for when I have made charges against
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
anyone they have been made fairly and openly and not behind the back. Now my young friend of the News, and, by the way, I notice that he objects to my alluding to him as a young man, says that it is not a crime to be young. Most assuredly not, but I want to say to him, and I say it with all kindess, that most young men have too much sense to be continually advising in a dictatorial manner, as he does, those who are older and more experienced than themselves. It does not look well. If I should go down into the News office and try to teach him to set type and get out a newspaper I should simply be making a fool of myself for I don't know the first thing about such matters. Now I have had ten years' experience in the city government, (and I think no one will call me a dull scholar, whatever else they may think of me) while this young man has had none, yet from the very first he seemed to consider it his duty to advise and dictate to me just what I should do and how it should be done, and then was offended because I would not consent to be guided by him. Evidently he thinks it very cunning to say things against members of the city government, but other people look at it in a differ- ent light and consider from whence it comes. It was only a few months ago he thought the whole city was wrong and informed them that it was not often that a newspaper (meaning his paper) was compelled
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
to hold an opinion different from that held by every one else. It certainly was a little strange, but the citizens of Newburyport when they want his advice will without doubt ask for it, until then it would be much more becoming in him to withhold it. There is an old adage and a very good one, that children should be seen and not heard, and no matter how much this young man may know about printing he is but a child in his knowledge of matters pertaining to city affairs.
Now do not imagine for a moment that I think he is the worst young man that ever was, for I do not. He is not bad at heart, he means well, and after a little more age and experience will be all right, until then he should possess his soul in patience and not allow trifling matters to fret him.
The best man who ever lived could not be mayor of a city for three years without making some enemies, and the nearer he tries to do right the more enemies he will make. When first elected I found the charter would not allow the city to have but one mayor at a time, and I then determined that as the people had elected me to the office I should be that one.
My experience has taught me that the mayor must not only be blamed for what he does himself, but also for many things he is in no wise responsible for, and that being the case I concluded it would be much easier to answer for mistakes of my own
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
making rather than for those others might lead me into. I could have had the support of those who have so bitterly opposed me, had I yielded to their wishes and consented to be run by them.
When the wire-pullers of my own party came to me, as they did on my first election, and informed me that it was my duty as a Republican to work for the interests of that party, which in this case meant themselves, and almost demanded that I should appoint men to positions, when I knew and they knew the men were wholly unfit for them, I refused and informed them that I should recognize no party, that my duty was to the citizens, and when these men found they could not use me they had no use for me, and from that time have opposed me, for which I am devoutly thankful and I have certainly not needed their assistance.
If I had not criticised the clerk of the court for the manner in which he often treated the officers, when, in the performance of their duty they were obliged to apply for warrants, and had not accident- ally learned last spring that he had for years been buying fuel for his private office and charging the same to the city, which practice I considered it my duty to most decidedly object to, there would have been no opposition from that source. If I had been willing to assist the man who thought he was not get-
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
ting his share of the city work to roll up large bills against the city, as in days of yore, possibly even he would have supported me, but I had to choose be- tween such things as these and that of performing my duty to the city. I preferred to do my duty, and naturally made enemies of these persons, and those men whom I have cited are among the leaders of that class who have been clamoring so loudly the last two years about rescuing the city, who think the people · are not intelligent enough to rule, and are fair sam- ples of those who prior to the last two city elections have held secret caucuses in divers places where, under the cover of darkness, with their coat collars turned up about their faces, they would dodge in, one by one, like thieves in the night, to plot and scheme.
What cheap affairs these secret gatherings of theirs must have seemed to them as they looked in upon that great mass caucus held in this hall, where the people, exercising their rights as freemen, openly deposited their ballots. These men whom I have been describing are afraid of mass caucuses. They do not like to see the people gather in large numbers for the purpose of choosing their own candidates for office. They would much prefer to have their little ring or clique pick them out, as they could then use them to a certain extent, but there is only one fair and honest way to nominate candidates for office and
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
that is by the mass caucus. The nearer you come to the old-fashioned town meeting the nearer you will come to protecting the rights of the people, and we should never allow this privilege to be taken away from us.
Now, as I draw near the end of this address, I wish to say a few words regarding the style in which my inaugural addresses and other public documents have been written. I suppose there are some peo- ple who do not like my way of writing; if so, I am very sorry, but they have been written in this way for two reasons.
First, because I could not very well help it unless I had asked some one else to write them for me, and I did not care to do that, so if they have been a little peculiar it is simply because I have acted myself and have not tried to imitate someone else.
My second reason is, that in looking over, as I have during the past three years, some two hundred different inaugural addresses, I found they were very much alike, running along in the same old ruts, com- posed in the main of figures and statistics and gener- ally pretty dry reading for most people, as such documents usually are, and I thought it would not be a bad idea, in writing up these facts and figures, to take some of the dryness out of them by putting in a little spice so they could be presented in such a
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
manner that people would be interested enough to read them.
If I have succeeded in doing this my purpose has been accomplished, and those who do not like my addresses may derive some comfort from the thought that in all probability no other mayor will write any just like them.
CONCLUSION.
And now, gentlemen of the city council, in closing this address let me remind you and myself as well that we have stood up today before our fellow- citizens with our right hands raised to heaven and calling upon God to witness our vow. We have solemnly promised to be faithful to all the duties im- posed upon us by our several offices. We have now fairly entered upon the performance of those duties. They will by no means be trifling ones and we should never allow them to be trifled with. Our fellow-cit- izens have confided to our care their public interests, and they expect us to be true. To betray a trust is to do a mean thing, more than that, it is a crime. We shall be called upon during the coming year to ex- pend over two hundred thousand dollars and it is not our money, but belongs to others. How are we going to expend it? Not, I hope, as if it were our own, for we should be more careful in expending money
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
entrusted to our keeping than of that which belongs to us, I, for one, shall do all in my power to see that every dollar is expended wisely and that not one dol- lar is expended above the appropriations allowed us, but this cannot be accomplished without the assist- ance of each member of the city council. If we do this, and there is no overdraft at the close of the year, we shall reduce the city debt $40 000 and thus earn the gratitude of our fellow citizens.
And now, as a parting word, I would say to all my friends and fellow citizens who have so generously supported me in the past that I thank you with all my heart, and as life is altogether too short to devote any part of it in enmity to others, may God's richest blessings rest upon you all, friends and enemies alike.
Fellow citizens, before we leave this hall, it is fitting that I should pay a tribute to one of my pred- ecessors, Hon. George W. Jackman, Jr., a man whom the people of this city delighted to honor and who in return honored them.
A descendant of the sturdy yeomanry of the country, the traits of a worthy ancestry ever marked a period in his life.
Eminently a self-made man, casting his lot early in life in this city, he became a part of the history of
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
this municipality. His history is her history, and while this city council was organizing he, who had so frequently presided over the upper branch, was being conveyed to his last resting place.
Once before on the day of the inauguration of a city government a former chief magistrate of the city, Hon. Caleb Cushing, was carried to
" That bourne from which no traveler returns,"
and Hon. John James Currier, who on that day was inaugurated as' mayor, paid a fitting and eloquent tribute to that dead statesman.
Not so eloquently, but as earnestly I would pay an honest tribute to one who five times filled the mayor's chair, and part of that time during the war of the rebellion, and retired from every official position that he held with the commendation of the people. Truthfully it may be said of him, " Well done, good and faithful servant."
CONTENTS.
AUDITOR'S REPORT
CITY GOVERNMENT 1894 .
5
66 1895, last of book 3
COLLECTOR'S REPORT
IO2
DETAILED STATEMENTS :
Abatement of Taxes III
Ashes and Rubbish II2
Board of Health .
II4
Bridges and Culverts 115
119
City Bonds
121
Fire Department .
I2I
Fuel Department
I26
Highway Department
I28
Incidental Department
141 163
Lighting Streets and Public Buildings
Memorial Day
Miscellaneous Expensese
209
Notes Payable
Parks and Public Grounds
Police Department
Poor Department
Printing
Public Library
I83
Public Property ·
185
Salaries of City Officers
215
School Department
192
Sewerage (Construction)
198
(Maintenance)
200
167 169 171 175 IS2
Interest Department
165 166
Bromfield Fund
Page 79
ANNUAL REPORTS.
DETAILED STATEMENTS :
Sidewalks and Edgestones
Page 200
Soldiers' Relief
207
State Account, Armory Rent Water Supply .
208
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF MAYOR GURNEY, 1894
2I
IS95, last of book, 17
OFFICE HOURS OF CITY OFFICIALS, ETC. 3
REPORTS :
Board of Health
303
Board of Assessors
261
Bridge Tender 251
Chief Engineer
231 55
City Registrar
325
City Solicitor
247
Overseers of the Poor
223
Public Library
267
School Committee
317
Surveyor of Highways
291
Trust Funds
313
STATEMENTS :
City Debt
104
Account with State of Massachusetts . 106
Commissioners of Atkinson Common 107
Debts Due the City
107
Income and Expenditures
97
Sinking Fund Commissioners
108
STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF DEATHS
330
TABULAR STATEMENT . 98
City, County and State Taxes
218
TREASURER'S REPORT .
100
TRIAL BALANCE, December 16, 1893
IIO
City Marshal
206
2
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