USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Fifty years of Boston; a memorial volume issued in commemoration of the tercentenary of 1930; 1880-1930, Pt. 1 > Part 16
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
GROWTH OF MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS AND REORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATION SINCE 1909
Although the charter of 1909 did not of itself provide for the reorganization of administrative departments, it granted power to the Mayor and Council to reorganize, consolidate or abolish departments with certain limitations that have already been noted. It was natural that a governmental system which aimed at greater efficiency and responsibility should in time lead to certain consolidations and readjustments. Perhaps the chief characteristics of administrative development since 1909 have been the consolidation of existing functions, the increased use of the single head, particularly in the new depart- ments, and the general increase in the powers of all departments. At the same time, the addition of new functions after 1909 led to the creation of entirely new
* Boston Year Book, 1923-24, pages 69-70.
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departments as in the period of rapid growth and expansion of activities prior to 1909, but the development has been more orderly and systematic than in the earlier period.
The first important step toward reorganization of the administrative departments was the abolition of the separate Street, Water and Engineering Departments and the consolidation of their functions in 1911 under a new department known as the Department of Public Works in charge of a single executive head, the Commissioner of Public Works. At the same time, the functions of the Surveying Division of the Engineering Department were vested in the Street Laying-Out Department. The reorganization of the Public Works Department was closely followed by an ordinance of 1912, merging the Public Grounds, Bath and Music Departments with the Board of Park Commissioners under the name of the Park and Recreation Department, in charge of three commissioners, two of whom were to serve without compensation. In 1920 the consolidation of functions having to do with public grounds was made more complete by adding the Cemetery Department, and the name of the department was changed to the Park Department.
The next important change took place in 1914-15, when by ordinance the City Council abolished the Board of Health and set up a new Department of Health under a single commissioner, with deputy commissioners appointed by him in charge of the following divisions: Medical, Child Hygiene, Food Inspection, Laboratory, Sanitary Inspection, Quarantine and Vital Statistics, Records and Accounts. In 1915 the Quarantine Division was transferred to the control of the Federal Government. In the reorganization of the Health Department the Hospital Department, which had been separately incorporated in 1SSO under a board of five trustees with authority to receive and hold real or personal property bequeathed to it, was continued as an independent agency. The plan of separate incorporation had not only worked well but had increased the number of private donations and the department had established for itself a long and efficient record of public service.
Boston was one of the first cities in the Commonwealth to take advantage of a state law, enacted in 1914, authorizing cities and towns having a population of more than 10,000 to create planning boards. In that year the City Planning Board was created, consisting of five members, one of whom was required to be a woman, "to make careful studies of the resources, possibilities and needs of the city - and to make plans for the development of the municipality." This Board under the successive chairmanships of Ralph Adams Cram and Frederic H. Fay and the secretaryship of Miss Elisabeth M. Herlihy has issued a large number of reports and plans which have been of great assistance to the munic- ipal departments, and has taken an active part in movements looking toward the improvement of the health, comfort, safety and public welfare of the city, especially in regard to zoning.
The years 1918 to 1922 saw a number of important consolidations and the establishment of new departments. In 1918 the Transit Department, headed by three commissioners, was established by statute to replace the more or less temporary Boston Transit Commission which had been created in 1913 to investigate the street railway service furnished by the Boston Elevated
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Railway Company and the Bay State Street Railway Company in the metro- politan district. It was made the duty of this department to study methods of improving rapid transit in Greater Boston and to construct and extend such subways as might be decided upon. In 1919 the Legislature authorized and in 1920 the City Council by ordinance provided for the consolidation of the Boston Infirmary, the Children's Institutions, Institutions Registration and Penal Institutions Departinents under an Institutions Department in charge of a single commissioner, thus restoring the plan which had been in effect from 1895 to 1897. The consolidation of all of the institutions, however, was short-lived, because in 1924 the City Council by ordinance transferred the control of the House of Correction at Deer Island back to a newly established Penal Institutions Department.
In 1921 the title of the Overseers of the Poor was changed to Overseers of the Public Welfare, thus giving expression to the broader aspects of the work of that department and to its emphasis on service rather than merely poor relief. One year later, in 1922, the Legislature enacted a statute setting up a retirement or pension system for municipal employees, which was accepted by the Mayor and Council. The administration of the plan was placed under a Retirement Board of three members - the City Treasurer ex officio, one person appointed by the Mayor and a third member chosen by the other two. The pension system which has been established in Boston under this statute conforms to the generally accepted principles of a sound retirement policy and has been regarded as one of the best in the country .*
Between 1922 and 1930 there were only two important additions or changes in the administrative machinery. The first of these was the creation by statute in 1929 of a Traffic Commission. This Commission resulted from an exhaustive traffic survey made in 1928 under the direction of Dr. Miller Mcclintock and is responsible for the formulation of rules regulating traffic on the city streets. Although the Commission has made notable improvements, its work has been hampered somewhat by the division of responsibility for regulations affecting the streets and the composition of the Commission has produced some internal friction. The second and last major change was the abolition of the School- house Department in 1929 and the transfer of duties regarding the selection of sites and the erection, alteration, repair and furnishing of school buildings to a Board of Commissioners of School Buildings consisting of three citizens, one of whom is appointed by the Mayor, one by the School Committee and the third by the other two or by the Governor if the two appointed members fail to agree. The three commissioners serve without pay, their chief function con- sisting of selecting an expert Superintendent of Construction who has charge of the work of the department .; This change was made upon the recommenda- tion of a special School Survey Committee, which was' of the opinion that there had been waste, inefficiency and mismanagement under the previous arrangement.
* Paul Studensky, "Pensions in Public Employment," National Municipal Review, Volume XI, 1922, pages 121-122.
t Acts of 1929, chapter 351. This act was passed subject to acceptance by the voters.
** Front 1921 to 1929 a total of $40,000,000 was spent by the Schoolhouse Department, of which $12,000,000 was expended for repairs and alterations alone. Of this latter amount $9,000,000 was authorized without com- petitive bidding. (Boston Herald, November 1, 1929, page 24.)
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THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT IN 1930
Boston's government in 1930 consists of the Mayor, elected for a term of four years, in whom is centered the responsibility for the conduct of the administration, a Council of twenty-two members elceted for terms of two years from an equal number of wards, thirty-six executive departments under the control of the Mayor, three departments which are not under the control of the Mayor, an elective School Committee, and the City Clerk, appointed by the Council. The number of employees is over 20,000, not including those whose compensation is derived indirectly from the city treasury through con- traets and the metropolitan district assessments.
The thirty-six executive departments under the control of the Mayor (approximately the same number as existed at the beginning of the period) ineludc:
The Mayor's Department, with its several bureaus.
The Art Department, under a commission of five members, one member being appointed each year for a term of five years.
The Assessing Department, in charge of three assessors, one being appointed each year for a term of three years.
The Auditing Department, in charge of the City Auditor, appointed for a term of four years.
The Traffic Commission, consisting of a commissioner, as chairman, and the Police Commissioner, the Commissioner of Public Works, the chairman of the Park Commissioners and the chairman of the Street Commissioners serving ex officio.
The Budget Department under a Budget Commissioner.
The Board of Zoning Adjustment, consisting of the chairman of the Boston Planning board, ex officio, one member appointed by the Mayor and ten other members nominated by various organizations.
The Building Department under a Building Commissioner.
The Board of Appeal of five members to hear appeals from the Building Commissioner.
The City Planning Department under a board of five members.
The Collecting Department under the City Collector.
The Election Department under a board of four commissioners.
The Fire Department under a Fire Commissioner.
The Health Department under a Health Commissioner.
The Hospital Department under a board of five trustees, which is separately incorporated.
The Institutions Department under a commissioner, with control over the Long Island Hospital, the Child Welfare Division and the Registration Division, which receives and investigates applications for the care of dependents and supervises the commitment of the insane.
The Law Department under the Corporation Counsel.
The Library Department under a board of five trustees, which is separately incorporated.
The Market Department under a Superintendent of Markets.
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The Overseers of the Public Welfare, twelve in number.
The Park Department under a board of three commissioners, two of whom serve without compensation.
The Penal Institutions Department under a commissioner.
The Printing Departinent under a Superintendent of Printing.
The Public Buildings Department under a Superintendent of Public Buildings.
The Public Works Department under a Commissioner of Public Works.
The Registry Department under the City Registrar.
The Retirement Board, consisting of three members.
The Department of School Buildings under an unpaid board of three commissioners and a Superintendent of Construction appointed thereby.
The Sinking Funds Department under a board of six commissioners.
The Soldiers' Relief Department under a Soldiers' Relief Commissioner.
The Statistics Department under five trustees, all of whom, except the chairman, serve without compensation.
The Street Laying-Out Department under a board of three street com- missioners.
The Supply Department under a superintendent.
The Transit Department under a board of three commissioners.
The Treasury Department under the City Treasurer.
The Weights and Measures Department under a Sealer of Weights and Measures.
This is a larger number of departments than exists in New York and certain other large cities and there is no doubt that the efficiency of the admin- istration could be increased by the consolidation of some of the agencies which perform overlapping functions. At the same time many of the departments have been in existence for a number of years and have behind them a long tradition of service.
The most important departments not under the control of the Mayor are the Finance Commission, the Licensing Department and the Police Depart- ment, the heads of which are appointed by the Governor. The work of the Finance Commission as an investigating body and its usefulness as an agency of publicity have already been described. The Licensing Department, which is under a board of three members, goes back to the time before prohibition and in the earlier period its existence as a state board was necessary in order to avoid abuses and corruption in the licensing of saloons. At the present time, however, there seems to be no good reason why the Licensing Department with its relatively unimportant functions should not be transferred to the control of the Mayor. Although the control of the police by a state-appointed commissioner has been opposed by some as a violation of the principle of home rule, the plan has, on the whole, worked well in the opinion of impartial observers. The Boston Police Department, especially since the days of the late commis- sioner Stephen O'Meara, who established it on a sound basis and developed certain traditions which have been carried on by later commissioners, has been generally free from partisan influences, local politics and corruption, which haye undermined the forces in other large cities. The standing of the
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department is indicated by the following opinion of Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick in his book on "American Police Systems":
"That the application of this principle [state control] has in a number of instances proved successful - at least that it has brought about more satisfactory police conditions - cannot be disputed. Of this point. Boston furnishes a striking example. The Boston force has recently been discredited by the unfortunate strike which terininated the careers of most of its members. It must not be forgotten, how- ever, that for many years Boston maintained a police department, under state control, which in point of personnel and the general satis- faction which its operation afforded stood well in the Icad of police organizations throughout the country. During thirty years it was practically alone among American police departments in its freedom from scandal. Particularly after the creation of single-headed man- ยท agement in 1906, the administration of the police force was conducted with a disregard for political considerations rarely encountered in American cities." (Pages 121-122.)
A more recent estimate of the department is contained in the report of the Wickersham Committee appointed by President Hoover. This committee, in discussing the practice of obtaining cvidence and confessions used in some fifteen cities, including the large municipalities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, found that Boston is one of the three cities which make the best showing. In discussing the reasons for this superior record the Commission states that "the tradition of the Boston Police Department against lawlessness is a most important factor. It is largely due to the very exceptional continuation of leadership. The tradition was established by Stephen O'Meara, who had learned the inside of police work from many years' experience as police reporter. He insisted that the policeman was there to maintain order and keep the law, not to break the law. Since 1906, when O'Meara took office, there were only three commissioners until the middle of 1930. O'Meara himself was in office for twelve years. The continuity has been even greater than these figures indicate, for Superintendent Michael Crowley, who was appointed by O'Meara and served three years under him, is still superintendent under the present commissioner." The Commission also cites as another reason for the efficiency of the Police Department, the fact that there is no political machine in full control in Boston. "Boston is not politically organized," states the report, "so that one powerful machine domi- nates the affairs of the city. Moreover, the Police Commissioner is appointed by the Governor." (Boston Transcript, August 10, 1931.)
The foregoing summary of the city departments not only gives one a clear idea of the multitude of services that are rendered to the public at the present time, but a comparison of the same with the list of departments exist- ing in 1880 will give the reader an idea of the extent to which municipal opera- tions have expanded in the last half-century. In the 70's and early 80's, although the city inade important advances in "the standard of municipal service, particularly in the department of institutions," began its public park system,
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and undertook two great public works - "the construction of the Sudbury water system and the building of a line of intercepting sewers"- the period was necessarily one of retrenchment because of the commercial depression, "which demanded a cessation of all but the very necessary activities."* Also in an age of laissez faire thie emphasis in governinent was still somewhat on the older and more or less negative functions, such as the protection of life and property and poor relief, although the growth of population and a changing concept regarding the nature of government were beginning to thrust new functions upon the city. After 1885 there was a rapid expansion of activities, especially notable in the fields of public health, public welfare, hospitals, parks, playgrounds and schools, and later in subway construction, street widening, city planning and traffic regulation. "Municipal activity went into new fields. Civic responsibility for the children of its less-favored citizens brought the playground. A keener interest in the future of these same children required the appropriation of large sums for schools of a technical character. A far- seeing policy directed to the solution of the rapid transit problem called for the expenditure of millions in the building of subways. The period (after 1887) also saw the establishment of the great metropolitan systems which made possible a more economical satisfaction of certain vital wants." *
As a result of these developments the City of Boston in 1930 constitutes a huge public service agency, the activities of which touch every phase of the social and economic life of the community and are vital to the welfare of every individual living within its boundaries. Not only does the city provide such important services as police and fire protection, streets, water, the removal of refuse and the care of the unfortunate, but there is no other city which has shown greater generosity in providing for the public such facilities as parks, public baths and gymnasia, in which field it has been a pioneer.t Her public library is unsurpassed in this country in the variety of its collections and in the extent of its service to the community; while her schools, especially the Boston Latin School, the history of which dates from 1635, have maintained a high standing. Through the Health Department, with its divisions of child hygiene, medicine, sanitation, food inspection, laboratories and vital statistics, and also through its hospitals, the city has guarded the health of the community so effectively that in 1930 the death rate stands at about one half of the rate existing in the 80's. Moreover, a survey of the health services maintained in the various cities of the United States conducted a few years ago by the American Public Health Associa- tion, the American Child Health Association and the United States Public Health Service gave Boston a total score of 907 out of a possible 1,000 points .** Boston was also the first city in the United States to construct a municipally owned subway and, as congestion of population has increased, it has continued to extend and improve rapid transit facilities in accordance with a policy which has been regarded as "an enlightened one and faithfully administered by those in charge."tt The expansion of the services of the city during the last half- century is also indicated by the growth in city and county expenditures, which
* C. P. Huse, The Financial History of Boston, 1916, page 343.
t Delos F. Wilcox, Great Cities in America, 1910, page 372; John Koren, Boston, 1822 to 1922, The Story of Its Government, page 128.
** Boston Year Book, 1924-25, pages 110-111.
tt John Koren, Boston, 1822 to 1922, The Story of Its Government, page 171.
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have increased from about thirteen and one half millions of dollars in 1880-81 to over seventy-six millions of dollars in 1930. There is no question that the citizen in 1930 receives more from the city government than he did fifty years ago and that the increase in outlay, disturbing as it may be, has been due largely to the demand of the public for more and more services, as well as to the greatly diminished purchasing power of the dollar, whether applied to labor or to commodities.
The history of the government of Boston during the last half-century would not be complete without mention of some of the men who have taken an active part in the direction of its affairs - especially those who have filled the office of Mayor. The work of recent mayors, such as John F. Fitzgerald (1906-07, 1910-13), George A. Hibbard (1908-09), James M. Curley (1914-17, 1922-25, 1930-33), Andrew J. Peters (1918-21), and Malcolm E. Nichols (1926-29), is so well known as to make extended comment unnecessary, but it is fitting that the contributions of some of the earlier chief executives be recalled to mind. Especially noteworthy were the administrations of Hugh O'Brien, who during his term of office from 1885 to 1888 was largely responsible for the purchase of the Franklin Park lands in West Roxbury, the Back Bay lands, and the City Point tract, and who took an active part in the reorganizations made necessary by the charter amendments of 1884 and was a vigorous opponent of state interference; of Nathan Matthews, Jr. (1891-94), one of the outstanding students of city government in the United States, who was elected Mayor four times, receiving at his second election the largest majority given any mayor up to that time, who stood for economy and efficiency in the management of the city's affairs, reduced the number of executive departments, inaugurated many fiscal reforms, promoted the construction of the first subway, gave much atten- tion to the promotion of the public health, especially in regard to water supply, aided in the development of the park system, and after his retirement from the office of mayor served as chairman of the original Finance Commission, the labors of which resulted in the charter of 1909; of Josiah Quincy (1896-99), the third member of his family, all bearing the same name, to hold the office of Mayor of Boston, who is remembered for his endeavors to improve the adminis- tration of the charitable and correctional institutions, for his keen interest in school matters, for the modern system of playgrounds, gymnasia and bath houses which he began, and for his general endeavor to provide for the poorer citizens "some of the comforts enjoyed by the more fortunately situated"; and of Patrick A. Collins (1902-05), who "took office after a distinguished public career of four years in the State Legislature, six years as Congressman, and four years as United States Consul-General at London" and of whom President Cleveland remarked, "In public life he was strictly honest and sincerely devoted to the responsibilities which office-holding involves." These men, together with the other mayors of the period - Frederick O. Prince (1877, 79-81), Dr. Samuel A. Green (1882), Albert Palmer (1883), Augustus P. Martin (1884), Thomas N. Hart (1889-90, 1900-01), and Edwin U. Curtis (1895), are largely responsible for the development of the city government and for the extension of its services to the public. Taking the group as a whole, it is perhaps not too much to say that there is no other great city of America which can boast of such a distinguished group of chief executives during the last fifty years.
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THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
By JOSEPH H. BEALE
This subject will be better understood if we review briefly the formation and gradual expansion of the town of Boston and the final coalescence of the city with the adjacent suburbs.
The small peninsula which constituted the original town was settled chiefly because it was so easily defensible, but, the settlement once having been formed, it soon became apparent that other things beside defensibility were necessary for the site of the town. From the very start Boston became the center of commerce and industry for the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The space required for the carrying on of its industries tended to lessen its already narrow boundaries for dwellings, and before long it was found necessary to secure more land for the dwelling houses of the people.
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