USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries : from September 17, 1630, to September 17, 1830 > Part 20
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In October, 1825, the City Council appropriated fifteen hun- dred dollars for the construction of two reservoirs. Notwith- standing their utter insufficiency for the requisite supply of water, they were all that could be obtained. Pumps, buckets,
1 The facts relative to this transaction were officially stated in the Boston Courier, of the 9th of November, 1825.
2 This lot and the building has been recently (1851) sold, in cash, for eleven thousand four hundred and fifty dollars
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and lanes of citizens continued to be considered, by many, as more efficient for the supply of the engines than hose. They re- garded the new fire department as an experiment, and of very dubious result. In this opinion, some even of the City Council coincided. A destructive fire which, on the tenth of November, 1825, occurred in Court Street, awakened the citizens again to the existing deficiency of water, and of the inadequacy of the ancient means of applying it with efficient force to the flames; and a committee of the City Council, of which John Bellows was chairman, reported a resolve, which was accepted in both branches, by which an adequate appropriation was made for the building of thirteen reservoirs, in addition to the tiro already authorized, each to be of a capacity to contain two hundred and fifty hogsheads ; which was immediately carried into effect.
In January, 1825, information was received, that General La- fayette had accepted an invitation to be present and aid in lay- ing the corner stone of the Bunker Hill Monument; that he would, in consequence, revisit Boston, and probably be in the city on the anniversary of national independence. By a com- mittee of the City Council, appointed to take suitable measures on the occasion, the Mayor was requested to address a letter to General Lafayette, expressing the gratification of the City Coun- cil at receiving this information, and the universal satisfaction of the citizens of Boston at the anticipation of his presence at that interesting ceremony. Lafayette, in reply, announced his inten- tion to be present at Bunker's Hill on the seventeenth of June; but that a recent family bereavement placed it out of his power to be present on the fourth of July at the city celebration. In- formation was also received from another source, that Lafayette had accepted the invitation of the Hon. James Lloyd, a senator from Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States, to reside in his family during his visit to the city.
Notwithstanding this information, on his arrival in Boston, in the month of June, a vote passed the City Council, authorizing the Mayor and Aldermen "to make such arrangements for his honorable. reception and entertainment, during his residence in the city, as they may deem expedient and proper." Under an- other vote of the City Council, both branches of the city govern- ment waited on Lafayette, on the sixteenth of June, at the man- sion of Mr. Lloyd, to offer their respects and congratulations on
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his return to Boston, after his auspicious and successful progress through the United States.
In March preceding, the Mayor had been authorized, by a vote of the City Council, to procure a portrait of General Lafayette, "to be taken at such time as will suit his convenience, and to draw his warrant for the amount."
To this application of the Mayor, Lafayette replied, that it would not be in his power to comply, during the short period he expected then to remain in the United States; but that, after his return to France, should it be desired, he would with great pleasure obey the wishes of the city. At the same time, he ob- served to the Mayor, that it was hardly possible for a better like- ness to be obtained than that which had been recently taken of him by P. Schæffer, one of the first artists in France, just before he commenced his visit to the United States, fine engravings from which were then of common and easy attainment.
In July, 1824, a Committee of both branches, consisting of the Mayor, and Alderman Benjamin, with Messrs. Prouty, Russell, and Hartshorne, of the Common Council, was raised to consider the expedieney of authorizing the Surveyors of Highways to canse a prospective plan and elevation of all the streets in the city, to be made, to comprehend, as far as possible, all future improvements, as opportunities may occur.
This Committee reported, in September following, expressing their opinion, that it would be greatly for the public interest if such a system of surveys should be adopted; that the present course of proceeding originates in, and is limited by, the im- mediate exigency of the particular estate on which any owner proposes to build; that the Mayor and Aldermen, after surveying the estate, only decide how far the street shall be widened by taking from that estate. In doing this, they have no authority to lay out a prospective plan of any street, and to guide their proceedings by an enlarged view of the greatest improvement which the general relations of the street would permit, so as to become obligatory on their successors ; they are therefore reduced to the prudential course of widening each street to such a rea- sonable line, as no future Board of Aldermen would hesitate to adopt, in relation to other estates, when an opportunity of fur- ther widening should occur. The consequence of which is, that the widening of streets, not being governed by any established
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prospective plan, amounts, for the most part, only to the cutting off angles and removing occasional projections, and results in leaving, after all is done, a sightless, irregular outline; and that, often in cases where, if a bolder line could be taken with the assurance of its being completed, improvements of an im- portant character might be made, with the acquiescence of the landholder, and with ultimate gain, in point of expense, to the city.
The tendency of the present system is as little calculated to give satisfaction to the owners of estates, as to promote the im- provement of the public streets. For, in general, owners of estates would readily acquiesce (on being compensated) in very considerable reduction of their lands, for the sake of widening streets, provided they could have the assurance that, in future time, the particular specified line to which their estates were cut down, should be from time to time extended, and become the permanent line of the streets.
An established prospective plan, such as is suggested, would also be greatly beneficial in reducing the claims for compensa- tion, on the taking of such lands by the public. For, the par- ticular line of the street, being established by the city author- ities, recorded, and published, every subsequent purchaser of an estate bounding on such street, would acquire it with full notice of the fact, and could have no claim or pretence of damages on account of calculations made, or prices given, in ignorance of the intention of the city authorities.
In conformity with these views, the Committee reported three resolutions, which were, in March, 1825, adopted by the City Council, in the following terms : -
Resolved. That the. Mayor and Aldermen cause surveys of the streets of the city to be made on a prospective plan, embracing, in relation to each street, as far as possible, the greatest ultimate practical improvement of such street, both as it respects widen- ing and elevation ; and that they cause such plan of each street, as it shall be completed, together with a plan of the particular estate affected by such proposed improvement, and the estimated expense for carrying the same into effect, to be laid before the City Council; and that they continue such surveys until a com- plete prospective plan of the streets of the city shall be made. and established.
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Resolved. That, when such surveys shall be approved by the City Council, the same shall be entered in a book, to be kept for that purpose, to be entitled, " The Book of the Prospective Plans for the Improvement of the Streets of the City of Boston."
Resolved. That, whenever such prospective plan of improve- ment in any street shall be approved and recorded, it shall be the duty of the Mayor, for the time being, to give publie notice thereof in two at least of the newspapers published in this city, that all persons may know the same and govern themselves accordingly.
Surveys of the streets, on the principles of this report, were immediately commenced, and early steps taken to carry its pro- visions into effect.
CHAPTER XIV. CITY GOVERNMENT. 1826.
JOSIAH QUINCY,1 Mayor. .
Prosperity of the City - Measures for introducing Water - Views of the Mayor on the Subject - Proceedings of the City Council - Powers of the Mayor in the Suppression of Riots - Petitions for a general Contribution for Relief by Sufferers from Fire - The Result - Progress of Faneuil Hall Market -- Final Settlement of the whole Improvement - Organization of the new Fire De- partment - Celebration of the Fourth of July, 1826 - Death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - Tribute to their Memories.
Tu Mayor, in his inaugural address,2 noticed the difficulty of satisfying the conflicting passions and interests always existing in a great community, and the happy effects of the wisdom, har- mony, and public spirit of former city councils on the prosperity of the city. It appeared from the recent city census that, during the past five years, the comparative increase of its population equalled that of any of our maritime cities, on the basis of its previous numbers. While the aggregates of property valuation had increased, the ratio of taxes had diminished. Although ad- vancing wealth and population had unavoidably augmented the amount of taxes, yet there had been, in every successive year since the existence of our city government, a decrease in the amount of uncollected taxes. The expenditures, in respect of their objects, had been apparently satisfactory to a majority of . the citizens; and the establishment of the office of auditor of accounts had introduced an order, simplicity, and correctness in that department highly creditable and advantageous. The atten- tion of the City Council was now directed to the importance of obtaining for the city "a never-failing supply of pure river or
1 The whole number of votes cast were 1395, of which Josiah Quincy had 1202. The Aldermen were Daniel Carney, John Bellows, Josiah Marshall, Thomas Welsh, Jun., Henry J. Oliver, John T. Loring, Francis Jackson, and Edward II. Robbins, Jun.
2 See Appendix, E.
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pond water," which had been enforced by the urgency of physi- cians; and the Mayor, having received information that an asso- ciation, formed for that purpose, contemplated an application to the Legislature for the requisite powers, expressed a hope that the project would be met by the City Council " with the most decided and strenuous opposition, and with a corresponding spirit and determination to effect the great object solely on the account and with the resources of the city ;" at the same time, " declaring it explicitly to be his opinion that, on that subject, the city ought to consent to no copartnership."
Four days after these views had been thus publicly expressed by the Mayor, Patrick T. Jackson, a citizen commanding, by his talents, character, and enterprise, the entire confidence of the community, associated with other individuals of wealth and in- fluence, petitioned the City Council to assist them in obtaining from the Legislature an act of incorporation, giving then author- ity "to construct an aqueduct, for the purpose of conveying into the city a sufficient quantity of fresh water for the use of the inhabitants, and for the extinguishing of fires." This peti- tion was referred to a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Al- derman Welsh, and Messrs. Bassett, Hallett, and Brooks, of the Common Council. The Committee and City Council, coincid- ing in the views of the Mayor, the application received a decided negative. Nothing effectnal was done in consequence of this movement. The Committee charged with the subject held vari- ous meetings, in which discussions were had concerning Neponset and Charles Rivers, as sources of supply; and the Mayor, on his own authority, obtained contracts securing conditional rights of purchase, for the city, of a majority of the lower water rights on both those rivers, at stipulated prices, dependent upon the sane- tion of the City Council within a limited time. The impression concerning the importance of the subject, though generally ae- knowledged, was far from being universal; and no willingness to increase the city debt, for the attainment of the object, was manifested. The claims of the proprietors of the sources of water were regarded as too extravagant to be presented for con- sideration to the City Council. The Mayor, therefore, having, as he thought, sufficiently impressed the City Council and the citizens with the importance of retaining the right of introducing water from the resources of the city alone, without the instru-
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mentality of private associations; and deeming it best for its interests to wait for times when the urgent wants of the inhabit- ants should counteract the prevailing apprehension of a city debt, forbore any further to urge the subject upon the attention of the City Council.
During the year 1825, the Mayor was called upon to suppress riots on two occasions. On the first, the object of the exertion of his official authority had no precedent. After consulting the Board of Aldermen, in order to be able, in case of any similar emergency, to justify before a legal tribunal such exercise of authority as circumstances might require, he submitted to coun- sel learned in the law the nature of the powers vested in the office of Mayor by the city charter, applicable to such occasions. The result of their opinion being, that riots, routs, and unlaw- ful assemblies were only cognizable under the laws of the Com- monwealth ; and that the conse of proceeding, and the persons intrusted with their execution, were expressly pointed out in those laws, among whom the Mayor of the city was not in- cluded; and that, although it was his duty, in the language of the charter, "to cause all laws for the government of the city to be duly executed and put in force ;" yet, that it was a question of some doubt how far his authority extended in respect of the general laws of the Commonwealth, the execution of which was intrusted to other authorities. It was therefore deemed most safe and prudent for the Mayor to act as "justice of the peace throughout the Commonwealth," concerning whose powers in such cases there could be no possible question. Accordingly, the Mayor, in that capacity, with a strong police, assisted by well-disposed citizens, who volunteered their services, proceeded to the scene of riot, and dispersed the assembly in the course prescribed by the statutes of the Commonwealth, arresting some of the offenders and sending others to prison.
On a subsequent occasion, in the case of a disturbance at a theatre, the Mayor, on finding that a justice of the peace was in actual fulfilment of the duties of that office, with all the powers vested in him by law, refused personally, to interfere, deeming it for the interest of the city that the views he enter- tained of the powers of his office should be distinctly and prac- tically manifested to the citizens and the public, to the end that, if the Mayor was to be held responsible to act in all such cases,
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his powers might be accurately defined and his duties prescribed by law; deeming himself as much bound to abstain, as Mayor, from assuming to exercise powers not vested in him by his office, as it was to exercise those with which he was intrusted.
These views he accordingly spread before the City Council in this inaugural address.
In January, 1826, petitions from several towns in the State of Maine, whose inhabitants had suffered from fires, praying that a general contribution might be authorized by the City Council for their relief, were referred to the Mayor and Alderman Rob- bins, with Messrs. Morey, Torrey, and Howe, of the Common Council.
After examining into the circumstances of the conflagration and of the sufferers, the Committee decided that the City Con- cil were not justified in resorting to the mode of relief sought by the petitioners. Their report stated, that the distinguished liberality of the citizens of Boston, being unquestionably the cause of frequent applications for relief, the city government should consider it their duty not to permit the charity of their fellow-citizens to be unduly or unseasonably called upon, particu- larly in the form of authority, and under the sanction of an offi- cial act; and that their public recommendations of a general contribution should be restricted to cases of great and extensive calamity, which call for the interposition of a great commu- nity. This report was read and accepted in both branches of the City Council.
After the organization of the city goverment, in January, 1826, a committee 1 on the extension of Faneuil Hall Market was appointed to carry into effect the resolutions of the three last City Councils, with the same powers and authorities, and sub- jeet to the same limitations, as the former committees. On their recommendation, the City Council authorized the purchase of the land of William Welsh, the priec not to exceed twenty thou- sand dollars, but without any appropriation, the cost of the land being reimbursed, as was anticipated, by the sale of the city lots. A street lying at the north of the north block of stores, (now called Clinton,) and extending to Exchange Wharf, was,
1 The Committee were the Mayor, Aldermen Bellows, Marshall, and Rob- bins, and Messrs. Adan, (President of the Common Council, ) Curtis, Hastings, Boies, Lodge, Grosvenor, and Barnard.
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by the effects of this purchase, obtained without cost to the city. In July, this Committee discussed the arrangement of the . stalls in the new market house; settled the terms on which they should be leased, and then voted that the leases should be sold at public auction, unless the tenants of the old mar- ket house chose to take them at the appraisement. This they readily did; and, on the twenty-sixth August, 1826, the new market house was opened, for the first time, to the public.
An order was then passed by the Common Council, that the further use of Faneuil Hall, as a market house, should be discon- tinued. This was nonconcurred by the board of Aldermen, who requested the Mayor to lay before the City Council a state- ment of the obligations of the city, resulting from the gift of Peter Faneuil, and from the votes passed by the town of Boston in reference to that donation. The Mayor, accordingly, made a full report, in conformity with that request, in which, after recapi- tulating all the chief facts already detailed in this history,1 and stating that, after the edifice had been erected on the town's land, by Mr. Faneuil, in 1742, and accepted as a market house by the inhabitants, they repeatedly shut it up, and did not use it for the purpose for which it was given; and that, it having been destroyed by fire in 1761, it was rebuilt at the expense of the town, and the inhabitants voted "that the lower part of the building should not be improved, as a market, until the further order and determination of the town." The Mayor, therefore, declared that, in his judgment, no obligation rested upon the city, which could affect any use of the land covered by the building called Faneuil Hall the City Council should deem ex- pedient ; and votes in conformity with this opinion were passed in concurrence with the order of the Common Council.
On the ninth of November, the superintendent for building the new market reported, that all the bills and accounts for erecting it, - for labor, materials, and services, were paid, and the whole concern in a state to be closed. The Committee then re- quested the Mayor to prepare a final report on their proceed- ings; which, on the thirteenth of November, he accordingly submitted to them, detailing in it the origin of the project, the difficulties which had attended its execution, the various changes
1 See p. 12.
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of plans and views which had occurred in its progress, the amount of the moneys which had been under their control, their expenditures, the debt created, and the property vested in the city by their operations; concluding with this gratifying result, that " this noble improvement had been completed, not only without any addition to the present taxes or burdens of the citizens, but also without the possibility of any addition in future time, on this account, to their taxes or burdens ; and, on the contrary, that it has augmented, in no inconsiderable degree, the real and productive property of the city."
This report was accepted by the Committee and by both branches of the City Council unanimously.1
I The opinion having been at the time assiduously spread, that this Committee had created a debt, which it had left no adequate funds to discharge ; and even at this day (1851) the belief being still entertained by some, that its proceed- ings laid the foundation of the present city debt, it is due to the memories of the members of that Committee, that the actual result of their operations should be stated from unquestionable documents.
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By the official reports of William Hayden, Jun., the City Auditor in 1826, it appears that the . Committee which erected the market had un- der their control, derived from every source . $1,141,272.33 That of this amount they paid, from sources ob- tained exclusively from their own operations, . 532,797.33
Leaving an apparent debt on the city of' .
$608,475.00
The same Auditor's report shows that the Committee delivered over to the City Treasurer un- questionable demands, amount- ing to $1,560.92
And also good notes on interest, of
a like unquestionable nature, amounting to .
219,709.82
Constituting an aggregate fund, of which the city has since availed itself in full, of 224,270.74
So that the real debt left on the city was only . $384,204.26
The annual interest on 608,475 dollars, paid by the city on the apparent debt, was ·
$31,622.95
. · And the annual interest on $219,709.82, the available notes delivered the city, was .
11,109.23
It results that the annual interest the city has ever had to pay was only $20,513.72
As an offset for this debt, and to pay this interest, the Committee vested in the city the new market house, with the land it covered (27,000 feet) ; also, certain tracts of land, lying to the north of the north block of stores on North Market
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203
All the preparatory steps being taken, and the principles settled for the establishment of a Fire Department, in the preceding year, the present City Council, immediately after its organization, took measures to carry it into effect. And, in January, 1826, they appointed Samuel Devens Harris chief engineer, and all the other engineers and firemen required by the city ordinance.
Street, containing upwards of 26,000 feet of land, valued by them at $100,000 ; also, 142,000 feet of flats and lands, lying at the eastward of the New Market House, estimated at the value of another $100,000 by the Committee, in their report.
Concerning the product to the city of these three species of property, it appears, by an official statement of Elisha Copeland, the present (1851) City Auditor, that, during the last twenty-five years, (1826 - 27 to 1850-51, in- clusive,) the incomes of the city market, after deducting every payment made on its account, including salaries and all expenses for carry- ing it on, amounted to the net sum of
And that, during the same period, the incomes of the City Wharf, which had been built in 1831, at an expense of $18,856.75, on the flats, vested in the city by the Committee, after deducting the cost of its erection, about- mentioned, and adding the incomes from the tracts of land lying to the north of the North Market Street block, amounted to the net sum of . .
So that the net incomes of the property, during twenty-five years, therefore, (without including the value of the last-mentioned tracts of land, which was received in full by the city, by sales and application of it to city uses,) amounted to
Equivalent to an annual income of
To discharge the annual income of the debt ere- ated, amounting, as above stated, to
Leaving to the city an annual surplus of interest, amounting to . ·
And, by way of equivalent or offset for the debt of $384,201.26, created for the city by the Committee, they vested in the city the new market, which never has been estimated at less than
And the City Wharf and flats, which, although usually estimated much higher, can, at this day (1851), without fear of' contradiction, be valued at
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