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 21
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This being the fund provided, by way of offset, for a debt of about $384,000 . .
$562,460.66
162,002.86
-
$721,463.52
$28,970.00
20,513.72
$8,456.28
$500,000.00
400,000.00
$900,000.00
£
-
204
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
There were circumstances which rendered th acceptance of the office of chief engineer by Mr. Harris of great importance, at the first organization of the department. He was a man of known judgment and prudence ; of tried ess ; a soldier in spirit; and, as far as the events of his life had permitted, by education. He distinguished himself as a cavalry officer, in almost every battle on the Canadian frontier, in 1814; and was generally regarded as singularly qualified to introduce order and subordination into the department. The state of his health rendered him, at first, unwilling to accept the office, as it would subject him to great exertion and exposure; but he at length yielded to the solicitations of the Mayor and City Council. Soon after entering upon the duties of the office of chief en- gineer, Mr. Harris requested the Mayor not to bring the subject of his salary before the City Council; assigning as a reason for this request that, having the command of a department consist- ing wholly of uncompensated volunteers, he thought his useful- ness would be disadvantageously affected by his acceptance of a salary.
Mr. Harris held his office nearly three years; and all the anti- cipations which occasioned his appointment were realized. A spirit, in every respect noble, fearless, and disinterested, charac- terized his whole conduct at the head of the department; and, as he never asked, he never received any compensation for a long series of invaluable services.
In the course of arrangements attending the new organization of the fire department, troubles of various kinds occurred, and
In addition to which, the Committee vested in the city, free of expense, six streets, as follows, namely : -
Fect. 102
Feel.
1. South Market Street, of the ? width of and containing 53,843
2. North Market Street .
65
66 34,080
3. The street leading from Long Wharf, now constituting part of Commercial Street .
65 66 30,100
4. Clinton Street .
40
66 20,190
5. The Roebuck Passage, now part of Merchants' Row,
6. Chatham Street 40
66 20,560
35 66 5,120
64,193
1
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CITY GOVERNMENT.
several evidences of hostility were manifested. One engine company refused to communicate water at fires with another engine company, because it was composed of minors, though they were full grown and of sufficient strength. Another, whose captain had been dismissed by the Mayor and Aldermen, voted that, notwithstanding his dismissal, they should consider him their captain, and, as such, obey his orders. In both cases, the companies were dissolved, the engines taken from them and committed to new companies, which were immediately formed. Two of the city engines were disabled, in the night time, and their hose cut. This occurred several times at fires; and, al- though a reward of five hundred dollars was offered for detection of the offenders, it was without effect. Other dispositions to embarrass the operations of the new department were mani- fested. All the arrangements for carrying it into full efficacy were not completed until the twenty-fourth of April ensuing; when the Mayor issued his proclamation, declaring the fire de- partment of the city duly organized, and that it would go into effect on the twenty-ninth of that month, which it did accord- ingly.
Votes of thanks were passed by the City Council to those citizens who had volunteered their services to take the engines when they were thrown up by the old companies; and "to the members of the late Board of Firewards, for their faithful, active, and disinterested services in support of the measures for organ- izing the fire department." This last acknowledgment was highly deserved by the old firewards. Notwithstanding its ne- cessary effect was to put an end to the existence of their own board, the support they gave to the new department was mi- formly open and decided, and their influence largely contributed to its ultimate success.
Owing to the defective state of the old engines, the great de- ficiency of hose, the necessity of fitting up all the engines and engine honses, in a style of greater neatness and convenience than had been before customary, as also, the constructing of reser- voirs, the amount of expenditure exceeded twenty thousand dol- lars. But the efficiency manifested by the department was so universally felt and acknowledged, that the call for adequate appropriations was met by the City Council with readiness, and by the citizens without complaint. To cheek, as far as possible,
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
an excess of expenditures, to which a department involving so many and such a diversity of claims was peculiarly liable, the Mayor recommended, and the City Council ordained, that they should be placed under the special superintendence of a joint committee of the City Council, without whose authority no ex- penditure exceeding fifty dollars should be incurred. By the course of measures above specified, a spirit of zeal and activity was infused into the fire department, chiefly resulting from the exertions, judgment, and fidelity of the chief and assistant en- gineers, which gradually introduced into it harmony and subor- dination, highly honorable to them and satisfactory to the citi- zens.
In April, 1826, the Rev. Henry Ware, Jun., was appointed the city orator for the then ensuing fourth of July, which he accepted; but the state of his health compelled him, on the. nineteenth of June, to decline fulfilling his engagement. The Committee of the City Council appointed on this communication reported, that "an invitation should be given to the Hon. Josiah Quincy to pronounce the address on that anniversary; that the brief period now allowed for preparation seemed to preclude the probability of any of the younger gentlemen from accepting the delivery of the address, which, with the singular interest attached to the fiftieth anniversary, rendered it peculiarly proper that the appointment should be made of a citizen who, from his age, may be presumed to have witnessed some of the events, and to have imbibed the spirit which led to our Revolution. Your Committee believe that the zeal and interest the Mayor is known to feel and manifest in every thing relating to the city will in- duce him, notwithstanding his multiplied official avocations, to accept this appointment, if such should be the wish of the City Council."
A resolution, in conformity with this report, was passed unani- mously by both branches.
The Mayor, having delivered an oration on the same occasion in 1798, was anxious to avoid a repetition of the effort; but finding that the short time for preparation, -the remaining days allowed, - was an insuperable obstacle to every citizen solicited to take the appointment, he deemed it his official duty, and ac- ceded to the request of the City Council.'
I See Appendix L.
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CITY GOVERNMENT.
This anniversary was rendered memorable by the death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom had been signers, on that day fifty years before, of the Declaration of In- dependence, and both having filled the office of President of the United States.
On the fifth of July, at a special meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen, the record states: " This Board, having received notice of the afflictive dispensation of Divine Providence, in the death of the Hon. John Adams, formerly President of the United States, on the fourth of July instant, thereupon,
Resolved, That Aldermen Bellows, Marshall, Welsh, Oliver, and Loring, with such as the Common Council may join, be a committee to consider and adopt such measures as they may deem expedient, to express the sense of the eminent worth and public services of the deceased entertained by the citizens of Boston, in common with their fellow-citizens of the United States; and also, their sorrow at this bereavement, which has deprived this State of one of its most honored and cherished sons, and the American nation of a most eminent patriot and distinguished statesman."
The Common Council, in concurrence, joined, on its part, Messrs. Curtis, Grosvenor, Gray, Waters, Lodge, Hallet, and Rice.
This Committee reported : " That it would be proper for the Mayor and Aldermen and Common Council, accompanied by their Clerks and City Marshal, to attend the funeral of their distinguished fellow-citizen at Quincy; that the bells of the city should be tolled on that day from four to five o'clock; that it be recommended to the masters and owners of the vessels in the harbor, to cause their colors to be hoisted at half mast; and the citizens to close their places of business on the afternoon of said day, as a mark of respect for the deceased."
On the tenth of July, when news first reached the city of the death of Thomas Jefferson, a joint committee, of which Alder- man Bellows was Chairman, was raised to consider what mea- sures were proper to be adopted on the occasion. This Com- mittee reported as follows : -
" The Joint Committee, who were charged to consider and report what mea- sures it would be proper for the City Council to adopt, expressive of the respect entertained by the city for the eminent services of the late John Adams and
£
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Thomas Jefferson, have the honor to report, that they view the ahnost simulta- neous decease of these distinguished statesmen as a dispensation of Divine Pro- vidence, which will be deeply felt by the whole American nation.
" That these venerable champions of liberty should have commenced their political career at the same time; should have sustained the same important trusts and high offices ; should have each contributed so essentially to the achiev- ing of our independence ; should have lived to see their children's children realize the blessings of that independence which, fifty years before, they jointly risked their lives to secure to them; and should at last be summoned, on the same day, and almost at the same hour, to receive the reward of their virtue and patriotism, constitute a coincidence without parallel in the history of the world.
" That either of these ancient men should have been spared to witness his nation's jubilee, was not to be expected in the usual course of human events ; but that both should attain to that felicitous moment, enjoying such a degree of health, as not only to be conscious of their privilege, but to participate in the general exultation of that day, is an event which seems to mark the hand and special presence of that Being by whose unerring wisdom we are governed, and by whose beneficence we are protected and sustained. The lives of these great men have been no less distinguished than their deaths are remarkable; and your Committee are of opinion, that they ought to be commemorated by a dis- course delivered on this solemn and impressive occasion ; and they have reason to believe that, if it was known to be the wish of his fellow-citizens, an individual, eminent for his talents and public services, in whom the confidence and pride of this city are justly centred, would be induced to undertake the performance of this honorable but delicate trust.
" The Committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following reso- lutions : -
" 1. Resolved, That it is due to the eminent patriotism and distinguished publie services of the late John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, that their lives and characters should be commemorated'in a public discourse.
"2. Resolved, That it is the wish of the City Council, that this discourse should be delivered by the Hon. Daniel Webster; and the Mayor is hereby anthor- ized and requested to invite that gentleman, in the name and on behalf of the authorities of this city, to pronounce the same, as early as his convenience will permit.
"3. Resolved, That the Mayor and Aldermen and Common Council will unite with their fellow-citizens in the solemn exercises of the day (to be appointed) ; and that the citizens be requested to close their several places of business, and masters of vessels to display their colors at half mast, during the movement of the procession and the performance of the exercises."
This report was accepted, and the resolutions adopted unani- mously, in both branches; and an order was passed, appointing the Committee who reported these resolutions to make the neces- sary preparations for the reception of the audience in Faneuil Hall, to arrange the order of procession, and with authority
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CITY GOVERNMENT.
to make such arrangements as they shall deem suitable and pro- per for the occasion.
Daniel Webster having accepted the invitation of the city authorities, they, with distinguished public functionaries in- vited on the occasion, among whom were the President of the United States and the Governor of the Commonwealth, the officers of various public institutions, and the citizens in gene- ral, formed a procession, on the second of August, 1826, from the State House to Faneuil Hall, which was hung and carpeted with black and appropriately decorated, where, in presence of a numerous audience, after prayers by the Rev. Dr. Lowell, Mr. Webster delivered an eloquent discourse on the character and services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
The bells of the city were tolled; minute guns fired; the shipping lowered their flags to half-mast; the stores were closed ; business suspended; and no demonstration of respect was omit- ted.
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CHAPTER XV. CITY GOVERNMENT. 1827.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Mayor.1
General Relations of the City - Views concerning the City Debt - The Loca- tion of a City Hall -The Responsibility for the Correctness of the Voting Lists - General State of the Schools - Proceedings of the City Council in Relation to them - School Committee object to their Interference, and claim Independence - Opening of the Hancock School - High School for Girls established as an Experiment - Its Result -- The School discontinued, and the Privileges of Females in the Common Schools extended - The Relation of the Mayor to the School Committee.
THE Mayor, in his inaugural address,2 stated the general rela- tions of the city; its increasing population; the advance of its improvements ; and the indications given of the satisfaction of the citizens with the general conduct of their affairs. Since the goverment had been changed from a town to a city, its debt had been increased, in round numbers, from one hundred thousand to one million of dollars. The wisdom and fidelity of the public agents who incurred this debt must be tested by the permanent and important character of the objects attained by its creation. "These were the acquisition of the lands west of Charles Street, and the property vested in the city by the Committee for the extension of Faneuil Hall Market. The value of the property thus acquired was equivalent to the discharge of the whole of the then existing city debt, besides adding a large surplus to its revenues. Nearly half a million of dollars had been expended during the same period in improvements of a permanent and prospective usefulness, having a direct influence on the future convenience and prosperity of the city. No public debt could be
I The whole number of votes were 2629; of which the Mayor had 2189.
The Aldermen were James Savage, Thomas Kendall, Phineas Upham, John T. Loring, Robert Fennelly, John Pickering, James Hall, Samuel T. Arm- strong.
2 See Appendix, F.
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CITY GOVERNMENT.
justified on stronger grounds than that which the city govern- ment, with a fearless and independent spirit, and in a just con- fidence in the judgment and intelligence of their fellow-citizens, had incurred. Their arrangements had already lessened to a comparatively narrow sphere the necessity of future expendi- tures; and the remaining duty was to finish the improvements, to correct existing establishments, and to apply the means in their possession to the gradual extinction of the city debt. To this object, the Mayor recommended the specifie appropriation of the whole property and its incomes, transferred to the city by the Committee for the extension of Faneuil Hall Market; it being, in his judgment, not proper to consider property, thus obtained, as a subject of complete ownership, until the debt for which it was incurred is paid. For this purpose, he recom- mended that those funds should be placed under the supervision of commissioners, composed of public officers, ex officio, ap- pointed by the City Council.
The erection of a new court house and a city hall were, at this time, subjects of discussion and controversy. 'The Mayor, deem- ing it greatly for the interest of the city, that the intercourse between the departments should be convenient and easy, recom- mended Faneuil Hall as the most suitable location for their accommodation. His views, were, however, at variance with interests, opinions, and views of citizens, in different parts of the city, and resulted in a still further postponement of the concen- tration of the city offices in one building.
At this period, great complaints existed on the subject of the voting lists; and the question was agitated with some warmth,-whether the responsibility for their correctness rested, as it did under the town government, on the Assessors; or whe- ther it was not devolved upon the Mayor and Aldermen, by the terms of the city charter. The discussion ultimately resulted in the opinion, that the labor of making out the voting lists, of comparing them with their books, and certifying their correctness, were the duties of the Assessors; but that the Mayor and Alder- men were responsible for the time, form, and manner in which it should be done. In conformity with this result, the Mayor and Aldermen constituted the Mayor a sub-committee, to superintend the making out the voting lists; to resort, in cases of difficulty for advisement to the whole Board; it appearing to them, that
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the duty of general superintendence and direction, and the exer- cise of a sound judgment, concerning all the great municipal relations of the city, particularly those which immediately af- fected the elective franchise, was devolved on the Mayor and Aldermen, by the express terms of the city charter.
For three years after the organization of the city government, no important addition was made to the number or expenses of the public schools, except the erection of the Hancock School, under the administration of Mr. Phillips, and its completion under his successor. By a report of the School Committee, made in October, 1822, it appears that " the general state of the schools was satisfactory ;" but regret was expressed, that " many parents were indifferent as to sending their children to school;" "and that, with regard to regularity of attendance," the negli- gence of both parents and children was excessive.
In the last year of the town government, (July, 1821,) a school for mutual instruction had been established by the votes of the inhabitants. In August, 1822, on the petition of several citizens, stating that " the experiment had succeeded admirably ;" and that, in their opinion, more intellectual activity, a greater degree of interest in studies, of readiness in learning, and of punctuality, may be produced under that than under the prevail- ing system ; that the expense would be less; the present cost for the instruction of each scholar being twelve dollars and fifty cents per annum, while that proposed would be less than four dol- lars, -the School Connuittee voted that the Hancock School should, until otherwise ordered, be appropriated to give the sys- tem a fair trial.
'These proceedings were not acceptable to the City Council, who, on the twenty-first of October, 1822, voted, that "it was not expedient to make the alterations in the Hancock School contemplated by the School Committee." This vote, and also an order, passed by the City Council, in May preceding, " author- izing the School Committee to elect instructors for the public schools, to remove them, and fix their salaries," were regarded by the School Committee as " an interference with powers dele- gated to them by the citizens ;" and, on the twenty-first of No- vember, 1822, a sub-committee of that body, in a labored report, maintained that, by force of the nineteenth section of the city charter, the care and superintendence of the public schools were
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CITY GOVERNMENT.
vested in the School Committee; that the power thus granted ought to have a reasonable construction, implying incidental powers, to make such superintendence effectnat, - such as ap- pointment and removal of masters, fixing their salaries, selection of books, and regulating the studies of the schools; that the exclusive right to make appropriations of public moneys, pos- sessed by the City Council, was the proper and only check held by that body over the proceedings of the School Committee, and was applicable only to extreme cases, and not involving the power of making their proceedings nugatory; they not being the agents of the City Council, but a distinct and independent body, deriving their powers, delegated to them by the citizens, under the provisions of the city charter.
These proceedings were the chief measures of a general cha- racter adopted on this subject by the city government. During these two years, no material alteration took place in the condi- tion or system of the schools. Some complaints were, indeed, at that time made, by parents against masters, for undue seve- rity to their children ; and by masters against parents, for indulg- ing their children in want of punctuality, or for keeping them from school in their private service. There were other practices, and some disposition thought to be evidenced to keep men, who were deemed unqualified, in office. And, in June, 1823, on the first opening to the public of the Hancock School, the Mayor, at the request of the School Committee, delivered, and subse- quently, also, at their request, published an address, from which extracts, relative to topics of permanent interest and frequent recurrence, and deeply affecting the success of the schools, are here inserted, as follows : -
There are two mistakes into which parents are chiefly apt to fall in this con- nection. First, -they are too ready to imagine, that school education and discipline can supply the want of discipline and instruction at home ; and they often throw blame upon the masters which, in justice, belongs to themselves. If, therefore, the child of any parent returns from school shamed or corrected; if he make little or no improvement; or if the tendency of his temper be way- ward or vicious; before blaming the master, or finding fault with the discipline of the school, let such discontented parent set himself seriously to inquire into the manner in which he himself has, in past life, performed, or how he is, at the pre- sent time, performing his duties to his child ; what principles he has inculcated ; what habits he has permitted; what example he has set. School education can do but little without domestic discipline and example. The father, and mother,
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form and influence, more than any masters, the characters of children. Let no parent, then, listen hastily to complaints, unless he is himself conscious of being guiltless of having given any countenance or encouragement to that condnet which he condemns, and which masters, in their fidelity, must punish.
A second mistake of parents, affecting these institutions, is, -that they are apt to imagine, because schools are provided by the public, it is the right of indi- viduals, and of themselves as well as of others, to use or neglect them at plea- sure, according as any whim, caprice, temporary interest, or convenience may dietate.
The consequence is, that they send children to school only occasionally, when they please, or at what time they please, without any regard to the order and regulations of the school, or the interest of their child.
Now, the usefulness of all schools, in a great degree, depends upon strict habits of punctnality and order; and on regularity in the master's performance of his established routine of duties. Now, no master can thus perform his duties, if children are permitted by parents to loiter on their way, or delay, or neglect going to school ; or if they are kept after school hours engaged in work, or on errands, and thus, by coming late, break in upon the regularity of the school.
The rights of parents are, in this respect, precisely like and parallel with all the other rights of civil life. So use your own rights, as not to injure the rights of others; above all, so use them as not to injure the general interest. It is the duty of masters to exact punctuality of attendance from their scholars; and for this purpose, as a chief means, to be most minute and critical in their own punctuality. And as to those parents, who will not submit to a principle so essential to the success of this great interest of the republic, they must not complain, should those who have the care of that interest exclude altogether from the enjoyment of these privileges those delinquents who, by such injurious neglect, show they are unworthy to possess them.
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