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 42
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A suspension of the sales of the sites for the sonth block of store lots now remaining to be sold by the city, according to the former plan exhibited to the City Council, has taken place, partly by reason of the unsettled state of that part of the city property which is contracted for with the Long Wharf proprietary, and partly on account of the opportunity which the general state of the property lying immediately south of the site of the proposed block of stores presented for most advantageous improvements in the plan, and increase of the accommoda- tions of the New Market-House and streets, as well as for a most convenient and useful general arrangement of the land, included between Butler's Row, and the land leading to Bray's Wharf.
In contemplating the plan of the New Market and streets adjacent, as formerly presented, and on considering it in connection with its other relations, your Committee were of opinion, that, although the improvements effected by that plan were of a great and very satisfactory character, yet, that when considered in connection with the concentration of business which must result to this part of the city in consequence of the location of the New Market there, and of the creation of a new wharf on the city flats to the eastward, which at no distant period could not fail to take place, as well as from the opening of that great
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sixty-five feet avenue from Long Wharf eastward to the New Market, about to form the principal route of the business between the north part of the city and State, India, and Broad Streets. They were also of opinion, that the street to the southward of the New Market, called on the plan " South Market Street," was much too narrow for that great infinx of city trucks and earts, and of country teams and wagons, which the union of commerce and the market would occasion in that street and vicinity.
Upon the plan above-mentioned, " Sonth Market Street " was only " sixty feet " wide. It was obvious to your Committee, that if this street could be widened to the extent of at least one hundred feet, the contemplated accommodation of our country brethren in their attendance on the market, as well as of our citizens, would be greatly increased ; and that whenever the new wharf at the eastward on the city flats should be built, the space thus obtained in streets would be highly desirable, if not absolutely necessary, for the great concentration of busi- ness above stated, which would be effected in that street and vicinity. In addi- tion to these considerations, others of a prospective and more general character presented themselves.
It was found by calculation, made on the present demand of meat and vege- table stalls, that those contained in the New Market House were no more than sufficient for the actual existing state of the city, with its present population ; and that, if any extension of the market accommodation should by the progress of society become necessary, the city authorities would have no other means to effect it than by trenching in upon the width of a " sixty feet street," which, it was agreed on all sides, was sufficiently narrow for the business for which it was about to be the scene, and to form the sphere. By effecting an augmentation of that street to at least one hundred feet, this inconvenience would be obviated. Those, who should come after us, might at any time add to the Market House now building,1 should the growth of the city require, a width of thirty or forty feet through its whole length, and a street sixty or seventy feet wide would remain entire for the accommodation of the public.
Other considerations of a more general character presented themselves to the Committee. It was obvious to their reflection and observation, that there were reasons and opportunities in the progress of societies, and cities, as well as of individuals, by which, according as they were seized and improved, or suffered to escape and be neglected, their character and destinies were shaped and esta- blished. It also could not but be perceived by them, that among the circum- stances which had a tendency to ineonanode and restrict the apparent tendencies to the growth of the city of Boston, was the narrowness and crookedness of its streets, and its want of great squares and wide public spaces for the accommoda- tion of the business of citizens. It was plain to your Committee, that no oppor- tunity should be suffered to pass, without being availed of, for the purpose of' relieving the city from this discredit and these disadvantages. And they could not but be struck with the singular coincidence of season, places, and opportunity, which the new improvements and the general state of the real property about Faneuil Hall Market offered for these purposes.
1 This street, having been subsequently laid ont by the Surveyors of Highways, the use of it here suggested is probably precluded.
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At the moment when a new organization of the government has given to the authorities of Boston a greater efficiency, the state of the capital and enterprise, as well as the prevailing harmony and union in relation to public improvements among the citizens, has given a willingness to cooperate in them, altogether unexampled. The present, therefore, it is very apparent, is one of those seasons and opportunities in the progress of this city, on the neglect or improvement of which materially depends its character and destiny.
The place, also, on which the proposed improvements were carrying on, was, in the opinion of the Committee, peculiarly favorable to excite interest and union of sentiment among the citizens, as well as to stimulate to a further extension of similar improvements, on a scale highly honorable to the character of the city, and beneficial as it respects its future prospects.
Faneuil Hall Market is so located with respect to the general interests of Boston, that it may well be considered, as it were, the heart of the city. The new improvements have been planned, and are executing on a scale, calculated to connect the northern and southern sections with this great centre by a noble avenue, and to bring into a sphere of profitable use, lands or flats hitherto com- paratively of little use or value. It must be apparent to every one who considers the subject, that, if the present opportunity be. suffered to pass unimproved, that it will for that vicinity be lost forever. After the final location of the southern block of stores now about to be sold, all hope of a more extensive and accommo- dating plan must be abandoned. Posterity cannot without great sacrifices, if at all, effect an arrangement of streets and spaces for the business of the city, which now can be obtained with little sacrifice; and in fact with none, when compared with the greatness of the increased improvements and resulting advantages.
With these general views, the Chairman, by direction of the Committee, opened a negotiation with the different proprietors of the land and stores in the vicinity of Butler's Row, and Bray's Wharf and dock. It is very apparent, that this negotiation must be carried on under many disadvantages, not only on account of the number of proprietors, whose good-will was to be conciliated, but also from the high price at which the city sales in that vicinity had countenanced those proprietors in claiming for their lands. A conditional arrangement has, however, at length been made with all the proprietors, whose lands are necessary to be included in this plan, dependent on the will of the Faneuil Hall Market Committee. They are, therefore, now enabled to state with precision the parti- cular plan which they deem it most for the interest of the city to adopt, consider- ing all the relations of the property in that vicinity, and also to state the extreme possible cost and pecuniary results of that plan, should it be deemed advisable to adopt it.1
Upon the whole, the interest of the city is, in my opinion, so great, so obvious, and so certain, that I deem it my duty earnestly to recommend it to the City Council.
The result of this improvement, when carried into effect, according to all the greatness and utility which the relations of the property in that vicinity permits,
1 As the plan here detailed was adopted and carried into effect by the City Council, and its advantages are at this day (1851) understood and acknow- ledged, the statements here made relative to the cost and anticipated result are omitted.
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cannot fail to reflect great honor on the citizens of this metropolis, not only with foreigners, but with our posterity, inasmuch as it will evidence the exist- ence of a spirit in the citizens of the present time, capable of devising and willing to meet the expenditures necessary to effeet improvements on a scale calculated not merely to provide for the exigencies of a passing day, but to. extend to all future generations of the inhabitants of this city by present wise prospective arrangements, the blessings of that exceeding great prosperity, which Providence in its bounty permits us to enjoy.
(I. Page 137.)
PROCEEDINGS ON LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF FANEUIL HALL MARKET.
ON Wednesday, the twenty-seventh of April, 1825, the Corner Stone of the New Faneuil Hall Market was laid by the Mayor of the city, in the presence of the members of the City Council, the Superintendent and workmen of the building, and a large number of citizens. The City Government assembled in Faneuil Hall at eleven o'clock, and moved to the site of the new edifice, in the following order, preceded and flanked by peace officers : -
THE MAYOR.
The City Marshal, bearing the chest containing the deposits. The other Members of the Building Committee. Aldermen. Members of the Common Council. Clerks of the two Boards. Principal Architect, &c.
The Corner Stone, (a large block of Chelmsford granite,) was suspended by a pulley over the foundation stone, in a cavity of which a leaden box, or chest, was deposited, and which contained, -
1. A colored Map of the City, recently executed.
2. Plan of the Lands, Stores, Dock, &e., on which the new Improvement is located, as they existed before the Improvement was contemplated. The sites of the New Market, Streets, Ranges of Stores, &c., being designated by dotted lines.
3. A Book, containing the Charter of the City, with the Amendments there- to; the Constitutions of the United States and of Massachusetts ; and sundry Laws, passed in relation to the City.
4. Copies of the Rules and Regulations of the City Council, with a list of the Officers of the City, and the Wards, for 1824 -'25.
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5. Twenty-two Newspapers published during the preceding week, including all the weekly, semi-weekly, and daily papers, the Price Current, and Masonic Magazine.
6. Eight numbers of Bowen's "History of Boston," in course of publication, containing a number of views of edifices, &e. in the city.
7. A case, containing the following Coins, &c. : - An Eagle, Half Eagle, and Quarter Eagle, of gold ; a Dollar, Half Dollar, Quarter Dollar, Dime, and Half Dime, of silver ; and a Cent and Half Cent of the most recent coinage of the United States ; a Silver (Pine-Tree) Shilling, of Massachusetts, coined in 1652, presented by Nathaniel G. Snelling, Esq .; and a Cent and Half Cent of the coinage of Massachusetts, of 1787. The latter presented by Mr. Jeremiah Keller. Together with the following Old Continental Bills (of paper money) issued during the Revolution, to wit, - One of Eight Dollars, issued in 1776, and one of Forty Dollars, issued in 1779, presented by Mr. John Fuller; one of Four Dollars, and two of Six Dollars, (one guaranteed by Rhode Island,) presented by Isaac Winslow, Esq .; one of Two Dollars, issued in 1776; one of Five, one of Twenty, and one of Thirty Dollars, issued in 1778 ; one of Five Dollars, (guaranteed by New Hampshire,) and one New Hampshire Colony Bill, for Ten Pounds, issued in 1775, presented by Ebenezer Farley, Esq. ; and a Rhode Island New Emission Bill, issued in 1780, for Three Dollars, presented by Stephen Codman, Esq.
It has been a subject of regret,1 that the emblems, mottoes, and devices of the old continental paper money, have not, in our recollection, been permanently recorded. We remember to have read a glowing description of them given. by a celebrated Whig Peer of England, in the British Parliament, during the Revolution, in answer to a remark of a Ministerialist, that the Americans were destitute of sound learning and science ; and which was adduced by him in proof of the existence in America of classical learning, taste, and genins, not excelled by any thing of the kind of which the literati of England could boast. He then attributed the mottoes and designs to FRANKLIN, ADAMS, RITTENHOUSE, LIVINGSTON, and others, which, he said, bore equal evidence of scholarship and patriotism. The bills were extremely well engraved, and printed by HALL and SELLERS, the then BASKERVILLES and Dipors of America. Every denomina- tion of bills bore distinct devices, with significant and appropriate Latin mottoes. We shall only notice those on the denominations deposited.
The Two Dollar Bills bore the emblem of a hand making a circle with com- passes. Motto, Tribulatio Ditat. Translation, " Trouble enriches," or, "The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be." - Rom. viii. 18.
The device of the Three Dollar Bills was " an eagle pouncing on a crane, whose beak annoyed the eagle's throat." Motto, Exitus in dubio est. Transla- tion, " The issue is doubtful," or, " The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." - Feel. ix. 11.
On the Five Dollar Bills was a hand grasping at a thorn-bush. Motto, Sustine vel abstine. Translation, " Hold fast or touch not," or, " Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." - Rom. xii. 21.
The Six Dollar Bills represented a beaver felling a tree. Motto, Perseverando. Translation, " By perseverance we prosper," or, " Let us run with patience the race set before us." - Ileb. xii. 1. Another emission bore an anchor. Motto,
1 The whole of this note is taken from the Columbian Centinel of the thirtieth of April, 1825, edited by Benjamin Russell, an active and efficient member of the Faneuil Hall Committee.
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In te Domine speramus. Translation, " In God have I put my trust." - Psalm Ixvi. 11.
The Eight Dollar Bills bore the Irish harp. Motto, Majora Minoribus conso- nant. Translation, " United we stand," or, " Let there be no divisions among you ; but be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judg- ment." - 1 Cor. i. 10.
The Thirty Dollar Bills bore a wreath on an altar. Motto, Si recte facies. Translation, " If you do right you will succeed," or, " Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." - Heb. xiii. 3.
8. A Plate of silver, weighing fifteen ounces, eleven inches by seven, with the following
INSCRIPTION. FANEUIL HALL MARKET,
Established by the City of Boston. This Stone was laid April 27, Anno Do- mini MDCCCXXV., in the forty-ninth year of American Independence, and in the third of the Incorporation of the city.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Mayor.
ALDERMEN. - Daniel Baxter, George Odiorne, David W. Child, Joseph Hawley Dorr, Asher Benjamin, Enoch Patterson, Caleb Eddy, Stephen Hooper.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL. Francis J. Oliver, President.
Ward No. 1. - William Barre, Jolm Elliot, Michael Tombs, Joseph Wheel- er. - 2. William Little, Jr., Thaddeus Page, Oliver Reed, Joseph Stone. - 3. John R. Adan, John D. Dyer, Edward Page, William Sprague. - 4. Joseph Coolidge, Jeremiah Fitch, Robert G. Shaw, William R. P. Washburn. - 5. Eli- phalet P. Hartshorn, Elias Haskell, George W. Otis, Winslow Wright. - 6. Joseph S. Hastings, Joel Prouty, Thomas Wiley, William Wright. -- 7. Charles P. Curtis, William Goddard, Elijah Morse, Isaac Parker. - 8. John Ballard, Jonathan Davis, John C. Gray, Hawkes Lincoln. - 9. Benjamin Russell, Eli- phalet Williams, Samuel K. Williams, Benjamin Willis. - 10. Francis J. Oliver, James Savage, Phineas Upham, Thomas B. Wales. - 11. Samuel Frothingham, Giles Lodge, Charles Sprague, Josiah Stedman. - 12. Charles Bemis, Samuel Bradlee, Francis Jackson, Isaac Thom.
BUILDING COMMITTEE. Josiah Quincy, Chairman.
David W. Child, Asher Benjamin, Enoch Patterson, Francis J. Oliver, Ben- jamin Russell, Charles P. Curtis, Thaddeus Page, Eliphalet Williams, Joseph Coolidge, William Wright.
Alexander Parris, Principal Architect.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, President of the United States.
MARCUS MORTON, Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Memoranda. - The population of the City, estimated at fifty thousand. That of the United States, eleven millions.
[Engraved by Hasen Morse.]
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The Stone having been placed in its proper position and cemented, the Mayor announced that the Corner Stone was now erected of an edifice, which would be a proud memorial of the public spirit and unanimity of the City Council, and of the liberality of their fellow-citizens; an edifice which, he anticipated, wonld be an ornament to the city, a convenience for its inhabitants, a blessing to the poor, an accommodation to the rich, and an object of pleasure to the whole community. Three cheers followed the annunciation, and the ceremony closed.
The execution of the Inscription on the Plate deposited has been admired by all who have viewed it, as an excellent sample of the progress made in the graphie art, and the ornamental and serip chirography of the day.
(K. Page 145.)
STATEMENTS RELATIVE TO THE IRRESPONSIBILITY CLAIMED BY THE OVER- SEERS OF THE POOR FOR PUBLIC MONEYS.
THE Report here referred to, embodied all the facts relative to the irrespon- sibility of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for the great sums they annually receive from the City Treasury, and also for the great amount of eleemosynary funds in their hands. It was signed by every member of the Committee, (see p. 144,) men most faithful to the interests of the city, and solicitous to promote those of the poor. It was accepted unanimously by both branches of the City Conneil, and its recommendations were, in a general meeting of more than eight hundred inhabitants, rejected by a majority of only thirty-one ; a result showing, that the views presented in that report were approved by nearly half of those present, and those among the most intelligent, and possessing as great a stake as any in the city.
After the result of the struggle made in 1824 to effect a change in this claim of the Overseers for irresponsibility, a perfect silence was maintained on the nature and consequences of these pretensions, until March, 1837, when Samuel A. Eliot, Mayor of the city, in a communication to the City Council relative to the cleemosynary find, " exclusively under the control of the Overseers of the Poor," and the expenditures, concerning which they disavowed all accountability, took occasion to make the following remarks : -
". Whether this is a state of things which should exist, or whether it would be better that all the modes of charity should be under one general supervision, and under the usual responsibility to the City Council, is for the Council and the citizens to determine. I cannot perceive, that any advantage, arising from the present system, is a counterbalance to the evil which ensues from the complica- tion of the business in so many hands, the danger of collision between independ- ent boards, and the tendency natural to all irresponsible bodies, to conceal their transactions. Publicity is generally and justly regarded as the best security against abuse, and the convenience of having a system of charity adopted by the city, and pursued under the direction of one board, is too manifest to require urging. In what manner this can be effected, I must leave to the deliberations of the City Council, with the conviction, that their proceedings will be marked by regard to the public good, and a just deference to enlightened public opinion."
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Notwithstanding the directness and wisdom of these suggestions, no attempt was then made, or has been subsequently, to effect a change in a state of things so undeniably incorrect in point of principle, and so unquestionably liable to secret abuse. A board of twelve men, chosen not by the citizens at large, but individually, in wards, continue to be permitted to expend from twenty-eight to thirty thousand dollars annually of money received out of the City Treasury, and to manage a capital of upwards of one hundred thousand dollars of eleemosynary funds, distributing its incomes at their discretion, without accountability to any one, except to one another, which, in effect, is no accountability at all.
The cause of this apparent apathy is obvious. There is no body now existing in the city, authorized to call the Overseers of the Poor to account for their expenditures; and, should the City Council make any movement to exercise or obtain that power, a clamor would be raised, as it was in 1824, in the different wards, by those interested in maintaining the present system, and they would be denounced as attempting to interfere with an independent board, and with a desire to get under their control funds placed in other hands by the donors then- selves, - a reproach and odium which few administrations are willing to meet, and perhaps fewer would be able to sustain. In the mean time, by the increase of our population and the infusion of foreigners, the necessity of public expend- itures for the poor continually augments, and with it, unavoidably, the temptation and danger of secret abuse of great funds, when intrusted to irresponsible agents. It seems important, therefore, that some historical facts should be stated and preserved, especially such as relate to the eleemosynary funds, now holden and distributed by the present Board of Overseers, claiming to be successors of the former Board of Overseers, which existed under the town.
First, then, the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the town of Boston were very differently constituted than are the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the city of Boston, and consequently possessed far more elements of general con- fidence. Had the Board of Overseers of the Poor been then constituted as it is now, it would never have been selected as the trustees of those eleemosy- nary funds.
Under the town government the members of the Board of Overseers of the Poor were elected by the votes of the whole body of the inhabitants. They were consequently always men of a high general character, known to a majority of the inhabitants, and chosen by them for their integrity, capacity, and adapt- ation to the service. Among them were always men distinguished for their wealth, their business talents, and charities. The uniformity of this result for many years, created that general confidence, which caused them to be chosen as trustees of these eleemosynary funds. Now the Board of Overseers of the Poor, under the city government, are chosen in wards, and consequently are seldom known to the inhabitants generally, and are also often not selected for any special qualification for this great trust, but because they are popular and avail- able candidates, or willing to accept an office which is deemed irksome, and to which no emolument is thought to be attached. A board thus constituted could never have acquired that general confidence, which the donations of those elee- mosynary funds indicate. What capitalist, at this day, would select that board as trustees of such donations ?
There was another element of confidence in the Board of Overseers, under
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the town, which is wholly wanting in that board under the city, - every vacancy in the board was always in fact filled by the nomination of the members of the board themselves. Hence, the new members were always well qualified for the office, and acceptable to the old members remaining as associates. When a vacancy was abont to occur, it was the practice of the board to consult together, and to select the individual whose name was to be inserted in the general ticket with those of the members of the board about to remain. This course was known, and acceptable to the inhabitants. The individual thus selected, being always one whose qualities and adaptation were by them well known and approved, he was accordingly uniformly chosen, it is believed, without objection or opposition, during the whole period of the town goverment. This course of proceeding gave that board, under the town, a fixed and staid character, inviting confidence and sustaining it.
Concerning these eleemosynary funds, the Board of Overseers wrap them- selves up in the dignity of irresponsible trustees, and deny to every one, even to the Mayor of the city, the right of raising any question concerning the manage- ment and distribution of them. Yet, they have no other ground of claim to the control of those funds than a general declaration in the city charter, that they shall bave "all the powers and be subject to all the duties which appertain to the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the town of Boston." Whether such general expressions as these, which contain no words purporting a transfer of property, or implying a grant of any succession to trusts, are sufficient in law to pass funds of a great amount previously vested in a corporation " by the name of the Overseers of the Poor of the town of Boston, and their snecessors," is a question of law, which, if the heirs or representatives of the original donors of those funds should seriously raise iu a court of justice, the result, perhaps, might be dubious. Fortunately, however, the Legislature has reserved to itself, in the very charter of the city, the right " to alter and qualify " the powers of that board. And it is believed, that the time cannot be far distant, when the Legis- lature, either self-moved, or on the application either of individual citizens or of the City Council, will recognize it as their duty to do justice to the charitable donors of those leemosy mary foods, and bring the Board of Overseers of the Poor under the city to as near an approximation to the character of that under the town as is now possible, by enacting a law, by which the members of that board shall be chosen by that body, which now in every thing else acts for the whole body of the citizens, that is, by the City Conneil; and thereby restore that board more nearly to the same elements of general confidence it possessed under the town.
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