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 6
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'The animosity of that board to this establishment will appear hereafter. It is here alluded to, as explaining why the House of Industry remained unoccupied the whole of the first year of the city government, and indicating the cause of the general course of proceeding during that year, in relation to it.
'The communication of the Committee was referred by the City Council to the Overseers of the Poor, and to the Committee of the House of Industry; and they were requested, in conjunc- tion, to take the subject into consideration, and to devise a plan
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for the superintendence and goverment of said house, such as they should deem useful, and report it to the City Council.
Those two bodies had, accordingly, several meetings on the sub- ject, in which the Overseers made no concealment of their want of sympathy with the institution at South Boston; refused to be in any way concerned in its superintendenice ; and declined enter- ing upon the consideration of a system for its discipline and management. The result of their deliberations was reported to the City Council by the Committee of the House of Industry : that the Board of Overseers and that Committee, after joint con- sideration, were unanimous in the opinion that, in the present increased and rapidly increasing state of this metropolis, and the necessarily extensive character of the contemplated institution, it would be impracticable for the Overseers of the Poor to under- take the management and discipline of said house; and recom- mended that an application should be made to the legislature of Massachusetts for the establishment of a new board, for these purposes, with powers similar to those now possessed by the Overseers of the Poor; reserving to the latter a concurrent power, of committing persons liable to be sent to that house. A bill was also prepared by the Committee, which, if approved by the City Council, they recommended as the basis of an act to be applied for to the State legislature. The City Council accepted the report, adopted the bill, and requested the represent- atives of the city to endeavor to obtain an act from the legisla- ture in conformity with its provisions. Objections to the bill were raised, and nothing effectual done by the legislature during the spring session of that body.
hi June, 1822, Mr. Brooks, chairman of the Committee of Finance, addressed a note to the chairman of the Committee of the House of Industry, inquiring concerning "the time and manner in which it was proposed to put that establishment into operation; and whether any further sums would be wanting from the city treasury ?" .To which it was replied, that, "in all essential and important particulars, the building had been erected within the appropriations ; that furniture, fences, work- shops, and subsidiary buildings were still to be provided, That the Committee of the House of Industry considered themselves only as agents, to carry into effect the wise and humane inten- tions of the inhabitants; that they wanted no additional appro-
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priation ; and that they were preparing to deliver up the house to the care of the city authorities, as soon as certain minor details were effected." This they accordingly did, on the sixteenth of September following, in a report stating the degree of complete- neza it had attained; and that, excepting fences and outbuild- ings, the establishment was ready for occupation. After recapi- tulating the several successive authorities under which the land had been purchased, the house built, and the amount expended, (forty thousand and one hundred dollars,) they expressed a hope, that the great and interesting objects the inhabitants of the town had in view in its foundation, might be attained under the wise management of the City Council; and that it might result, " as they cannot doubt it will, in much moral reformation among the poor, and in a considerable annual rednetion in one of the heaviest branches of city expenditure."
The City Council referred this report to a joint committee ; but before any proceedings occurred under that reference, a vote passed both branches of that body, on the twenty-third of the same month, implying a neglect of duty in the Committee of the House of Industry, in the following words: "Whereas, the Committee raised to erect a House of Industry were instructed in the month of March, 1821, 'to form a system for the conduct of that institution;' and that Committee having reported that the house is nearly completed, but that Committee not having reported any such system, - voted, that the Mayor of the city be requested to call on that Committee to favor the city govern- ment with their opinion on the most expedient mode of putting the wald institution to the uses intended by the establishment thereof.".
The object of this vote was too apparent not to be perceived by the Committee of the House of Industry. They held an im- mediate meeting; and, on the thirty-first of October, their chair- man, under their sanction, made a report, stating, in vindication of the Committee, " that, so far from neglecting the duty im- posed upon them by the town, as the vote of the City Council indicated, that Committee did, on the third of May, two days after the organization of the city government, make a communi- cation to the City Council, informing them that, by the laws of the Commonwealth, the power to devise such a system for the. poor, as the vote of the town indicated, was vested alone in the
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Overseers of the Poor; that the City Council had thereupon referred that subject to the Overseers of the Poor and the Com- mittee of the House of Industry; that, on the seventeenth of May, those two bodies met in convention, agreed upon the provi- sions of a bill for the discipline and management of said house, which, having been subsequently modified in both branches of the City Council, had been referred to the representatives of the city, for the purpose of obtaining the sanction of the legisla- ture ; and that thus, the Committee of the House of Industry, so far from not having fulfilled the instructions of the town, as the vote of the City Council intimated, they had specifically performed it, as far as the nature of their powers authorized, and this, not only with the acquiescence, but under the sanction and with the assistance of the City Council which had passed this vote of implied censure.
Touching the most expedient mode of putting the institution to the uses proposed by those who established it, they intimated that the first step was to obtain the sanction of the legislature to the bill which the City Council had recommended; that, whenever such a bill should pass, and the superintending board of directors be elected, it would be easy to adopt a system for its discipline and management, by selecting and collat- ing the wise rules which the experience of other towns in the Commonwealth had shown to be effectual for the attainment of the object the inhabitants of the town proposed to themselves by its establishment, namely, - Ist. To occupy the able-bodied poor on the land, thereby giving them a healthful exercise, and enabling them to contribute somewhat to their own support. 2d. By giving the sick and infirm poor a freer air, and enabling them to have a freer range for exercise, in a farm of fifty or sixty acres, than it was possible in thickly settled parts of the town to obtain. 3d. By removing them from the city, within which the necessity of allowing the inmates of the Almshouse an oppor- tunity to take air and exercise, led to a practice of turning them weekly upon the inhabitants, subjecting families to a weekly visitation of vice and beggary ; a practice not less annoying to the citizens, than it was incompatible with good order and discipline.
The Committee proceeded to state, that the want of an institu- tion of this kind had long been felt, and had been urged on the town, by one of its committees, in the year 1802. Again, in 1812,
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the Overseers of the Poor themselves had memorialized the town on the subject of the inadequacy of the Boston Almshouse to the necessities of the town. In 1821, it had been taken up by the in- habitants, on their own voluntary motion ; and that the House of Industry had been built, and the land on which it was located pur- chased, at an expense of nearly fifty thousand dollars. The Com- mittee then proceeded to illustrate the views entertained by the friends of the institution, and to show how it was expected both to promote the comfort of the poor and diminish the expenditures of the town. They then illustrated the extraordinary convenience and adaptation of the location for such an institution; recom- mended its being put into immediate operation in the spirit and on the principles in which it originated, as soon as the ensuing season will permit; and tendered to the City Council their col- lective and individual communication of whatever knowledge or opinion they may possess on the subject of the government and discipline of the house, whenever the City Council should honor them with such a request.
This report was committed to a joint committee of the City Council, of which the Mayor, (John Phillips,) was chairman ; who, on the twelfth of December following, reported to the City Council that they had examined the House of Industry and its buildings; that great credit was due to the Committee which had superintended it; that the Committee of the City Council were surprised to find so spacious and convenient a structure, with a wharf, barn, and house for a superintendent, completed for forty thousand dollars ; that whatever doubt the Committee might have felt in recommending the erection of such an establishment, they declare their opinion that it ought now to be completed ; and they recommend a further appropriation of five thousand dollars, to be placed at the disposal of the same Committee, who had so generously and faithfully superintended the erection of the building, to lay out the grounds and purchase implements of agriculture, and for the erection of additional out- houses.
As to the occupation of the house, the Committee of the City Council expressed great difficulty. They recommend, however, that such of the poor as were capable of labor should be removed to it, as soon as the contemplated improvements were completed, they being of opinion that the poor of the city would be more
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comfortably situated at South Boston than in the Boston Alms- house, the air being more pure, the buildings more commodious, the yard more spacious and comfortable; and they declared themselves not aware of any inconvenience which would attend their removal.
This report was accepted in the Board of Aldermen, and was the only step taken during the first year of the city government indicative of even an intent to carry the project of a transfer of the poor to South Boston into execution.
The measures proposed by the aldermen were, however, checked in the Common Council, by a vote recommitting the whole subject, and " instructing the Committee to report to what use the House of Industry may be put; and what difficulties present themselves, if any, in using the said house conform- ably to the original objects in creating said establishment; and that said Committee be requested to report in writing their opinion, in conformity to this vote; and that if said Committee should be of opinion that any legislative act be necessary, that they report any bill, in conformity with that opinion."
Under this vote, on the recommendation of that Committee, the bill originally submitted by the Committee of the House of Industry was revived by vote of the City Council; and, on the third of February, 1823, an act was obtained from the legislature of Massachusetts, vesting in the Directors of the House of In- dustry like powers, relative to governing that house, as were before had and exercised by Overseers of the Poor, with other provisions the above Committee had recommended.
On the thirteenth of January, 1823, the subject had assumed a different attitude. Another Committee of the City Council had reported that a house of correction was wanted in the County of Suffolk; that the Almshouse in Boston was now the only place of · restraint ; that it had only thirty-two rooms for the accommodation of more than three hundred and eighty inmates ; that some contain fourteen persons, and none less than five, of all ages and colors, and in every stage of poverty and disease, produced by misfortune and vice ; in rooms miserably adapted to the numbers crowded into them ; that few places exhibit a more incongruous and unfit mixture of the departments of a hospital, - an almshouse and house of cor- rection ; that those who would contribute to their oion maintenance cannot in such a place, and that many could do so cannot be doubted.
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They, therefore, recommend that the Boston Almshouse and the House of Industry should both be maintained ; the former to be a receptacle of the aged, infirm, and sick poor, and little children, under the care of the Overseers of the Poor, the latter to be a house for the employment of those poor who are subjects of commitment to a house of correction, and under the care of the Directors of the House of Industry.
This report was accepted in both branches of the City Council. And in concurrence with its recommendations, the act authoriz- Ing the City Council to choose nine directors of the House of In- dustry contained a section, giving to the Overseers of the Poor and Justices of the Police Court concurrent jurisdiction and the same powers, in relation to commitments to the House of Industry as previously existed in the laws of the Commonwealth in relation to commitments to houses of correction.
This attempt to turn the House of Industry into a house of correction, was not only wholly incompatible with the original design of the town, in authorizing its erection, but would have defeated the whole project had it been carried into execution. The comfort, the health, the exercise, and the useful employment of the virtuons and respectable poor, was the fundamental prin- ciple of the design. The superior advantage for these purposes, in a situation removed from the throng of a city, and having space enough for the useful employment of the poor on the land, and the adaptation of this mode of employment for every age, sex, and state of capacity for labor, were among the declared Inducements for the selection of the location and the appropria- tion for the building. The House of Industry was not constructed, nor had it any strong rooms and iron vaulted cells, for the restraint of sturdy rognes and vagabonds.
The picture drawn by this last Committee of the City Council, of the actual state of the Boston Ahnshouse, is sufficient to show not only the wisdom, but the necessity of a total change in that institution. It was not exaggerated; but, on the contrary, defi- cient in details, of a very gross and disgusting character, esta- blishing still more strongly the necessity of a change in the local relations of the poor in the city of Boston.
Such was the state of the question, relative to the establish- ment of the House of Industry, at the termination of the first year of the city government. The decided animosity to the insti- 5 *
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tution now began to assume an unquestionable shape, and it was very apparent to all who took an interest in the subject that its fate depended upon the character and dispositions of the next City Council.
The preceding outline embraces all the measures during this . year of the city government, which were important or conclu- sive, except those which are incident annually to the organiza- tion of every municipal authority; - such as the organization of the several boards of firewards, health, and highways ; appoint- ing the various officers of police and finance, with the several classes of surveyors, sealers, and inspectors; superintending the public lands and public schools ; establishing rules and regula- tions for the watch; repairing of the streets and public buildings; licensing theatrical and other exhibitions; establishing the sala- ries of city officers; and, in general, exercising all the duties naturally incident to the ordinary routine of municipal organiza- tion and to the exercise of municipal powers.
The proceedings of the city government, during the first year of its existence, relative to the Commissioners of Health, the en- largement of Faneuil Hall Market, the erecting tombs under churches, the lands west of Charles Street and the Common, then called " the ropewalk lands," though taken into considera- tion, yet having resulted in no action of a general and permanent character, will be stated in connection with the account given of those subjects in the history of the next succeeding administration of the city, when they were each successively and carefully invest- igated and arranged in new forms, or finally settled on appro- priate principles.
The result of the administration of city affairs during this first year had not met the expectations of the inhabitants. They had anticipated from the new charter great changes in the conduct of their municipal concerns. They had flattered themselves that the new form of organization would lead to more efficient, ener- getic, and responsible measures than could be obtained under the old. Obscure and indefinite. hopes had been entertained of improvements in particular localities, which would result in increased accommodation of the inhabitants, and encourage both the growth and enlargement of the city. But when, at the close of the city year, they found none, or but few of these fond antici- pations realized, and that their affairs, though conducted with
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great care, judgment, and fidelity, had received no new impulse from the newly invested powers, but that the course of manage- ment had deviated but little from that they had experienced under the ancient form of government, the disappointment was, in a manner, general, and began to be expressed.
The Mayor himself was not insensible to this state of feeling ; and so far as he was responsible for it, the circumstances in which he had been placed explained the cause, and were a justi- fication of the course of his administration. Prudence, caution, and conservatism, were his predominating characteristics; and, when called suddenly to a station he had not anticipated, he naturally hesitated to venture upon changes, of which the de- vising was critical and laborious, and the result uncertain. These tendencies of his mind were increased and strengthened by a state of health, which within one month after the close of his mayor- alty, terminated his life.
Few citizens have fulfilled the duties of the respective stations to which they have been called with more fidelity than Mr. Phil- lips. The evidence of the confidence of his fellow-citizens was continued through a long series of years. He had for more than twenty-five years been, without an omission, elected a member of one of the branches of the state goverment, and for ten years had been uninterruptedly chosen President of the Senate of the Commonwealth, and in all been distinguished for acceptable and efficient service.
The tribute paid to his administration, by his successor, in his inaugural discourse, it is proper here to quote, on account both of its truth and justice. "After examining," he states, " and con- sidering the records of the proceedings of the city authorities, for the past year, it is impossible for me to refrain from expressing the sense I entertain of the services of that high and honorable individual who filled the Chair of this city, as well as of the wise, prudent, and faithful citizens who composed, during that period, the City Council. Their labors have been, indeed, in a measure, unobtrusive; but they have been varions, useful, and well con- sidered. They have laid the foundations of the prosperity of our city deep and on right principles. And whatever success may attend those who come after them, they will be largely indebted for it to the wisdom and fidelity of their predecessors. A task was committed to the first administration to perform, in no com-
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mon degree arduous and delicate. The change from a town to a city had not been effected without considerable opposition. On that subject many fears existed, which it was difficult to allay, many jealousies hard to overcome. In the outset of a new form of government, among variously affected passions and interests, and among indistinct expectations, impossible to realize, it was apparently wise to shape the course of the first adminis- tration rather by the spirit of the long experienced constitution of the town, than by that of the unsettled charter of the city. It was natural for prudent men, first intrusted with city author- ities, to apprehend that measures partaking of the mild, domestic character of our ancient institutions, might be as useful, and would be likely to be more acceptable than those which should develop the entire powers of the new goverment. It is yet to be proved, whether in these measures our predecessors were not right. In all times the inhabitants of this metropolis have been distinguished preeminently for a free, elastic, republican spirit. Heaven grant that they may be forever thus distinguished! It is yet to be decided, whether such a spirit can, for the sake of the peace, order, health, and convenience of a great and rapidly increasing population, endure without distrust and discontent, the application of necessary city powers to all the exigencies which arise in such a community."
Neither the inclination nor the health of Mr. Phillips permitted him to become a candidate for a second election ; and his with- drawal being announced, the several parties into which the city was then divided, held, as is usual on such occasions, their assem- blies for the selection of his successor. A committee 1 of the depu- tation from all the wards of the city soon waited upon the individual whom they had agreed upon, and who was finally elected to the office of mayor, and distinctly stated to him, that the municipal affairs of the city had become a subject of more than common solicitude, and that, in communicating to him his selection, by a large meeting of citizens, as the candidate for that office, they deemed it proper to express, as the wishes and expectations of that assembly, that the measures of the ensu- ing administration should be characterized by great activity and energy, and that a full development should be given as far as
1. Benjamin Russell, Jonathan Hunnewell, John 'T. Apthorp.
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possible to all the executive powers granted by the charter. To which that individual replied, that should the suffrages of his fellow-citizens result in his election, the affairs of the city should be guided, so far as his influence extended, by the principles and views the Committee, in their behalf, had expressed. 1
! For the members of the City Council from 1822 to 1830, inclusive, see Appendix, M.
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CHAPTER V. CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823 -1824.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Mayor.1
Organization of the City Government - Mayor's Address -- Importance of the Official Responsibility of that Officer - Difficulties relative to the Office of Surveyors of Highways - Embarrassments from the Board of Health - Duty of Cleansing the Streets devolved on the Mayor and Aldermen, and how exe- cuted - Board of Health discontinued, and their Duties transferred to other Officers.
THE municipal authorities of the City of Boston were organ- ized for the second time on the first of May, 1823, in conformity with the provisions of its charter, in Faneuil Hall, in the presence of a large concourse of citizens. After a prayer by the Rev. James Freeman, John Phillips, the first Mayor of Boston, admin- istered, as Justice of the Peace, the oaths of office to his suc- cessor.
The Mayor, in his inaugural address, after paying a due tribute to his predecessor,2 deduced the spirit of the city charter from its language and the exigencies which led to its adoption, and explained his views of the powers and duties of the office of Mayor, and the principles by which he should endeavor to exe- cute and fulfil them. Among the defects of the ancient town organization, was the division of the executive power among several independent boards, whereby the responsibility of the individual members of each was lessened, and that which did exist could easily be transferred from one board to another. The general superintendence over all the boards, being vested
1 The whole number of votes were 4,766 ; of which Josiah Quincy had 2,505. The Aldermen . elected were, - David W. Child, Ashur Benjamin, Enoch Patterson, Joseph HI. Dorr, Stephen Hooper, Daniel Baxter, Caleb Eddy, and George Odiorne.
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