■■ II iiil ii\i i l/(A^/y ..*^ •r' ' Ej)f ^ast, ^rcsmt ana JFututf of Boston. SPEECH Hon. J. S. POTTER . Of ARLINGTON, ON THE SUBJECT OF UNITING CERTAIN CITIES AND TOWNS WITH THE CITY OF BOSTON: DELIVERED IN THE Massachusetts Senate, Thursday, April 24, 1873. PKINTED BY OKDEK OF THE SENATE. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, 19 Province Street. 1873. Cfjr ?Past, ^^trscnt aiifi iFiitutc at Boston. SPEECH Hon. J. S. POTTER, Of ARLINGTON, ON THE SUBJECT OF UXITING CERTAIN CITIES AND TOWNS WITH THE CITY OF BOSTON: DELIVERED lU THE Massachusetts Senate, Thursday, April 24, 1873. PRINTED EY ORDER OF TUE SENATE. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, 19 Province Street. 1873. 24240 t*b ^ ':^^< ,nX PEOCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Hon. Carroll D. Wright, of Middlesex, introduced the following Order which was adopted and then referred to the Committee on Printing. Com Bi ON WEALTH OF Massachusetts. In Senate, April 29, 1873. O/rZcrecZ, That two thousand copies of the speech delivered in the Senate by Hon. INIr. Potter, on the subject of the annexation of certain towns and cities to the city of Boston be printed for the use of the legislature. S. N. GiFFORD, Clerk. Subsequently the committee submitted the following Report, which was accepted, and the Order was then passed. Commonw^ealth of Massachusetts. In Senate, April 30, 1873. The Committee on Printing, to whom was referred the Order that two thousand copies of the speech delivered by Hon. Mr. Potter, on the subject of the annexation of certain cities and towns to the city of Boston lie printed for the use of the Legislature, report that the Order ought to pass. Per order, J. K. Banister. Senate, April 30, 1873. Accepted. S. N. GiFFORD, Clerk. ACTION OF THE COMMITTEE. On January 4th, Mr. Potter, on leave, introduced an Act en- titled " An Act to enlarge the territory of, and unite certain towns and cities with, the city of Boston." The towns and cities proposed for union under one municipalit}", were as follows : — The city of Chelsea and the towns of Winthrop and Revere, in the county of Suffolk ; the cities of Charlestown, Somerville and Cambridge, and the towns of Maiden, Everett, Medford, Arlington, Belmont and Watertown and Brighton, in the county of Middlesex ; and the towns of West Roxburj- and Brookline, in the county of Norfolk, The Bill was referred to the Committee on Towns, consisting of Hon. Martin Griffin, of Suffolk, Hon. Newton Morse, of Mid- dlesex, of the Senate, and BenJ. F. Hayes, of Medford, John Nowell, of Boston, G. P. Kendrick, of Worcester, N. D. Ladd, of Sturbridge, and George Purington, Jr., of MattajDoisett, of the House. On the 16th of April the committee submitted the following Report and accompanying Resolve. C M M O X AV F. A I. T II OF MASSACHUSETTS. In Senate, April 16, 1873. The Committee on Towns, to wliom was referred the Bill to en- large the territory of, and nnite certain towns and cities with the city of Boston, have considered the matter, and report the accomjianying Resolve. Newton Morse. Commonwealth of jNIassachusetts. Resolve in relation to uniting certain Cities and Towns with the Ciry of Boston. Besolved, That the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, appoint a commission, consisting of three able and discreet persons, to report, after due investigation, upon the practicability and expediency of uniting with the city of Boston, luider one municipal government, the following cities and towns : — The city of Chelsea and the towns of Winthrop and Revere, in the county of Suffolk ; the cities of Charlestown, Somerville and Cambridge, and the towns of Maiden, Everett, Medford, Arlington, Belmcmt and WatertoAvn, in the county of Middlesex ; * and what portitni of the territory of such cities or towns, or any of them, in their judgment it would be exjiedi- ent to so annex. Such investigation and report to include an exami- nation of the feasibility and policy of such a union ; the commercial, economical, industrial, sanitary and other considerations relating thereto ; the mode of consummating the same, if deemed practicable and expedient ; and whatever else may pertain to the municipal polity of a territory and people so connected and identified, as well with reference to their own good government and well-being as to the general welfare of the Commonwealth. Said commission may employ all necessary assistance, and shall rei^ort the results of their investigation to the next legislature, em- bodying the same in a proper lull, if they shall deem legislation ex- jjedient, and shall be allowed for their compensation and expenses such sums as shall be approved bj' the governor and council, not to exceed five thousand dollars. * The towns of Broolvline, Brighton and West Roxbiiry were not emln-aced in this Resolve for the reason that Bills providing for their annexation to Boston were presented to the legislature before the Committee made their Report upon this subject. SPEECH. Mr. President: There is no duty which I feel called upon to perforin that is to me more unpleasant than that of occupying a moment of the time of the Senate in explaining measures which impress me as being of public interest. But the Subject under considera- tion seems to me of such transcendant importance in its bearings upon the interests of the people of Boston and vicinity — and of the entire Common- wealth as well — that I trust I may be excused for asking the ear, and perhaj^s the exercise of the patience, of the Senate, while I endeavor to' present some facts and general considerations comiected with the past, present and future of Boston, that may be of possible value to those who feel an interest in the growth and prosperity, as well as in the health and happiness of the people of the metropolis of Massachusetts. The Kesolve reported by the committee provides for the appointment of a commission of three able and discreet men, vested with all the power neces- 10 ENLAiaiKMENT OF THE s;n'\- to ('ii.'ililc llicin lo lliofouo-hly iiivcstig'ate the subject of uniting the city of Boston and the fif- teen cities and towns enimierated in tlie bill which 1 laid before the Senate at the opening of the pres- ent session; and if the commission shall deem ex- pedient, they are authorized to prepare a wiser and more carefully considered measure for the consum- mation of such union. I would not have so great a reform hurried to completion with such rapidity that all necessary knowledge relating to it cannot be obtained, because wdien it is done, it should be well and properly done. I therefore cheerfully acce[)t the conclusions of the committee as lacing wise and prudent, and will proceed to present some reasons why the Resolve should pass, and why such union appears to me not only desirable, but an indispensable necessity. Sir, knowledge is the creation of industry ; — that is, it springs from an active body and an active mind. If that activity is compulsory, or the result of necessity, then knowledge is acquired slowly, or rather worked out through unseen difficulties by the hard and tedious process of unaided toil. Such is the experience, and such the school, of the pio- neei". But the sagacious and observing student Avho follows, will pursue the shorter and more di- rect path which is always before him. lie will ''re:!]) whei'e others have sown.*" lie w^ill study the lessons of the past, and profit by the revelations .of (le])arted ages, lie will not permit the dust and TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 11 cobwebs of time to conceal the obstacles which his fathers encountered or the errors which they com- mitted, but will behold the future by the light of their exjierience, and thus be able more wisely to measure its demands upon the present. He will look upon existence as a progressive fact, no more designed to halt upon the accomplishments of the hour, than was the revolving globe upon which we live designed to stand still. He will regard ideas as creations which are never to mature, and look upon them as the school-boy looks ujjon the ball which he begins rolling in the adhesive snow — as conceptions which are to grow with every revolu- tion they make through the force of mental and physical action. Ideas which spring from intelli- gent reflection are ever in conflict with those that are born of impulse ; and the government or the man that moves in dbedience to impulse, and acts only with reference to the exigencies of the hour, is simply placing obstructions in the path of prog- ress, which will surely retard, though never pre- vent, the inarch of the ever-coming future from sweeping such obstructions away; thus making re- construction and its attendant consequences of delay and heavy taxation a necessity and a burden upon the advance of civilization. 12 ENLAKGEMENT OF THE THE EARLY DAYS OF BOSTOX AND THE ERROUS OF ITS FOUNDERS. Two hundred and fifty years ago an intelligent Englishman landed upon the shores of Massachu- setts Bay. His sagacity and good judgment in- duced him to select for his home a locality among the blueberry bushes and other shrubbery that covered the peninsula at the junction of Charles River and the waters of the harbor. Here, prefer- ring seclusion to society, that *" memorable man," William Blackstone, built a cottage, in which he w^asa solitary dweller for many years. In the meantime a flourishing settlement under Governor AVinthrop had been established opposite to his cottage on the other side of the river. In the year 1630 many of the inhabitants of this settlement, which was called Charlestown, became sick and discontented. While their troubles were most pressing, some of their leading men rowed across the river and sought the counsel of the kind- hearted Blackstone. He recommended as a })ana- cea for their ills, even at that early day, — not ex- actly annexation, but the next thing to it, — that they should move over to " his side of the river." There was room enough to api)ly his remedy then, but not now. They followed Blackstone's advice. Governor Winthrop leading, his house having been first carried over for his accommoda- tion. TERIJTTORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 13 Thus began the settlement which they " agreed to call Boston/' The city which has grown from this small beginning, has not yet honored in a becoming manner the name of William Black- stone, who discovered in the spot upon which it stands, with its surroundings, a locality wdiich, as I hope to show, has no parallel in the advantages which it presents for the prosperous existence of one of the most healthful and beautiful cities on this continent, or in the world. Here, at the base of the three promontories whose tops caught the refreshing breezes of land and sea, the followers of Blackstone and Win- throp moved forward with their incipient city. One w^ould have thought that the startling events which were at that time happening in the com- pact cities which w^ere being desolated with fires and plagues in the " Old World," with which they were so familiar, would have been efficient lessons to those wdio were laying the foundation of a new city, where land could be had for five shillings per acre. The handcart and an occa- sional passing team served the business demands of their day, and they constructed ways only wide enough for their accommodation. It is true they had come here to populate a new continent and inaugurate a work which would require ages to complete; yet the simple needs of the hour were their guide. They saw only that future wliich reached beyond this life to the shores of immor- 14 EXLARGEAIENT OF THE talit3^ Tlierefore, they worked Avitlioiit plans, system or method. In laying out a city that was to l)e "built with hands" they permitted their im- pulses to seize upon the accidental cow path and the milkmaid's walk, and these they followed as leading suggestions. Thus, though pioneers of advanced civilization in a "Xew AYorld," they started with the most absurd errors of the ■' Old AVorld " in the practical business of laying out a city which Avould, according to every teaching of history, at some future date, not remote, be occu- pied by millions of people. Indeed, they do not appear to have measured at all the possible needs of posterity. For light, circulation of air, health and security from pestilence and conflagration were not catalogued in their minds as matters to be con- sidered in connection Avith the construction of a city. The exigency of the hour seems to have been their guide in practical affairs; and this most pernicious an(J evil practice has adhered, like a leech, to our state, city and town legislation down to the present hour. With an ever-growing intelligence, impelled by the activity and industry Avhich were characteristic of the founders of Boston, what result could follow such a policy? ^Yliy, then as now, every new year developed new conditions and new demands, for which the old one, for lack of ordinary fore- thoughl, had not provided. Thus began the woi'k of undoing, to correct errors, of pulling down and TEEEITORIAL AEEA OF BOSTON. 15 builclmgnp, — resulting in a wastefulness of time and means Avhich has continued to the present time and is now in full operation. Mistakes even were corrected only w ith a view to meet the necessities of the time. The future seems never to have been provided for. And this state of things, which has been a perpetual drag upon the prosperity of the city, has been growing worse with the increase of popu- lation, until THE EXOEMOUS COST OF COREECTIXG PAST EEROES has become at the present day a serious burden upon the inhabitants of Boston and its vicinity. The founders of the city, and those who succeeded them, shut out the light and air of heaveu from its streets, which they huddled together in promiscu- ous confusion, in order that they might save a few feet of land which cost a farthing a foot. But the third generation following, with a view of providing for growing public necessities, has been obliged, not only to pull down and rebuild costly structures, but at the same time to pay from five to thirty thousand times that sum for the same land, now needed to double and treble the width of their original narrow and contracted thoroughfares. InTow, sir, this same confused system of planning, and this same short-sighted policy of the past, is to- day practised in portions of the city of Boston, and in all the cities and towns within the territoiy which it is now proposed to unite with it. The con- 10 EXLAIJGEMEXT OF THE venie'DCo of the hour still appears to be the mis- chievous sentiment ruling in the council chamber and town meeting. If Senators will consult the records at the City Hall they will be astonished to learn that there are instances where streets have been widened two, three and even four times on the same line to meet the growing demands for room, and each time at a heavy cost to the tax-payer, when such changes would not have been necessary if the people and those in power had simply remembered, as I now" ask you to remember, that " the world moves,-' and has a future to provide for which should ahvays commend itself to the consideration of thoughtful law-makers everyw^here. Sir, if the present policy is to continue, no com- prehensive public improvements wull be possible, for the reason that all the revenue, and much more than is needed for such purposes, will continue to be swallowed up in correcting the errors, w^hich, under it, seem ever to follow in the track of state and municipal legislation. As an illustration of the prodigal effects of this " convenience-of-the-hour legislation," I will refer to but one of many examples. Hanover Street, w^hich was one of the paths where the milkmaid followed the tinkling bell of the "lowing herd,'' has been widened in some places two or three times, and yet anotlier widening has just been comi)leted, at a cost to the tax-payers and abutters of nearly TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTOX. 17 12,500,000 more. I will not attempt to predict the period when another slice from the costly struc- tures that have been rebuilt upon this busy avenue may be necessary; but I will ask Senators to stand for a moment at any hour of the day, and view the active throng that already moves therein, when Boston has a population of only one-quarter of a million, and at the same time remember that the deep waters of her ample harbor bound this and other streets, now of less capacity, where the active commercial enterj^rise of the city must be forever carried on. For, while the city will rapidly expand, the harbor must ever remain substantially the same, till the pressure of a continent's exports necessi- tates the construction, in the rear of Charlestown, of vast docks like those of London. I will then ask you to pass over, in imagination, a period of fifty years, when the locks of the young'est Sena- tors at this board will be whitened by time and when the jDopulation of Boston will be ten times as great as now, with her industries multiplied by a still larger figure ; and then give your judgments as to the capacity of any or all of these avenues, as now constructed, to comfortably accommodate even a considerable fraction of the business that will then move to and from the teeming wdiarves and the railroad termini that must necessarily cluster about them. It is now fifty years since the city government of Boston was established. Since that time about 3 18 ENLARGEMENT OF THE three hundred of her streets, lanes, and courts have been widened or altered to meet the demands of growing" business for more liberal accommodations, — making an average of almost six streets a year for the entire period. The total cost of these al- terations, including interest, has been a sum fully equal to the valuation of all the real property of the entire city fifty years ago. The loss to the people arisino: from their restricted conveniences for doing: business is another very important item which is not embraced in this calculation. During the last six years fifty-five streets have been enlarged; and the expense of this work, including the estimated cost for alterations on others which it has been decided to extend and widen, will amount to the startling sum of twenty- one millions of dollars or more. A little intelligent foresight in providing for the growth of the city would have saved the people of to-day from the burden of such a vast expenditure, which must now be borne alike by Boston and surrounding towns; for a resident of Maiden, Cambridge, Brook- line or Chelsea, who owns property and does busi- ness in Boston, simply has the privilege of pa}dng two taxes, — one, to defray the expense of the municipality which governs him while he sleeps, and another to the municipality wiiich governs him W'hile pursuing his business. ;N^ow, sir, this sum, virtually squandered by the effects of the pmched and short-sighted legislation TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 19 of the past would, if judiciously expended, have laid out and completed, within the same brief period, six spacious avenues, each six miles long and one hundred and forty feet wide, in different directions straight through the entire territory which it is now proposed to embrace within the limits of oxe city, allowing $300,000 per mile for construction, shade trees, and other ornamentations. In addition to these improvements it would have purchased for park purposes in different portions of this territory, three thousand acres of land, at $1,500 per acre, admirably adapted to such purjDoses. So that four parks, each nearly as large as the famous Central Park in l^ew York City, and all much nearer the centre of population, could have been provided for, and there would still remain nearly $6,000,000 with which to improve and beautify them. A sum, sir, just about equal to the entire expenditures for im- provements upon Central Park. Yauban, when speaking of the great French metropolis, as long ago as , the time of Louis the Fourteenth, said truly: "Paris is to France what the head is to the human body; it is the true heart of the kingdom." Believing that Boston does now, and will continue to occupy a similar relation to our old Commonwealth, and believing that whatever promotes the welfare and prosperity of the metropolis will be equally beneficial to the whole State, I feel justified in asking Senators if it is not time that some plan should be devised which will 20 ENLARGEMENT OF THE check tlic prevailing short-sighted system of huild- ing up only to ])iill down again, — whether more economical, because more comprehensive, legisla- tion should not be initiated, which will not only meet the exigencies of the hour, but which, observ- ing the rule of the past, w^ill intelligently measure the self-evident demands of coming centuries? The lessons of experience plainly teach us now TO AVOID A EEPETITIOX OF PAST EEROPtS. Ample territorial space for expansion is the first necessity, — to provide for it while it is com- paratively cheap is the first duty. The Resolve be- fore the Senate is a step in this direction. It pro- jjoses an intelligent and careful investigation of the proposition to enlarge the area of Boston by uniting with it the territory encompassed by the beautiful range of highlands that extend from Dorchester — wai'd sixteen — in the form of a cres- cent, nearly around to Chelsea, forming a perfect natural boundary to the- limits of the city. The territory of Boston is now shapeless. The State House and the bulk of the population are lo- cated in one corner of it. The exti*eme eastern and southern limits extend in a direct line about seven miles from the City ITall. If the area is extended in other directions, as proposed in the Metropolitan District Bill, which I had the honor to submit to the Senate, the plan of which is fully delineated upon the map now suspended in front of the presi- TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTOX. 21 denfs chair, the State House Avill occupy a central position; the popuhition being about equally dis- tributed in all directions, from that point to the boundar}' line. The bounds of the old town of Boston extended, as now proposed, from Chelsea to Brooldine, and included both. Chelsea was set off in 1738, and Brookline in 1703, after prolonged opposition, be- cause of the inconvenience of having but one vot- ing place in the town, — and the area of Boston was thus reduced to less than seven hundred acres. The rapid growth of the cit}^ wdthin this circum- scribed space soon obliged its business men to domicile in various directions outside of its limits. The boundaries of the city have, however, from time to time, been extended, though Avholly in one direction, — Avhich accounts for the ridiculous and laughable figure it presents upon the map, — until its dimensions have increased about fifteen times, covering at this date an area of more than ten thousand acres. ^ow this bill simply proposes to extend the limits of Boston east, north and north-w^est, so as to make the distance of its boundary lines in those and all other directions almost exactly what it now is in the south-east and south-west, taking Beacon Hill as a central point from Avhich to measure. The range of highlands which encircle this terri- tory forms a basin within which are located Boston and the fifteen smaller municipalities which it is 22 ENLARGEMENT OF THE proposed to unite with it. While this basin con- tains nearly the same number of square miles as Philadelphia or the city of London, it is of vastly better proportions, and is divided by three rivers, — the Charles, Mystic, and Maiden, — with a fourth, the ISTeponset — on its southern boundary. The city of Philadelphia covers an area twenty-three miles long and five and a half miles wide, and por- tions of her park grounds are more than twenty miles from the centre of population; while the outer limits of the territory covered by the towns and cities named in the Resolve can be reached within seven miles in any direction from the State House. There are, also, in different parts of it, six picturesque and delightfully situated little lakes, which will average in size more than one hundred acres each, besides four or five smaller sheets of water not less beautiful. These are all fed and kept pure by springs and the numerous streams that How down the sides of the extensive highlands that suri-ound them. Economy and good taste suggest that these sheets of water should be embraced in parks. The lakes in the great parks of other cities of the world, are artificial, and have been constructed at an inuiiense cost. Those in Central Park, Kew York, are located upon land once laid out into streets and lots. ^Nature has here provided larger and better ones — all easily accessible to the mass of the population; and, inasnuich as the great TEREITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 23 ponds belong to the Commonwealth, they could be secured for public use icitliout cost, and would thus largely reduce the price per acre for park reservations. The chorography of the land is diversified, lacing hills, plains and slopes, the lowest of these — ex- cept a small tract of salt-water marsh — lying con- siderably above tide-water, thus affording supe- rior opjDortunities for economical and perfect drainage, — a consideration of the very highest imjDortance to a locality that is to contain, as this basin eventually will, millions of human beings, whose health should be the first thought of gov-' ernment. There are, too, some spots yet remain- ing where the natural forest growth has not been disturbed, and which would be of priceless value if they could be embraced in park reservations. Here, then, are all the elements of comfort, beauty, and health: the numerous slopes and plains, with their background of mountains and hills, and the gleam of fresh, sparkling, shining water ; and " water in the landscape," as has been said, "is like eyes in the human countenance, without which the countenance is lifeless." There are elevations upon these beautiful highlands from the top of which the visitor can look down upon forty cities and towns, and upon all the islands in our ample harbor, where myriad sails are waft- ing the commerce of the nation in every direction, presenting in the commingled works of God and 24 KNLAKGK.MEXT OF THE man, a scene of iiiagnifieeiit grandeur ^vhich is not ii\al]((l l)y any other spot on earth. If m lliiropc, this locality would be renowned as the resml of tourists and sight-seers from every land; hut there is not one in a thousand of the popula- tiou of our own state that even knows of its ex- istence; yet, sir, it is within thirty minutes' ride from the steps in front of this chamber, and ought long since to have been an attractive spot in one of the parks of Boston. The most distant part of this territory is only about six miles from deep-sea water at the head of one of the most commodious and safe harbors upon the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and is the nearest convenient port in the United States to the markets of Em'ope. Could the hand of nature have planned a moi-e inviting locality for a city of vast popula- tion and boundless prosperity? To tliose who liave studied the characteristics of Boston and its environs, it has been a subject of wonder that all this area has not long ere this been embraced under one government, and subject to an harmonious and general system of improvement, directed by judicious and liberal nuniicipal legisla- tion. Who but those innnediately familiar with the fact, like yourselves, would believe that the most in- telligent and industrious people in the world, would, for nioie than two hundred ^^ears, have been content with being huddled together upon a narrow pen- insula, without taking the first step toward per- TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 25 fecting some comprehensive arrangement which would secure, for the benefit of the popuhition rap- idly accumulating here, the remarkable advantages which the locality presents for an economical devel- opment of all that is useful, beautiful, and health- ful? Would you believe that a people willing to hazard the perils of a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to see the gardens, parks, and boulevards of Paris, have not yet, with all their wealth and enter- prise, and vastly superior opportunities, planned a single one for themselves, even where nature has done more than half the w^ork; nor constructed a single spacious avenue, where there should have been at least a dozen, extending out in to the coun- try beyond the city limits? In addition to the peculiar advantages of her maritime location, Boston has nearly every other desirable requisite to secure unlimited prosperity for her people, except an abundance of territorial area within her own control, which should extend, not in one, but in every direction where her growth will be most natural. "Without this she must ever remain, w^hat in a business sense she now is, simply the ofiice, the salesroom, the storehouse, the bank and mainly the distributing point of ^N'ew England. The element that builds up and sustains the substantial growth of a great city is employment for the masses of its population that w^ill be certain and remunerative, and it is only by being relieved 4 26 ENLARGEMENT OF THE from hor circumscribed limits upon a narrow pen- insula that BOSTOX CAN BECOME A GREAT MAXUTACTUEESTG CENTRE. To be something, more than a counting-room, and to support in a thriving condition the i)opulation that is rapidly gathering around her, she must rely upon and encourage manufactures. And these, to be prosperous, should be subject to one govern- ment and have a uniform system of care, taxation, and protection. Cheap building sites for mechanics, and eligible localities for their industries, though a sine qua non to the thrift and attractions of a great city, cannot be obtained or afforded within the pres- ent limits of Boston. And, sir, since land is abund- ant and accessible, and methods for cheap and swift transit in cities are being rapidly developed, I hope we have arrived at that point of sanitary knowledge and civilization which will hereafter prevent the poorer classes from being crowded into alleys, lanes, and narrow streets, where disease will be generated and epidemics revel.* For the reason that their * Thp followinf? is tlio dosinfi; y)ara<:;i'ai)li of an interesting paper, read at the Lowell Institute in 1870, by Fkan'cis Bacox : — " These cities of the future, with sunlight and fresh air and pure water coniiiij^ to every citizen; with no one standing in his neighbor's way; witli no noisome or pernicious occupation suffered within their limits; with all rainfall and water-waste carried (juiekly away to tho uuharmcil river, wliihi all other refuse, at once more dangerous and valuable, goes with due dispatch to the hungry soil ; with order and cleanliness and beauty in all, the streets; with preventable diseases jire- vented, and witii inevitable ones skilfully cared for; with the vigilant TEREITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 27 fiimilies are generally more numerous, they need as much living room as those more favored with the means of obtaining it. And it is alike for their interests and the economy of the entire community that broad streets and open spaces should be pro- vided, so that under suitable regulations they would be induced to locate their homes where light, sun- shine, air, and the foliage of trees may ever exist to dispel miasms, and act as guardians of the public health. Such an arrangement would not only be more agreeable but much cheaper than providing poor-houses and hospitals, to be maintained at the public expense. The prosperity and Avealth of a state can be measui-ed by the amount of its manufactures ; and any legislation that will increase them is a benefac- tion to mankind. What has built up Philadelphia, with its monotonous surroundings, but its manu- government that does not stand apart and look coldly at ruthless greed and needy ignorance, and ntter only an indifferent 'caveat emptor,' but says to the butcher, ' This trichinous pork, this pathological beef, goes to the rendering-vat, and uot into the mouths of my children '; and to the brewer, ' Burn tliis cocculus indicus and lobelia, and let mo see no bitter but hops hereafter '; and to the apothecary, ' Successor of Herod, you shall not poison my infants at wholesale with your narcotic " soothing sirups'"; and to the water company, 'Your reservoir shows foulness this week to my microscope and my teSt-tube : let it continue at your peril.' These cities of the minimum death-rate, shall they not be our cities 1 Are these things of impracticable costliness, say you ? Nothing is so cheap as health ; it is the truest economy ; it is cheaper than dirt. ' Dirt cheap '—what an abuse of language ! Dirt means waste and disease, death, widowhood, orphanage, pauperism, high taxation, costly produc- tion. Nothing costs so much. Besides, the objection [to cost] even if it were not unfounded, is unworthy. 'All parsimony in war is murder,' is a judicious maxim of the MarNT OF THE facts whose teachin*:^ are not less important and strikiii*^-. Til order to ascertain the comparative mortahty of various quarters of the city of Boston, Dr. George Derby, tlie very able and efficient Sec- retary of the State Board of Health, in 1870 divid- ed the city into twenty-four health districts, each comprising either an entire ward or part of a ward, or parts of two or three wards — the objects of this division being to group together a population sim- ilarly situated as to the conveniences and comforts of life, — those in the best circumstances in separate districts from those living in unwholesome dwell- ings, and in circumstances of comparative destitu- tion. Each district contained, as far as possible, a population similarly situated as to surroundings, and conveniences of living. The population of each district, at all ages, was obtained through the census, taken in 1870, by per- mission of the United States government, and the deaths at all ages in each district, for the same year, were obtained from records at the City Hall. With these elements some very striking results w^ere ob- tained, which were published in the Second Annual Report of the State Board of Health. For in- stance, the death-rate (/". e. the annual number of deaths to every 10,000 of population) ^ aries from 57 in the most favored district, to .')79 in the most unhealthy, — a dilference of nearly sevoi to one! The smalk'r ratio of mortality just named, 57, w^as in tlie new Back Bay territory, Avest of Common- TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 43 wealth Avenue, and adjacent to the Pnhlic Gar- den, the Common and the broad avenues where sunhght and air and the foliage of trees are most abundant. In Roxbuiy Highlands, the next most favored locality, the ratio was 91, and in the dis- trict covering the Back Baj^ east of Commonwealth Avenue, it was 98 to each 10,000 living. It was 112 in the east half of ward eleven, 152 in the district comprising the best part of ward four, and 156 on the south side of Beacon Hill, includ- ing Beacon, Mt. Yernon and Pinckney streets. In ward sixteen (Dorchester) the death-rate was 163. The foregoing may all be considered as the more favored localities, for the deaths are less than the average mortality of the state, which for the last seven years was 176 in 10,000. ^^e come next to districts in which the mortality exceeded the just quoted mortality of the state. In the Suffolk Street district the mortality was 177 to each 10,000; in East Boston, 187; in ward fourteen, 188 ; in ward eight, 195 ; in ward ten, 201 ; also in the Church Street district, 201. But in the regions filled with a foreign-born population, crowded into tenement houses in nar- row streets, and otherwise living under conditions less eligible than in the districts already named, we find the death-rate surely and rapidly increas- ing. In South Bston, the rate averages about 256 in 10,000; in ward thirteen, 253; in ward four, 44 ENLARGEMENT OF THE about Portland Street (formerly the old n^ill pond), 267; ill llic South Cove land, m ward seven, 273. I'lu' mortality at the Xorth End, the most thickly settled part of the city, is still greater. In ward two, it was 296. This is exceeded only by one district in the city — the most unhealthy of all — namely, in the low lands of ward fifteen, Avhicli are inhabited by a mixed population. The death- rate here was enormous, being 379 in 10,000. The mortality among infants varies exceedingly with the location and suri'oundings, and forms a very large part of the mortality. In a district including a part of ward four, nearlij half of the whole number of inftmts died (to be explained in part, hoAvever, by the existence of an infantile boarding-house therein) . In the South Boston districts, and in the district inhabited by the colored population, more than one-third of the infants died. But in Roxbury Highlands, where the total deaths were 91 in 10,000 only, the mortality among infants was less than one-tenth, a difference of nearly five to one, as compared with ward four, where the population is most dense. " The death-rates of East Boston and the ^orth End," says Dr. Derby, " present a contrast which is worthy of examination. These districts are of nearly equal population, and the numbers at all ages very nearly corresj)ond, yet the mortality in one is half as great again as in tlic other. One is TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 45 crowded, in great part deprived of sunlight; the other has abundance of light and air." " Can a stronger argument," he says, " be offered in favor of providing breathing spaces for the people?" In the towns and cities proposed for union with Boston, the average number of deaths for seven years was only 155 in 10,000, while in Boston and Charlestown combined they were 209^^, showing the deaths to be nearly 30 per cent, less in the more open adjoining towns than in the two crowded cities. Thus, from authentic calculations, the causes which promote a high degree of public health, and the causes which produce disease, sickness and death, have been clearly shown, and it is proved that both are largely within human control. From the unquestionable authority adduced, it will also appear to what extent the municipal power of a city is responsible, not only for the comfort and happiness, but for the health and lives of its popu- lation ; for it has been demonstrated, by uncontro- vertible facts, that where ample territory is avail- able the city can be made, if properly laid out and cared for, and subject to one power and one sys- tem of government, even more healthy than the average of country life.* In the broad avenues and in the streets that border on the Common and the * " It is clear that the great city of tlie future is to be a place where life is as long and as secure as anywhere else, and where physical de- velopment and health is as great in degree, however it may diifer iu kind, from that of the agricultural regions." — Prof. Francis Bacon. 4G ENLAROEMEXT OF THE little Piil)llf Garden adjoining it, the annngl deaths avei'ai;e only fifty-seven in 10,000, while in the whole state the average is 176, or three times as great. In other portions of the city, not less favor- ahhj located, but which have not been pei*mitted to enjoy the health-giving advantages nature has 2^rovided for all, the deaths are 379 in 10,000, or nearly seven hundred per cent, larger than in the open and cleanly localities. l^o^^\ Mr. President, if the death-rate in a con- siderable portion of a city is very much less than the average in the whole state, shall it be said that under the lead of modern science, the people re- fuse to secure the means for maintaining at least an equal degree of health in those portions of the city that are to be hereafter constructed? Is human life so cheap that the law-makers will disregard these facts? Yet, wdien it is proposed to initiate a step that makes it easy to secure such result it is characterized as " sentimentalism " or " speculation." Sir, there are some so wa-apped in ideas of specu- lation that they think of no other rule by which to measure the motives and actions of others but that which governs themselves, and, unlike Macbeth, behold it even in the vacant eyes of the walking nightmare that haunts their vision of gain, — those who, measuring life and duty by the rule of dollars and cents, would, if they had the power, bottle up the free air of heaven, and i-etail it to a gasping public lor a pecuniary consideration. TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 47 " Spec^ation " lies not at the foundation of this plan, but may follow those who favor annexation in a most objectionable form, — the piecemeal process — that diverts legislation from the greater good of the masses to the aid of the few who would con- centrate in particular localities the benefits arising therefrom; thus delaying and therefore doubling and trebling the cost of those essential public im- provements wdiich should be accomplished only upon the basis of an equality of benefits among all the communities whose situation, with reference to the subject, is substantially the same. The object of legislation is justice, and the promotion of the greatest good for the greatest number; and upon this theory it becomes the duty of the state to inter- pose its power in shaping the future of its metropo- lis, so that the best interests of all its citizens may be promoted. The propositions embraced in the Kesolve have to do with the serious business of providing not only for the prosperity and comfort of millions of people who are to come after us, but for the pre- vention, also, of a useless sacrifice of life and health. I commend to legislators, whose duty it is to guard the public welfare, some startling facts de- veloped in the report of the Board of Health of the present year, which has just been laid upon Senators' desks. If it shall be found that the death-rate, independent of the increase arising from 48 ENLARGEMENT OF THE the .sinall-])ox epidemic, is twenty-five ]^v cent, larger than the preceding year, there is a cause for it ; and it is for them to say whether the proper sanitary condition of the city can be restored and protected short of a complete reorganization of the system of drainage and surface imjirovements in the territory entirely surrounding the present limits of Boston. An improved system of drainage will be one great remedy for existing evils; another and more complete one may be found in the es- tablishment of P^UIKS, SQUARES, AKD BEOAD AVENUES, which are essential to the preservation of health in all great cities.* An intelligent writer and excel- lent authority, in commenting upon the necessity as well as difficulties of making suitable provisions for securing the health of the people who are rapidly filling up the great cities of the world, says : "Air is disinfected by sunlight and foliage. Foliage also acts mechanically to purify the air by screening it. Opportunity and inducement to escape at frequent * All ciniiuMit pliysician in New York City, in speaking of the influence of Central Tarlv in promoting public liealtli, says : — "Where I formerly ordered patients of a certain class to givi- up their bnsiueHs altogether and go out of town, I now often advise simply mod- eration, and prescribe a ride in the park before going t(j their oftiee.s, and again a drive with their families before dinner, liy simply adojitiiig this course as a habit, men who have been breaking down frequently re- cover Iniif rajiidly, and arc able to retain an active and controlling iii- llueiice in an important business, from w Inch they would have otherwise been forced to retire. I direct school-girls, under certain circumstances, to be taken wholly, or in part, from tlieir studies, and sent to spend sev- eral hours a day rambling on foot in the park." TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 49 intervals from the confined and vitiated air of the commercial quarters, and to supply with air screened and purified by trees, and recently acted upon by the sunlight, together with opportunity and induce- ments to escape from conditions requiring vigilance, wariness and activity toward , other men, if these could be economically supplied, our problem," he says, "would be solved." There is no locality where all the conditions so abundantly exist for solving the problems that are now being discussed in connection with the growth of cities, as in Boston and vicinity. That they have not been long since solved here, and Boston placed in the front rank of the healthiest 'and most beau- tiful cities in the world, is because the people have not accepted the offers presented by the gen- erous hand of nature. It is of the highest importance to preserve within the limits of a city, for purposes of health and beauty, as much of nature as possible. Trees, shrubs, and flowers were created for highest use- fulness, and, wherever permitted, are constantly at work in the service of man ; and whenever man attempts to exclude nature and her laws from his plans, he is sure to do it at a costly penalty. Light, a free circulation of air, and the purifying influence of foliage, are now admitted to be indispensable requisites to public health. To have these in abund- ance in the residential portions of a city, there must 50 ENLARGEMENT OF THE be Ijroiid avenues, with broad sidewalks, lined with vigorous shade-trees.* There must also be open spaces or parks where men, women and children can indulge in those rec- reative sports and enjoyments that conduce so much to the health, vigor, morality and manliness of the people ; and these parks should, if possible, contam sheets of water where saihng, rowing and other aquatic enjoyments can be freely indulged in by all classes of people, f There should, also, be numer- ous bathing-places to promote cleanliness, and, therefore, godliness. Observe the location of city school-houses, four or live stories high, crowded into narrow streets, where neither sunlight nor pure air can reach them. At recess, when the pupils are allowed a few mo- ments to escape the confined atmosphere of the building, they are sent out out into "pens," en- closed by high w^alls and paved with brick. Sir, I will venture the opinion that from two to five years wonld be added to the average fife of the native population of cities, and the mortality among school- children be largely reduced, if public educational structures were required to be built not more than two stories high, and each located upon a two-or- three-acre park. And then, if fewer hours of study, - TlH. U'l." th of tl.o pav...l stn-c-ts in Paris is about 340 iiulos ; 225 miles of th.s.. streets were, i.rcvi..us to the sioye of the city by the Prussian army in IHTO, lined with trees, gardens and planted stiuares. t Crieket and l.ase-l.all elubs are acc, 35. 5(i EXLARGEMEXT OF THE other large modern city in securing them ; and, to her dishonor l^e it said, has never added any park grounds to the " Old Common " which the residents of the little village of Boston reserved for them- selves more than two hundred years ago. 'New York has eleven hundred and Philadelphia more than three thousand acres of park grounds. ISTow, sir, while the interests of these sixteen municipalities are identical and centered in one locality, they seek prosperity under independent governments. If the OAvner of a fine ship should load that ship with a valuable cargo for a trading venture, and place sixteen captains on board with equal powers, directed to go where in their judg- ment they could realize the greatest success, there would, of course, be a mutiny among them before she left her moorings, and the enterprise would fail until there was a consolidation of authority, and, under command of a single power, her course should be fixed and her sails spread to the breeze that would speed her on a prosperous voyage. Human nature is the same on the land as on the sea, — the same among diff*erent local governments as among difi'erent men, — and no plan for a com- prehensive system of improvements among this cluster of municipalities upon a scale at all com- mensurate with the demands of their population, can be projected without coming in contact with local jealousies and confliciing ideas and interests which hinder the progress of all. TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 57 Charles-river Basin, for instance, which is bounded by Boston, Cambridge and Brooldine, is susceiDtible of improvements which wonld eclipse in beauty the celebrated embankments upon the Thames Kiver in London, and could be accom- plished at a fraction of the expense. "Will Boston begin the improvements? No! not without a satisftictory arrangement with Cambridge. Will Cambridge and BrooMine undertake the much- needed enterprise? Certainly not, unless Boston is a willing partner in the expense. One city is not going to tax its people to benefit another city, if it can avoid it. Well, suppose they could all agree to share an equitable proportion of the ex- pense? Can they then agree as to what that equi- table proportion is — the amount to be expended, and the style and particular characteristics of the improvement? There is no prospect of such har- mony until human nature is re-organized and made fit to participate in the joys of the distant mil- lennium ; for the residents of Cambridge, most of whom do business in Boston, would be first taxed at home for that city's proportion of the expense, — then they would have to pay another tax upon their merchandise and real estate in Boston for that city's proportion of the expense ; so that a resident of Cambridge would be obliged to pay two taxes, while a resident of Boston would pay but one. Is this fact likely to contribute to the harmony of their calculations? As a large proportion of the 58 ENLAP.GEMEXT OF THE taxes collected in Boston are paid by residents of other towns that would not he benefited by an ex- penditure of which they would have to bear a con- siderable part, of course all such improvements and the legislation necessary to authorize them, w^ould have to encounter their hostility. And the result would be that Charles-river Basin would remain in the future, as in the past, though in the heart of an immense population, a continued disgrace to their intelligence, taste and enterprise. This case is an illustration of a principle which will apply to all other localities under considera- tion. ^Yho has not, for years past, heard of the " Mil- ler-river nuisance," the stench arising from which has been strong enough to breed a pestilence in the neighborhood surrounding it? The odors from this nest of putrefaction are so intense in the hot months, that passengers in railroad trains passing through it are obliged to hold their breath and pinch their noses until the poisoned atmosphere is passed. It is still there, however, undisturbed. Why? Because it lies on the borders of three cities, — Cambridge, Somerville and Charlestown. Can it be supposed that it would liave been permitted to remain where life and health were imperiled by its existence, if it had been subject to the control of one municipal power? But we are told that Boston has territory enough now, though shapeless and circumscribed, to ac- TEERITORIAL AREA OF BOSTOX. 59 commodate her growth. That is not true, because nearly half of her business men reside outside of her limits. There may be acres enoug'h to accom- modate them; but there is no power in a republic tliAt can force the growth of a city in any particular direction. Look at the map which is now before you, and see how absurd such a suggestion ap- pears. Its growth will be governed by natural causes over which man has no control. His duty is limited to using and developing the advantages which nature presents. Where did the idea obtain that the area of a city was to be confined to par- ticular limits when there were no natural barriers to define them? Why insist upon confining the great population of Boston to a territorial area less than half as large as many of the towns in the state which have a population of only two or three thousand? County and town lines should be treated as mere fictions w^hen they become a bar to public benefits. I have tried to believe that the object of government was to provide for the public w^elfare; and if that could be better served by making the boundary lines of a city ten miles square instead of one mile square, then the duties of a legislator were determined and clear. 'Now, let us see in which direction the current of population is setting about Boston. The fol- lowing table, prepared from the census of 1870, show^s that the percentage of increase in the four northern adjoining cities and tow^is of Revere, 60 ENLARGEMENT OF THE Maiden, Somerville and Cambridge was 43 per cent, in five years, while in the four southern ad- joining towns of Dorchester, Koxbury, Brookline and Brighton, where endeavors are being made to force the population by piecemeal-annexation, the mcrease in five years was 22 per cent., while in Boston, as it existed before the annexation of Rox- bury and Dorchester, the increase was but five per cent.; thus exhibiting the fact which I desire to impress upon your memory that the population in the adjoining towns is increasing several hundred per cent, faster than in old Boston. TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTOX. 61 o , ♦ " « '^t ■■'^ I— ^ cocicieoi^ ociT-H CO CO Ci !M — -f . . =^ ^ E ? X o =-. O 30 ^ UO CO 1 >-. rH O o rH O to X_ to 1 1 05 g fe rt C5 CO CO COr^QOliOCO CO(NrH 00 UO* rH tti O CO 1 " *■ rt rH (M O (M -* O CO ^ 0 ^1 CO X ;o 1 CN 1 c^^ 3>] o 00 t^ c^^ c>; 1 1 1 00 ^ .^i ^ O Ci ^ r-i CO r-i lO 'O 00 to lo i6 rH " ^ rt o\ <>i t^ CO C5 lO ) 3-1 rH O s ^ « r-l rH Sh "^ ^•s ,i O i-H «0 COt^r-itoOOX-^Oi c^ -^ -H t^ CO "M ■O C5 CO g S 2 ^ 00 -^ cc '>lt>;l0Cr5t-^CO00rHOl T-l r-< O -# Ol to r; CO rH " S S rt lO •<:)< Oi GOGOoi'OOOaOGOCOO^ o CO t-^ -*' to' id to -^ -^ S .«e rH 3^J (>< CO rH rl rH CM CO ■^ HI O rH (M 3-1 3-1 ^ ^£■"2 1 — , © ^ ^ t^ Ol-tCl^-H-t-COOI-t* t^ X 3-1 t^ X "-H CTl rH lO o co_ t>^ CO CO O-l £ ^ « ^ ^ -o as" ^ 1 rH O r-T cT O T-H i-H rH O rH I'S I— 1 rH ' rH CO o e era 1—1 so COt^t^OlrJCOt- HCO C t^ t^ UO to O CO 3-1 uO "-O c • t- « t^ rH -f :rS CO « r- — CO Ol O] -^ rH X OJ uO X 01 CO CO ~ 2 '^ H t-^ ic ic ri uo oi "O cr. --c r: Ol CO t^ to CO. to to tO^ r- to. a G co'^-^" ^ X rl COrH-Tt^ — X O) t^ lO Tti Tfi to X t^' x' of ■i i O rH CO u:i i-t CO cs 1-t '^ as CO 1 (?< C^ 1-H CO s c GO r^ to rHCOXCOOOi-HOICi o 05 CO C5 3-1 01 CO -t< o c — --1 C-l CO O O CO '-C t^ lO r- Ci -f< CO iO c^ to ^ X '# -i* .2 « CO t^ '^ -t -f X O t-^ OJ^ X^ ^^ CO X, X CO t^ 3-1 en 31 t^ CO B * tM" d" CO rn" -f oi" rH CO cf o to ->* as CO lO to to I— -H •S X Cr. rl 3^ CO rH (M 3^ rH -t« CO !•* T-( ox rH CO s rwv^ ^ >1 • • • • • k< -^ * ' * * * i> o S!5 ■ • '3 b s r^ o " ' *E? > - o • ,-2 1 ^ ■S '3 > .£ ;s ,5 .^c c rs 3 ,:^ fe «> K isive of Dorcl IGth ward), th, 14th, 15th "S3 Medford Somervi Waterto- Brooklin West Ro c: V tal 15 towi and all 17 in County, si ^ a 1 ^ •-^rj 1 ^ O fi c = -= Il-^ H c-iS a: •- X f*? K 3 COO «♦-« o •: ttGP^ Pm CQP^ G2 ENLARGEMENT OF THE COMMUXICATIOX BETWEEN BOSTON AXD THE NORTH BANK OF CHARLES RIVER is becoming a very important subject for consider- ation. Opinions are entertained by many, that the area of Boston should not extend across this river, and that appropriate provision can be made for the rapid increase of population by the existence of two cities — one on the north and another on the south of it. It is difficult to discover the reasons for such a conclusion; for the cleanest, healthiest, best governed and best drained cities in the world — like London, Paris, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Yienna, Glasgow and others, embrace both banks of a river — and, in most civilized countries, it has become a settled conviction that a river should not be the boundary line of a city, especially where both banks are equally favorable for occupation and improvement. It is evident that an extensive system of bridges must be maintained across the Charles River, because the population is becoming dense on both sides of it; and in a few years there will be hundreds of thousands residing upon the northern banks, who, in pursuit of their vocations will be obliged to cross daily to the south side where the great centre of business near the deep waters of the harbor Avill ever exist. The bridges, therefore, must be ample, and, in their construc- tion, free from parsimonious influences. Where bridges are necessary they ought to be among the TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTOX. 63 most imposing, beautiful and attractive architectu- ral features of a great city ; and the future prom- ises an extensive field here for the exercise of skill in the art of bridge building in connection with improvements in the "Charles-river Basin"; for every bridge between Boston and the north bank of the river, except those crossed by railroads, will have to be " reconstructed " and enlarged in a few years, to accommodate the growing demands of the public. Each of the several independent municipalities Avith which these different bridges connect, en- deavors to avoid as much as possible the expense and responsibility of their construction and care, — and inasmuch as the channel and boundary line which separate these governments, runs close to the Boston shore, the chief expense of toaintaining these long bridges falls upon the weakest munici- pality. Therefore, unless both ends of these public structures are under the control of a single power, the bridges of Boston are not likely to rank with those of London and Paris, which are the pride of every beholder. The fact is, the bridges about Boston, viewing them in the light of usefulness and beauty, — re- flect no credit upon those who designed and planned their construction. They are a source of legislative controversy every year — and are for, very far, from being adequate to a proper accom- modation of the public; and thus they will remain 64 ENLARGEMENT OF THE until the}'^ are subject to the management of one instead of many governments. COST OF DELAY IX UNITING BOSTON WITH TILE CITIES AND TOWNS AKOL^T) IT. Mr. President, it is admitted by the opponents of this measure that the union of these cities and towns must take place at some time, but they think the effort to accomphsh it now is premature. There is no one who would not regard it as very absurd to attempt to maintain independent muni- cipal governments, with coordinate powers, in each of the sixteen wards of Boston where there is but one common interest. Senators can readily im- agine the turmoil and local jealousies that would follow where each had the power to place a check upon the progress of the other. [N^ow, the differ- ent cities and towns under consideration bear near- ly the same relation to-day toward Boston and each other as do the various wards of Boston, and when the population is as numerous — as it will be in a very few years — will it be less absurd to attempt to maintain an independent government over each of these sixteen cities and towns, while their indi- vidual and combined interests are so fused as to make them practically but one community? The proposition answers itself. If, therefore, the consolidation of these govern- ments is to he accomplished at all, with a view to general public improvements which shall be in TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 65 keeping with the S23irit of the time, and with the intelhgence of Massachusetts, it should be done immediately, for the cost of delay, as has been shown in the past history of Boston, is simply enor- mous. I will illustrate this by giving the valua- tion of 1861 and 1872, showing the increase in values in a period of only eleven years in the cities and towns which it is now proposed to unite. The facts in the following table will be found partic- ularly interesting upon this point. 66 ENLARGEMENT OF THE ^ oi 'o o -r o CO '0 -o o c-, _ ^, ^ f>l 3 «c :c -M >"t o C: Ol — — '0 ;;r y ;^ Ol 'v".-.— . '=*^. 51 1- *r CO 1^ « 00 e(r cT tCor;o'cror-,c*-^" c; cr'— ' X 5 5 o 6©: ^.C ^ i>1 Ol Ol ^ s 1 fe" g 1—1 H o CO r-^ ^^ lO O 'O •O 'O o o o o >c >c 01 o o o o o ^ CO cc r^ — f CO 1- ■CO o ^^ !~. c;,,'.'^ -^__c>_ c_. 1^ ■O X 1- oi C5 e et ic'cTc^-^ *c" CO ^r CO W j^j »» *« o a: o —• CT. X IIO X 1-^ »*• i-~i 0_-l'^'(T_'M_ t^ 1^ x__— __ ^ e--^ "**- X cc" c^'oc cT CO* ■*Ci -*«^>C -1< rt c c x" <» f4 €& w CC 0-1 C-. ' o Ol t^ ^ s a 8= S& » ,S "^ ^ CI C CO O -,£ r^oo-t* — cooo X c p o c o o Cv) r- 1^ lO C-l t~ 1- c ~ o ■* -t" C. -^ t^ x_^ y;^ — ^ co_^ co_ -r_ co_^ -.c^ Ol C CO x_ a t-^xxc^ cT ^"'O o Cil-l-CO QC ci (»00CCO o ■c '•O li CO X i S ^' c^-qd" of o) CO oi ^ t^ cs OI c-. c; C-. OI r^ c^ t o Eh €©: - Ol S €& ^ » » §& ^ o o la „• ;- r- r^ ^. — ^ccco-^o-c X o o o O c: o ,^ ■^ 1^ -o o tX c; c c c o £ s w o o o c c o co^Tf^oj^t^ «q_ ^ no ca_ •* ^ o g 3 cTc^r-Tc^r 'iT CO t^ o c t^ 0-. t^ OJ C5 O X x* ■5 =5 1^ •^ l--«'C-. cc C-. oc 1^ c; — X oi c; ^ OJ Ci o Ol a ''v'".^_~. co^ '",' ^^-^.'t-'^L'^ CO '":.'v cv^-3 § > c-rc5 r^ •*'co"qc"-^'" o" CO ' --c 2 :rr '^ S.' ^ o C-1 >-o r^ c >.o i.O .^ e r^o o — 1 o) o X o X CT. ^ o 1 tC^Cl^C-l^O 00^ ? d -3 5 ^ -+ £ oi CO ^C.'f o. c:__cc_ CO 1 se M s — "".-Tc-rio" of t-Tof o" 'O t^ w^ » -' lO «Dr^ X ?* .s €©: ii= ^ » *= 1 e "K o coo o o O C — C C 'O lO' o o o o o o o o CO — 'o o —< t^ o c o c; oi oi X o o o c o o 'l^ ^ ■*_oc -r t~-^ ■*. C£_^-)"_^0_5C_«C_?C o_ •^ c_^t^ t^ O^ « cTorco" — ' • ~~— " -(Tx- of x'co" cTof g Cf. CO X t~ t-^ co ou-c X 'O- c '*• Ol X r^ — r oc c; cc -« >o 1^1^ q^c:_^c^t^,-H ^ x_ c o o. Ol o co_ "1 «^ ^-o- OJ i-T r-Tioco" co" x'co" f— < > O T}< 7^ ^ a o s » * •^ ,!S K- olis, to say nothing of that more raj^id growth which should be pioneered by noble con- ception, progressive legislation, and public enter- prise. In the revolutionary period Boston was first in unportance in the new-born republic; and, in my judgment she might, under the judicious exercise of state and municipal power, have maintained her supremacy in wealth and population, to the present time. But for lack of administrative foresight in creating home attractions, and in encouraging home enter^^rises, her young men, and business men, and her capital, have been forced to seek other fields, to build up other cities, and develop the wealth of other states. "What is the matter? Have the people been so intent upon the accumulation of wealth by pursuing the usages of the past, that they have failed to dis- cover the progressive character of the age, or to remember that the sea upon which they are smoothly sailing into the unmeasured future may contain reefs and shoals which cannot be safely passed without soundings, observations, and calcu- lations? Sir, we have delved in by-gones long enough to be familiar with their lessons, and that is all that TERRITORIAL AREA OF BOSTON. 81 we should care to know about them. The past is finished, — the untouched future only is before us. Is it not time that we had paused to take bearings, and learn in which direction the true path of prog- ress lies? Looking down upon the present we find scattered over the territory described in the Resolve before the Senate, Boston broken into municipal fragments, — and while there is but one common interest affecting all, independent govern- ments are maintained in each which are in conflict one with the other. Under such an incongruous system there can be no harmony or method, while both are so essential to public prosperity. I wish here to appeal to your unbiased judgments to sub- stantiate this declaration — that becoming progress in public improvements, economy in official administration, sound sanitary conditions, and con- tentment among the people, are utterly impossible unless, for general purposes, one homogeneous system of government shall embrace them all. Under the guidance of such a government the ambition of the people, stirred by fresh incentives, would move forward to the achievement of new glories in the fields of progress and civilization. Her business men and capital would come back again, and her young men would be content to build upon foundations illuminated by the brighter destinies of their native metropolis. Thus under the influence of ideas which should lead the progress 11 82 ENLARGEMENT OF THE AREA OF BOSTON. of Republican civilization, Boston may yet become the first city on the American continent, — the favorite resort of those in search of education, science, thrift in business pursuits, and all that is healthful, beautiful and grand in nature and art. APPENDIX. Professor Holtou, who has devoted much attention to civic improvements, and particularly to modes of rapid transit and the transmission of power through tubes, writes me as follows ; — " In your speech I think you have hardly made enough of im- provements in the near future. Let us talce "first the transmission of power. Steam is a perfect vehicle for it. Nothing is needed but a boiler and fire at one end of a tu1)e and an engine at the other. You can turn a faucet and instantly start your machinery. But there is an enormous waste. Every wave of heat that escapes through the walls of the tu]3e is a loss of power ; and as soon as the temperature of the interior of the tube falls to 212° no power is left. Every time your engine stops it cools ; and jjower is expended in reheating it to a temperature much over 212° before it will work to its full capacity. The waste is proportioned to the distance between boiler and engine, and every moment's delay is a loss. " The true method for the transmission of power is by compressed AIR. Immense steam-engines, miles away and miles apart, convert the power stored in coal into compressed air. They may be aided by the moon (tide-mills) , and by the sun (wind-mills), and the owners of them can sell to the city the power which they generate. No street that should liave air ' laid on' could fail of being thronged with man- ufactures—often such as need but a tenth of a horse-power, or need power but a tenth of the time — unless the merchant should overbid the artisan. For elevators it has this advantage, that lowering reverses the course of the air, and actually throws power back into the tube. Even where not needed for days together, it can be had in large quan- tities and at a moment's warning. It might be let on to fire-engines the instant that they had reached the fire. It could open a drawbridge, thrust a vessel through, shut it again, and lapse into repose and cost- lessness. Its pure breath, instead of tainting the workshop, refreshes it. It is transmitted without loss, and can be stored in reservoirs like gas and water. " But by far the most important use of compressed air would be on local railways, subterranean or elevated. Au extravagant head of power would be let on at leaving a station, and a car would near the next at a rate of sixty miles an hour ; then the speed would be ar- rested and stopped simply by reversing the engine and condensing air back into the tank. The waste and wear of braking up is what necessitates low speed on way trains. We could hope to make tliirty 84 APPENDIX. miles an hour, stops excluded, or a mile in four minutes, including stops. The passengers would go from an eighth of a mile to half the diameter of the city at a uniform rate of three cents, or even less. The great parks would be at the termini of these radiating roads, and the out<;rmost parts of the area they should reach would he as valual)le for residences as Commonwealth Avenue is to-day. But the outlay of altering a street, already Iniilt, and far too naiTow, to suit elevated railways, is something enormous. As to the choice between elevated or underground railroads, I do not hesitate an instant. The average thickness of a city, from cellar-tloor to roof, is some eighty feet. The traOic of the streets is only ten feet alaove its lower plane, and a sub- terranean road necessitates climl)ing tlie moment you leave it. The value of each storj- diminishes as you rise alcove the sidewalk. Now if you will put a second sidewalk fifteen feet above the first, and re- move to that all the car tra\'el, most of the i^edestrians would seek the same level. Ladies who went sh()2)ping woidd not, if they could reach the cars without descending to the ground, go near it once in all their trip. We should have a retail city over the wholesale city. The second storj- would be more valuable than the first, and an additional value would Ije given to each floor above. " Tlie ' Rows ' of Chester, England, illustrate the requisite sty'le of building, and we have a single examijle of it in the Congregational House, corner of Beacon and Somerset streets, Boston. The near approach of the lower story to the centre of the sti'eet does not dimin- ish the light of the windows ojiposite. The wall of the first story (in- variably of glass and iron) would support the centre of the track. The loading and unloading of carts would little incommode the busy throng of passers, which always increases with the growth of the city. The present size of London would be almost impossible with all tlft passing on one level. " Density at the centre is what limits the growth of a city, as it does of a palm. When no more new and tender fibi'cs can penetrate the impacted, hide-bound interior of the palm, growth is arrested. When the centre of a city becomes an iuextrieal)le vortex, as now in New York, business seeks to escape from the annoyance to more conven- ient seats. The question of the ultimate size of a city is then entirely a question of transit. "On this problem New Yoi'k is now laboring, but its mechanical exigencies are as nothing compared with the legal obstructions of rivals. London, more fortunate, has made both the upper and lower schemes a .success to the passenger; though it is asserted that Avhile the subterranean roads earn no dividends, the elevated ones are doing a good business. The introduction of the best system into Boston, will be like the touch of Ithuriers spear. London, on the edge of an island and on the banks of a small river, has not the natural advan- tages of Boston, with its grand harbor and a continent to contribute to it. A century of wise government, with the application to city- transit of the latest improvements in the conveyance of ])ersons, goods and messages, cannot fail to jjlace our metropolis far beyond anything that earth has yet seen." t LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 077 943 A