F 198 .W344 Copy 1 MESSAGE THE MAYOR, TO THE BOARPS OF Aldermen and Common Council CITY OF WASHINGTON, 1). C SAYLES J. BOWEX, MAYOR. Delivered June 29, 1868. WASHINGTON, D. C. CHRONICI.i: I'l.'tvi- a I ■ '-a- SIESSAGE THE MAYOR, TO THE I50AKDS OK Aldermen and Common Conncil CITY OF AVASHirsGTON, D. C. SAYLES J. BOWEN, MAYOR. Di;i,ivEKKu June 29, 18G3. ^:^_^n wi^ ^uu>-\tli^ ( ^■Y^-^^w ' WASHINGTON, D. C. CIIIJONICI.K rUINT. 18()H JUN 27 1908 D. ot a MESSAGE. To the Board of Aldermen and Board of Common Counnl x)f the City of Wai^hinqton. D. C. Gentlemen : The disorgani/.od and coniusod state of atfair.s which has existed since I entered on the discharge of my duties has prevented me from obtaining such information as is neces- sary to enable me to make a detailed statement of the condi- ticn of things as they now exist, or to recommc^nd .-uch action as may be requisite to improve and conect it. I shall, there- fore, limit this communication to what I deem the most impor- tant measures that will present themselves for your cou-^idera- tion and disposal. THE CITY DKKT. The funded debt of the city is as follows: Six ppr cent, quarterly stock $080,101 32 Five percent, quarterlj' stock (!1,307 t>0 Six per cent, water stock ]r)r),000 00 Six per cent, canal stock 48,800 00 Total amount of funded debt $945,208 22 The floating debt ascertained and estimated is — On account of Schools $200,000 Police 31,«:« Levy Court 13,000 Interest due July 1 - 1 ^OOO Washington Gaslight Company 40,000 Reward for arrest of Murderers of Abraham Lincoln. 20,000 Contractors and others, say 200,000 $509,633 This sum is probably con.^ideraldy less than the actual amount due, but is as nearly correct as it is possible to make it from all the information that could be obtained in the limited time I have had. The floating- debt, some of it long- since due, should be i>ro- vided for at once. It is too late to discuss the causes that led to it, or the swindling operations that have plunged the city into its financial difficulties. By proper means this debt can be paid, and the credit of the city restoreil to what it was before it was placed under the control of men reckless of the expendi.- ture of its revenues, wh) appear to have administered the af- fairs of the Corporation in the interest of themselves and a horde of cormorants aad speculators by whom they were sur- rounded. I recommend that application be made to Congress for authority to issue bonds in denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1 000, with interest at six per cent, per annum, pay- able semi-annually, for the sum of $550,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay the debt existing on the 30th in- stant, payable in ten years from date, or sooner, if the Corpo- ration desires; the redemption of said bonds to be provided for by a sinking fund, to be set apart annually for that purpose from the regular revenues of the city, such bonds to be used only for the extinguishment of said debt. These bonds, it is- believed, would l>e readily taken by the creditors of the Corpo- ration in payment of their demands, and then the city would be able to commence anew, uuembarrassed by importunate credi- tors, and to conduct its affnirs on the principle of "pay as you go," the only safe and prudent course for this or any other Cor- poration to pursue. In a future commuiiicatiun it is my expectation to furnish you with a detailed statement of the anticipated revenue.^ of the city from all sources, as well as the various sums required to be ex- pended for different objects during the year Thus far I have been unable to obtain information on which to base a reliable titatement in regard to these matters. OUR SCHOOh SYSTEM. The school system in thi.s city, in my opinion, could be vastly improved by placing the same under the control of a Board of Education, and providing for at least two competent superinten- dents to" examine into the qualifications, and to oversee, super- vise 'and direct the teachers in the discipline, managemenr,, course of studies, and details of the school-rooms. ^Jome have 5 ndvocatod the rnixiiicr of white and colored children in the J^anie schools; but my experience and ol»--crvsitioti satisfy me that it is at present impractica'de. The colored people are opposed to it, arul so stron;^ is the prejudice of many of our white citizens that they would prefer their children to remain in ignorance rather than send them to a school where children of color arc permitted to attend. Thus one class of children wnuld be de- prived of an education, which, more than anything el.-e, serves in the end to soften^ and destroy the unnatunil prejudice against color that has been engendered by the institution of slavery. At present, therefore, I would atlvise separate schools for tach class. GOVERN.MENT MI) NKKDKlJ. The support of these schools is a heavy burthen v>u our peo- ple, a large portion of which should be borne by the Uniied States. It is estimated that not more than two fifths of the children now living in the city (all of whom should have an opportunity to attend pul)lic fcchools) belong to families per- tnanently residing here. The remainder are children of such as are officers of the General Government, or those whom the for- tunes of the late war brought here, none of whom own pro[>erty or pay taxes into the city treasury. It is not fair that we should he taxed to educate their children, and I am satisfied that with a, proper representation and application to Congress for aid in this direction, we will be successful, particularly as this city has never received any assistance from that quarter, while all the States have been recipients of its bounty for educational pur- poses. I recommend that application to Congress be made for an appropriation equal to one half the sum required to support our schools, conditioned on the raising of the same amount by the city authorities for the same purpoj^c. SCllOOL BUILDINGS. Attention is requested to the school-house in course of erec- tion at the corner of Thirteenth and K streets The work has progressed so far that it can hardly be stopped at this time without injury to the walls and other portions of the structure, and yet the Corporation is without funds, and there is due the contractor about $()(), 000, which \\o cljiims nod is much in need of. Of courtie i his and other similar indehtedness can only be paid as funds are collected by the; Corporation, and the ques- tion is submitted for your consideration wheihor, under the cir- cumstances, the work shall go on until the building- is under roof, and thus secured from damage, or stop and wait until means are collected to pay for what has been doue, and then put it in condition to be occupied. The policy of erecting such a building, which, Aviih the ground and furniture, will cost nearly $200,000, was, in my opinion, questionable. While other portions of the city are destitute of school buildings, and there was scarcely money enough' to pay the necessary teachers, the reveanes for school purposes for nearly two years should never have been absorbed to build a single house, which at best will not accommodate one-tenth of the children of the city ! Good, substantial school-houses could have been built in every ward for less than the cost of this. Now we build one, and all other parts of the city nre desiiiutc! CONDITION OF OUrt STRKfcTS. Attention is called to the lilihy condition of the streets and alleys, and the necessity for tnking immediate steps to improve them as a sanitary measure. Unless that be done, disease and pestilence will overtake us sis certain as cause produces efl'ect. The total absence of means to d(^fray even the incidental ex- penses attendant upon the execution ol the laws of the Corpo- ration, prevents me from attempting to employ a force siiHicient to perform this necessary work without authority from the Councils. I am unwilling to increase the indebtedness of the city, and put a further strain upon its credit, until there has been some provision made for meeting the entire demand. No delay can be afforded in regard to this matter, and I trust the Councils will not adjourn this evening without indicating the policy proper to l)e pursued. REMOVAL OP THE CENTRE MARKKr. The Senate of the United States has passed a bill providing for the removal of the Centre Market to a point nn or near the canal, between Tenth and Twelfth stieets west. This bill will hi' acted on in the House immediatelv. and, us it is o matter of tlie greatest importance to the eily, 1 invite your attention to tlie fact, and request that you will give it the consideration it deserves. That the market should be removed from its present site, where it has been an eye-sore and a nuisance for a genera- tion, is tlie judgment of every well-wisher of Washington; but whet^icf a more appropriate and convenient location than that indicated in the Senate bill could not be secured, is a question in which all should take an interest. It is also inqiortant that an effort be made to secure to the city, if possible, a transfer by the General Government of the site on which the present mar- ket is located, the proceeds from the sale of which wonld go far toward paying the expense of erecting another market-house, as required. This site should be built up with stores and resi- dences, which would add to the appearance of the avenue, and the business and wealth of the city. THE CANAL HUISANCE. I invite your serious consideration to the suliject of the canal, many propositions for the Improvement of which have been made and discussed, both in Councils and in Congress. In my opinion, it is worthless as a means of transportation, and so long as it remains open, it will be a plague spot and a means of engerid(^ring dif-ease all over the city. Experience has proved clearly that it cannot be kept clean in its present condition. After all the expense incurred to renovate and cleanse it, it is there bearing ample testimony to all sensible minds, that it is a festering nuisance, sending forth from its beds of filth and scum its messengers of death to our population. I can see no other way to dispose of it than to contract its width to, say twenty feet, arch and cover it, so that it may serve the purpose of a .sewer for the city, and an outlet for the waters of the Tiber. By a bulkhead at Seventeenth street, and by paving or plank- ing the bottom of the arch, it could be daily cleansed by a flood of water pouring through it from end to end, and thus the nui sance will be abated. It may be said that this would require a large outlay of money, but, in answer to that, it is safe to assume that the re- claimed ground would sell for much more than the cost of the work, to say nothing of the advantages that would result from the abatement of the nuisance. I have thrown out these crude suggestions for the considera- tion of the Councils. If they prefer and sliall agree upon any- other feasible plan of disposing of this troublesome matter, I shall be glad to co-operate with them in the undertaking. Until a system of sewerage and drainage be introduced and carried out — such as the financial condition of the city will not admit of our undertaking for several years to come — we must use this channel for that purpose; but the time nill arrive when it will be necessary only for drainage and for an outlet, as before stated, of the Tiber. STREET RAILROADS AND REPAIRS, By the charter of the street railroads in the city the compa-. nies are required to keep the tracks, the spaces between the tracks, and for two feet outside the outer I'ails, well paved and in good order. It is well known to all, particularly those who have occasion to drive on the streets where these roads are located, that very little attention has been and is being paid to these requirements. As this is a grievance of which our citizens justly complain, I have deemed it my duty to call your attention to it, and ask such action in the premises as in your judgment the case re- quires. At the same time I would suggest that these corpora- tions sho lid not be allowed any special priviliges from the city authorities beyond those derived from their charters. THE CONTRACT SUSTEM. 1 recommend the abrogation or repeal of all laws of the Cor- poration requiring that work on any of the streets or sewers shall be done by contract. Under the system of contracts, as it has been carried out, the city has been robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jobs that would disgrace any city or people have been passed and paid for as completed, accord- ing to the requirements of the contracts, when in not a single feature have ihe contracts been complied with. Street pave- ments and sidewalks have been laid in mud, when the contrac- tors were required to lay them in nine to twelve inches of sand or gravel, thus receiving pay for removing earth they never touched, and for using sand they never saw. Indeed, it is a common remark that no one has seen for years a job done for the Corporation according to tlie terms of the contract. Tlio con- sequence has been that our pavements have liad to be relaid nearly every year. Our sidewalks have become quagmires after every heavy rain, and when the frost is con\tiig out of the ground in the spring; our sewers have burst and tumbled in, carrying with them men, teams and carriages, involving the city in liti- gation, damages, and costs. The streets "gravelled" with mud, (as they have been in most cases,) have l)een cut up into gut- ters, requiring constant repairs The materials used have been of the meanest and least valuable kind possible to be procured; in fact, everything that could be has been done to swindle the taxpayers, and fdl the pockets of contractors and their aider.* and abettors. Such is the natural result of the s\stem, such the demorali- zation that is sure to follow in its train. To prevent it I would have all work of tin- kiiid performed by men hired by the day or week, who should be placed under the charge of commis- sioners for each ward, to be elected by the Councils and Mayor in joint convention, and the whole work to be controlled by two competent engineers and superintendents of streets and sewers, to be chosen in the same manner, and to be removable, as other officers now are, at the pleasure of the Mayor. By this means employment and prompt pay will be given, and the benefits of Corporation labor be distributed alike to all classes, regard- less of race or color Nor will laboring men be subject to be defrauded of their earnings by dishonest contractors. STREET REPAIRS. The great width of our streets operates as a drawback on our ability to jjave and keep them in good repair. The road- ways in all of ihem, in my opinion, are unnecessarily wide, and they could be contracted from fifteen to twenty feet without inconvenience and with very little expense, by setting curbstones further into the .streets, and using the space between the pave- ment line and the curbstone so set for a grass plat and for plant- ing trees. This is being done in many Northern cities, and I am satisfied it could be done here with advantage to the streets, with economy, and at the same it will add greatly to the health and beauty of the city, I recommend, in all cases where streets 10 arc to be paved in future, that authority be given to contract the width of the same as indicated. The jiractice of putting down gas and water mains in the middle of the streers is, in my opinion, very objectionable. It involves the necessity of opening the street to tap the mains or repair the service pipes, as w^ell as a large expense for excava- ting the trench and the necessary length of pipe to reach from the footwalk to the centre of the street. All this can be avoided by laying mains of one-half the capacity ot those required to furnish a supply to both sides of the street near the curbstone on each side, wiiich can readily be reached by the occupants of the buildings without cutting into the street, thus saving the cost of excavation and from thirty to forty feet of pipe to each individual. Besides, the streets could then be easily kept in good condition, and not be subject to being trenched every few- feet by those wishing to tap the mains or repair the pipes leading to their houses. It will cost little more to lay these two small mains than the large one, and when the additional cost of trenching and pipe is taken into the account it will be readily seen that the two pipes would be a matter of great economy as well as convenience. TUB CITY HALL. The City Hall building, all will agree, requires repairs, and the oftices and rooms occupied by the officers, of the corporation require furnishing. I recommend that an ap[)ropriation be made to paint and retit the west wing of the building, and that the work be done as early as possible. The grounds around the Hall are also in a wretched condition, and should be improved at once. THE NEW JAIL. Legislation is now pending in Congress relating to the con- struction of a new jail for this District, and involving the city in a heavy debt in connection with it. It is important that the sul)ject should receive the attention of the city authorities, in order that it may not be unrepresented on the commission having the work in charge and for which it is required to pay nearly one-half the expense. 11 OUR MUNICIPAL TROUBLES It i8, perhaps, needless for me to call your attention to the fact, known to you all, of the illegal and presumptuous action of a portion of the members of the Board of Aldermen and Board of Common Council since \he regular organization of the two Boards on the 8th instant. By a factious and revolutionary proceeding they have managed to keep one of the Boards with- out a quorum, thus preventing legislation and infliciing a last- ing injury upon the city. By an assumption of power they pretended to elect, and went through the farce of inaugurating, a man whom they denominate "Mayor nd interim," and who had the audacity to call at my office and demand that I should vacate the Mayor's rooms and turn over possession to him ! This man has actually issued orders to a certain officer, and perhaps others, assuming the prerogative of Mayor of this city, and on his order t^vo or more culprits have been turned loose from the workhouse ! How far arc these things to be suffered to go? The time will come when this conspiracy must end, and in the opinion of our best citizens that time has already arrived. The interest of the public cannot be allowed to suffer for an indefinite period by the action of a few conspiring factionists and disorganizers. The criminal laws should be appealed to, or such action taken as will correc-t the existing condition of things. I leave the matter in your hands, assuring you of my co-operation in whatever legal course you may think proper to pursue. NORTH CAPITOL STREET. The rapid improvement of thnt part of the city lying north of the Capitol renders it necessary and proper that North Cap- itol street should be immediately opened and put in a condition to travel. The obstructions on that wide and beautiful street, placed there by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, have retarded the progress of the city in the vicinity of the Capitol and north to the city boun'4l-P(t in this city. While we may congratulate ourselves that by a prompt and honest course we have been enabled to maintain the rights fairly accorded to us by the people in the late election, it is only due to an upright and conscientious public officer (I mean Major A. C. Richards, the able Superintendent of Police,) to say that but for his promptitude and foresight a fmal settlement might have been delayed, or only attained through scenes of violence and bloodshed REFORMS CONTKMPLATKO. Jt is my earnest desire to begin, if not to complete, during njy administration of this municipality, such reforms and im- provements as wdl make the city of Washington what the Cap- ital of the United States should be. Probably no city govern- ment in the nation has ever been longer or more persistently misruled than this; and none certainly has been made the object of such generosity on the part of the people's representatives. Instead or being an example and a model of honesty in its offi- cials, rigor in the collection and integrity in the disbursement of its revenues, it has rather been a warning to others in the loose- ness, the favoritism, and the utter recklessness that have pervaded most of its departments. Of course it cannot be expected that a new administration can cure evils that have become almost chronic within a short periixl of time, especially obslrueteci as I u have been, and those who co-operate with me, by a bitter and anceasin.a; opposition. Bat entering upon my duties with a sincere desire to promote the general welfare and to preserve the public peace, I am not without hope that even those who have allowed themselves to be misled by prejudice or party will finally see that it is their true interest to sustain the new ad- ministration in all the efforts it is resolved to make for the gen- eral improvement and progress of the city. The moment Congress is convinced that we mean to fulfil our pledges — that we mean to pay our debts and to conduct our affairs frugally and carefully — -we shall almost be anticipated in our enterprises, and will rarely ask in vain from the representa- tives ot the people. PROSPECTS OF "WASHINGTON. There is no reason why Washington should not become a great manufacturing and commercial city, nor why more great railroads connecting it Xorth and South should not be projected and completed. Our advantag(!s of climate, position, neighbor- hood of the ocean, and profusion of water power, have been so often commented upon as to render any lengthy reference to tht^m unnecessary ; but I may be pardoned an allusion to the fact that since the overthrow of the rebellion new attractions are offered to emigration by the necessity and advantages of settling and cultivating the vast bodie.s of land in and near the Di.strict of Columbia. Emigration met at New York by agents from the West, who do their utrao.st to set forth the superior claims of the great domain owned by the companies 'hey represent, has been steadily diverted from the South; but now that slavery has been destroyed, foreigners seeking homes for themselves in this country wdl naturally turn to the section nearest the market, and can be readily induced to come here and make their homos in the viciniy of the capital of the nation. The same sagacity and perseverance which have done so much to people our new States and Territories, if applied to the adjacent rich laitds in Virginia and Maryland, would not only give us a thriving popula- tion but would add materially to the strength and perpetuity of the Government itself, 15 tlOW TO UETAIN THE CAPlTAl,. I know that I .■»peak not only for the people who honored mc with their suflTrages at the late oleetion, but for very many who voted ag-ain-st nie, when I say that there in an earnest, nay, an in- tense desire on their part to do everything to maintain the seat of government in this ten miles square. Not only personal in- terests, but the highest public considerations should make us act together in all matters reialing to the solid prosperity of Washington city. However partisans may rail at their success- ful rivals, and deny that their efforts are being used to the damage of this beautiful city, and however the movements in Congress may be traduced and misunderstood, no reasonable man can doubt that a long continuance in such violent scenes as have recently disgraced this metropolis will ultimately, and probably too soon, result in a concerted effort for the removal of the capital. Let it be our dut}', by good order, by integrity in our government, by the cultivation of the arts of peace and kind feeling among ourselves, and above all by exhibiting a constant and grateful attachment to our common country, to disarm all such efforts, so that our firmest and fastest friends will be found in those guardians who have, under the Constitu- tion of the United States, exclusive jurisdiction over the Dis- trict of Columbia. 8. J. BOWEN, Mayor. June 29tb 18G8 jH| 011 180 740 1 4^