Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-03-18
THE RUTLAND HERALD
our street. and Drainage.

Our Streets and Drainage.
The city of Boston is now passing
through an experience, the nature o.
which finds parallel, in some degree
sooner or later, in every growing city and
town in the country. We refer to thu
necessary and costly improvements COINS
on in regard to the direction, width
grading and drainage of its streets, ane
territory. The Journal of the Franklin
In.titute,an engineering journal OF Phila
delphia, speaks of what is known in Bos
ton as the :" Church street improvement,
as "a great and successful engineering en-
terprise and so it is. Yet, this is enly
one of a number of great enterprises thai
the city government has in hand for the
improvement of the city. The courage O
the city taxpayers seems to grow witt
each succeeding difficulty met, and nc
matter how expensive, are prepared u
bring about any reasonable improvement
Some of the principal of these are the
raising up some four or five hundred
dwelling and churches, and the filling in
with fresh earth from the cemetery of the
Church street territory, at cost of the
neighborhood of million of dollars
This was necessity that could not be
by any means avoided, yet it was also
certain that as soon as this was done
other grounds on its margin would need
to be raised, and now it is a present neces
sity costing one half million more. The
Boston IL Providence passenger station
stands in the centre of broad avenue
few years ago laid out and rapidly be.
ing occupied with dwellings, yet this de-
pot was IA short time ago made over al
great expense, when it was morally Ger.
tain to that corporation, and the city
that the entire depot must be taken away,
and rebuilt in some other place. The
time has come, and the new depot will be
made, and the avenue completed to a
square at one corner of the common, the
present year.
The city ismaking new business street
or thoroughfare at the waters edge OF
some of the wharves, at the cost of much
more than a million of dollars. But it
could not shrink from it on account of its
great expense. The demands of com
merce were such that they must be
needed, This part of the city is made
for the use and convenience of business
men, and when traffic and transportation
increases to the point of filling the streets
so full of telms that long and vexatious
delays take place, the people are quite
well prepared TO borrow money and re-
move the difficulty.
The points in the streets where the
city is widening them are almost number
less. But some Of its streets are wilened
and strai- htened mt very great expense.
Hanover, Federal, Devonshire and Ire
mont streets, at millions of dollars of ex-
pense. On the latter street is large
hotel, new, but not strongly built, of sand
stone. II yet remains to be moved the
distance of fifteen feet. To provide that
amount of land for il to occupy, cost the
city sixty thousand dollars, added to the
expense of moving. All this that the
street may be fifteen feet wider at that
point. These streets must b made
wider. Ii they had been attended to
twenty years ago the expense would have
been but a small part OF what it is cost
ing now. And. fully has this fact come
to be realized, that it requires very little
further preparation to make the people
believe that it is their duty to boldly
grasp this matter at once for the benefit
of the people Of the future, and hey feel
no hesitation in borrowing millions of dol
lars for that purpose, and charging the
principal rs well as some of the interest 80
those people TO come
In Massachusetts, there is 'better-
ment" law which compels owners of prop
erty, which has been beneitted by any
public improvement, to pay q portion of
the cost, as well as higher taxes. And it
is the fact now. that the property holders
of one part OF Boston are petitioning the
city to extend Washington street to the
north part of the city, and they expect
to, and wish TO, pay much greater taxes.
There is a lesson that may be learned in
all this by any growing town in the coun-
try; that IL, that it is poor policy to lay
out streets and bridges, and drainage and
grading, in a hestating and COW ardly
manner, Also that it is the duty of tae
present generation to plan well and liner
ally for the next, and do the worls thor
ou2hly, that they may not be obliged to
do it over again ut some future scale of
greater prices.
What is the policy of the men OF Rut-
land Does il lack courage and compre-
hensiveness and thoroughness in regard to
the public affairs of the town