Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-01-02
3adrurtestcr Daily spn,
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
HON. GEORGE L. VERY,
NJ A Y OR.

Gentlemen Of the Board Of Aldermen and Cen
hemeH Of the Common ColRcd'
Called as we have been by the suffrages of our
people TO the administration of their municipal
affairs as the chief executive officer of the city
government, follow the uniform example OF
my predecessors in giving You such information
as have been aole TO gather OF the present CON
ditiou of the various departments of the city
government, the various enterprises Inaugural
ted and in process of completion for the Derma-
nent advancement of our beautiful city in ma
fefial and intellectual wealth, and TO offer you
such recommendations, necessarily crude and
incomplete, as have occurred to my own mind,
tending TO facilitate this desirable object.
Ii Is well for us, in assuming tae duties Of the
administration of government to remember
that the end of all government should be TO
secure the existence of the body polite, to pro-
tectit, and to furnish the individuals who com
pose it with the power of enjoying in safety and
tranquility their natural rights and the bless
ings of life, that when public eXigencies require
that the property of any individual should be
appropriated to public uses, he should receive a
reasonable compensation therefor, that all Off
GERS of government are hut the substitutes and
agents of the people and are at all times ac-
c9untable to them, and that the people ought to
obtain right aud justice freely, without being
obliged TO purchase il, completely and without
any denial, promptly and without delay, con
formally 10 law
Frequent recurrence and studious adherence
TO these well digesed principles of government
will serve us as guide and compass in the de.
vions ways through which we shall he called TO
pass, and the arduouS laborS we shall be ex-
pected to perform. Gulded by these PRINCIPLES
and inspired by confidence in the oyer-ruiinr
Providence of that Almighty Being whose pow.
er regulates our destiny and whose blessings
have been so conspicuously dispensed to our
people, aud lighted by the examples of worthy
and dlslnterested service successfully rendered
by those who have conducted the affairs of this
municipal government before u.s. we NAV rea-
s0Dably indulge the hope that when our terms
oi Office shall expire, we shall be able to point
TO the record of our administration with the as
surance that we have added 10 our constantly
accumulating municipal history another chap
ter OF material and intellectual progress, not un-
worthy of association with those which pre-
eede it.
need not remind you, who are entrusted with
these all absorbing cares, that our financial con-
dtton will call for your most thorough invest-
CATION, and the best efforts which your wisdom
and prudence can suggest to provide for the
prompt and efectual liquidation of our matur-
ing obligations.
FINANCES.
In dealing with the subject of our financial
condition it is desirable that we should possess
ourselves OF exact and accurate information as
TO the amount we owe, how our debt is invest
ed, and when 1t must be paid, together with our
present and prospective means OF PAYMENT To
all our people this subject is of the greatest in.
tercst and as faithful servants it is our bounden
duty t. DIAL frankly with reference to it, con
eealing no fact or figure that shall tend TO en-
hghten, substituting no fact or figure that shall
tend to deceive or by resort TO any ingenious
complication of Gale Nations, seek to make our
financial condition appear in more favorable
light than il deserves TO be stated.
A brief history of the progress by which our
debt has accumulated, together with some of
the causes which have contributed to this re-
suit, may not be unprofitable At the end of
the municipal year 1866 our general indebted
ness was S3O9,193.0O. Oar water debt $780,
1000.
At the end of the municipal wear 1869 our
general Indebtedness was S10S ,040.07 Our wa
ter and sewer debt was S727 01S.39. AT the end
OF the municipal year 1870. our general ndebt.
edness was represented to be $3.50 900, showing
an increase during that year of S274 1898
This result is mainly attributable to the nee
essary expenses incurred in building new
school houses, opening new streets, cutting
down Main street, in the vicinity of Corbett
street, and our subscription to the caDital stock
OF the Boston, Barre & Gardener railroad. hay
ing during that year paid assessments upon il TO
the amount OF S1O4,SS0. Our sewer and water
DEBT at the end of that year amounted TO ST.
1900 The financial condition of the city to-
sether with the resources, receipts and disburse.
ments OF the treasury for eleven months ending
Dec. lst, 1871, is as follows as nearly as can be
aseerlalned The whole amount of our lndcbt-
edness as nearly as it can be ascertained al the
treasurer's Office is So 459 10000.
10 this must be aided claims against the city
IN great variety, such as claims for damages TO
estates, by laying out, altering and widening
streets, laying out and constructing sewers.
claims for unpaid balances for water and sewer
construction, claims not yet reported. tRsMap's
on the,-ass.6asae original - ~, -. ,.jlh
90 ascertain the amount of these claims so ms to
make even an approximate statement. This
debt, Sa,459,900, is disposed of as follows:-
Funded sewer debt ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. S499 400
water - Observation-Disclosures. 7q4 bN