Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-07
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provision will have to be made ct an
/ early day for increased numbers. On
the occasion, during the past year, of a
/ despaTate attempt to break out of this
! prison, the conduct both of officers and
( prisoners was such as to reflect credit
upon the discipline of the institution.
Humanity and experience alike insist
/ upon the moral and physical Importance
1 of the steady industrial employment of
! all able bodied prisoners. In conse-
| quence of recent legislation, certain
4 changes in the prison industries went
/ into effect on the first day of the cur
( rent month and these changes viii prob
ably make necessary larger appropria-
tons than heretofore for the mainten-
i ance of these industies. 1t is probable
4 that there may be an increase in the
4 manufacture of goods for use in the pub
/ lie institutions of the commonwealth,
4 and, in order to carry out the purpose of
I the legislature, it may be wise to make
| compulsory the purchase of such goods
! by the institutions
/ STREET RAILWAYS.
|
In my address to the legislature in
! January last 1 referred to the need of
I further legislation to define and regu-
/ late the mutual relations existing be-
tween street railway corporations and
I the municipalities which are the grantors
of the rights to occupy and use the pub
/ lie ways for the transportation Of pas
sengers The great and increasing i'm
portance and compleXity Of these rela-
| tons led your predecessors to provide for
| the appointment Of COMMITTEES to in
| vestigate the subject in it's various as
| poets and to report their conclusions
| thereon to the present legislature. 1t is
| important that a wise and equitable
! solution of this problem should early
reached, as present legislation ON this
subject is not in satisfactory condi-
4 tons; and the recommendations Of the
I committe will, I feel assured, receive
| your careful consideration.
One of the most important measures
| passed by the legislature of 1897 was the
''act to promote rapid transit in the city
| of Boston and vicinity" The petitioners
! for this legislation were men who,
( through the control of large means and
! by the possession of great business eX-
/ perience, were well fitted to prosecute an
! extensive and costly enterprise, which
! gave promise of overcoming, in part at
least, the difficulties which in Boston
j have made rapid transit so tardy of reali-
cation. 1t may be safely affirmed that
/ the feeling was general in favor of grant
! ing the prayer of the petitioners, and
| thus enabling them to carry into execu-
! ton their elaborate plans of conatruc-
/ ton; provided, in bestowing so import
/ ant franchise the rights and interests
+ both present and prospective Of the pub
( lie should be safely guarded. With this
1 purpose many important notifications
1 of the bill as first presented were made
/ by the legislature, some Of them immedi-
lately before its final passage, to meet
! objections raised by the executive, and
as so amended the bill received my APP
/ prevail This was given not without hest
( tation, but in confident reliance that the
discretion entrusted by the bill to the
board of railroad commissioners to pass
judgment upon certain points necessa-
rily left undetermined therein would be
so exercised as to be consistent with the
3
( lie policy. BY the recent decisions OF
the board upon the West End railway
] lease this reliance is shown not to have
1 been misplaced. The commissioners, in
my opinion, have treated the difficult
/ questions submitted to them with ability
I and with a single eye to the public well
/ fare. Such action justifies the well set
/ tied policy of the commonwealth in
| granting large powers to corporations
exercising heir franchise under au-
| thority of the commonwealth, to leave to
| the several commissions the decision of
| certain details, relying upon them to
| exercise with wisdom ant fearlessness
| that supervision which the public inter
ests require.
The section of the subway extending
from the western entrance in the public
garden to Park street and that from the
! southern entrance on Shawmut ave
nue. to the corner Of Boyston and Ire
mont streets have now been in operation
for several months. 1t is gratifying to
note the fact that they have already
proved of great adv |atage in promoting
the rapid transit of passengers and in
relieving the congestion of traffic on ad-
jacent streets. Another year will wit
ness the completion of the subway from
Park street to the vicinity of the union
station on Causeway street, and the full
/ benefit of this great work in removing
the burden Of street car traffic from GER
tain of our principal streets will, it is
confidently expected. be then realized.
TAXATION
The commission ON taxation, of whose
! difficult and important labors mention
was made in my inaugural address of
7 last year, have made their report. 1t will
I demand your studious and considerate
attention. I deemed it to be my duty,
in making up this commission, to APP
/ point upon it men who should represent
different interests and occupations, and
/ who might be expected to approach the
| subject with open minds, rather than
to confine my selection to any particular
occupation, or to those who had publicly
i announced the Views they had already
/ formed on the subject. The hope that
commission so constituted might, up
on study of facts and discussion Of opin-
/ ionsr agree upon one set of conclusions,
has not been fully realized. 1t was, per-
haps, inevitable, and isJhardly to be re-
GREETED, that there should be more than
one report, ably presenting the widely
| divergent views which prevail on this
/ important topic 1t is to be noted, how
j ever, that no one of these reports is con-
tent with existing Legislation. If your
wisdom Shall be able to contrive such
changes in the system or methods of
taxation as shall secure greater simpli-
city and equality of incidence, and to en-
act just law which shall be easy to ex-
ecute and difficult to eyade Won will hava