5°^ .^"^ ^/:;mS./:M^->-^ -/^^^^{"M^ ^..^'^ .^^'' ■"^,/W-.-"/ \-'Sr^^\.. i^T^'j JAN 13 iggj THE CLOSING ARGUMENT X^;^,^^^^ IlEUALF OF THK BUNKER Hill Mosument Association AT THE rlMI.IC IIEAKISC. HE £|,t pusov aiA Slattmti. of aljivtltstown, THE NEW AVENUE TO" THE MONUMENT. BY (}. WASHINGTON WAEHEN, ESQ, MOSUMESTUM PEnESSlUS XRE. QU.T.RI8 MOSUMENTUM CIRCOMSPICE. BOSTON: BUNKER HILL MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. ^rP€^^-^'/j3^^:S-~ By JAN 16 1916 To §nnhti Dill MEMORIAL OF rHE COUNTRY AND OF THE AMERICAN EVOLUTION ; AND AN INSTRUCTOR OF EACIISUCCBEDINC GENERATION, — .HAVE ASHED THAT THIS ACCOMPLISHED, THIS IMPERISHABLE ISK MAY MORE GENERALLY IMPRESS THE POPULAR MIND, AND MORE FULLY EXPECTATIONS OF THIS PUBLICATION, INTliOUUCTORY. Tiiu petitions of Sajiuei. S. Wii.lson aiul fifty others, of Jamks F. ITuxnewki.l and others, of Isaac Sweetseu and otliers, of GiDEOx IIaynes and others (besides other petitions), all in aid of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, for an avenue, sixty feet wide, from the City Square direct to the moriunicnt, have for several months been before the Mayor and Aldermen of Charles- town. The |)ctitioners asked for a public hearing before the whole Board, which was readily granted. On the I'lth of October, Samuel S. Willson, Esq., counsel for the petitioners, opened the case, and a ]>ortion of the testimony was introduced, and the plans and estimates presented. The meeting was then adjourned to the 19th of October, to be held in the chamber of the Common Council. At this hearing, other testimony was offered on behalf of the petitionei-s, and Wilmam \V. Wheildon, Esq., made his Argument on behalf of the Association. At the conclusion of liis able and exhaustive argument upon his branch of the subject, the Board were reminded that this was the anniversary of the surrender at Yohktown, which secured to BuxKEK Hill an undying fame; and that it was a fit occasion for them to entertain the proposal to open this avenue, so as to make its MATCHLESS memouial more conspicuous and impressive. Some of the parlies whose land will be taken by this avenue, and otiier citizens induced by them, having sent in iheii- reniou- D INTRODUCTORY. strances, and asked for a hearing, public notice was given by the Board, by advertisement in the city newspapers, that all wlio wished to remonstrate against this measure would be heard on the 26th of October. On that evening, and at the adjourned meeting on the 8th of November instant, the remonstrants appeared, and put in their evidence. The lawyers of Charlestown having gener- ally signed the petition, the remonstrants selected a non-resident for their counsel, who made the most out of the case, probably to the satisfiiction of those who employed him. The tenor of his ar- gument can be judged by the allusions herein made to it, and only made as the supreme importance of the case required. Tlie closing argument was made by the President of the Associa- tion on the 22d instant. The ground having been thoroughly gone over, it has been thought best to place in a permanent form the efforts made in this behalf, that the Board and the committee may be assisted in their labors, and that the public may under- stand the progi'ess which the measure has reached, and may pre- pare to urge on or approve the favorable decision. If by any mischance the avenue should not be authorized by the present Board, on account of the approaching end of their official term, what is herein contained will be in readiness for the con- sideration of the next Board. It is generally admitted that the avenue nnist some time be made. Economy and public convenience demand it now. Should this demand be acceded to, .and the work be promptly and considerately done, the seventeenth of June, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE, will attCSt itS absolutC necessity, and find the avenue to a great extent appropriately built ujjon. 7 Monument Sijuakk, Nov. ao, ISIi'.l. ARGUMENT OF G. AVASHINGTON AVARREN, PRESIDENT OF TUE ASSOCIATION. MK WAHUEN'S ARGUMENT. M.VV ir PMCASK VOUK IIONOI. AN» THK HoAKI. OK A,.I.KUMKN:- TiiE evenings you have devoted to the hearing on this petition, and the close attention you have paid to parties and witnesses, evince your appreciation of the supreme importance of the case. The city of Charles- town has adopted for its city-seal a view of the Bunker Hill Monument, with the motto, " Liberty,- a trust to be transmitted to posterity." Every official document bearing that superb iuipress is an admission that tins monument is your chief boast and glory ; and, there- fore, that the special trust is imposed on you to cherish and inculcate those principles which it was erected to perpetuate. If the songs of a people have, as it has been suggested, more inlluence upon them than their laws, how much more will this majestic national moun- nient serve to elevate the tone of sentiment, and raise the standar.1 of the mark of high calling of American citizens, when it shall be brought out into daily view. Monuments and memorials are erected to be seen, and shovdd always be so placed as to catch the eye 10 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. from every possible point, so as to vividly impress the largest number. So it is in Baltimore, where the Bat- tle Monument and the Washington are so conspicu- ously placed, at the head centres of long avenues, that both, and more especially the Washington, is seen in full length from so many opposite and distant points that its image is multiplied. Hence Baltimore is, by general consent, called the " Monumental City." The Bonaparte Monument, in Place Vendome, at the head of Rue de la Paix (Street of Peace, — -'The Empire is Peace "), is the distinguishing feature of Paris. Made of bronze cast from the cannon captured by Napoleon in his celebrated battles, in imitation of the Trajan Col- umn at Rome, it has had a wonderful influence upon the people of Paris ; and Paris is Prance. When Louis Napoleon was inaugurated as President of the French Republic, as, at the head of the array, he rode, in the grand pi^ocession, by that idolized trophy, he gracefully uncovered, and made his obeisance, in presence of the army and the populace, before the statue of Bonaparte which surmounted the column. If the effect of that imperial monument, and the popular associations con- nected with it, has been to aid in bringing back the empire and the Bonaparte dynasty, how much, think you, will the Bunker Hill Monument, when more fxvor- ably placed, have upon this community in all coming time ? All the monuments in European cities have spacious avenues leading to them ; and it is to the discredit and great loss of this municipality, that this, the grandest Mil. WAlUiEN'S AltCrUMEXT. I 1 luonuiuent in tlu' world, aad erected to the noblest cause, has been sullered hitherto to be in the poorest position in reference to the public streets and ways. The Bunker Ilill Monument Association erected the monument on its a|)[)ropriate site. It remains for you to open to it a wide and suitable avenue. You ;done can do it. Now is the golden opportunity. The duty and the interest of the city alike enjoin it upon you. By the city charter, all the power which formerly belonged to the people of Charlestown and their offi- cers is now devolved upon the two branches of the City Council. The charter superadds greater author- ity. The official oath which the members are required to take does not merely exact of them that they shall be honest and diligent. It is supposed, as a matter of course, in deference to the judgment of the people, that none but such men will be elected. It means, more- over, that the meml)ers shall provide for the public wel- fare, looking forward to future exigencies and needs; and that, in considering the plans proposed, they will decide without fear or favor, always preferring the great public benefit to the temporary inconvenience of the citizen. The city is eternal: the family estate is as transient as a human life. Full and summary authority is given to this Board, subject to the concurrence of the Common Council, to lay out streets and way.s. The right of eminent domain is vested in yon for this purpose ; and the land-owner is limited to one year, within which he may appeal from your award of damages. 12 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. By the eighth section of the city charter, the City Council has " the care and superintendence of the city buildings, with the power to let, or to sell what may be legally sold, and to purchase property, real or personal, in the name and for the use of the city, whenever its interest or convenience may in their judgment I'e- quire it." This is authority not given to towns. By it, when you have laid out a street where it ought to be, you can negotiate ; you can buy on the line of the street and in the rear ; 30U can re-lot and sell, with such con- ditions as to building and u.se as the public interests may require. You can make terms before and after you award damages. You can make the mayor a street- commissioner, and clothe him with full authority. This last provision, peculiar to our city charter, must have been inserted because Charlestown, more than other places, needed to be laid out anew. In addition came, at last, the betterment law. Under the operation of such a law, New York laid the foundations of her prosperity. Boston struggled in tbe Legislature for it many years, and did not succeed in obtaining it until 1861. Charlestown secured the ben- efit of it in 1867 ; and now, by general law, any town or city in the State may have it. Though tardy in its enactment, the law has come opportunely for the press- ing necessities of Boston. By a liberal and yet neces- sary use of its provisions, Boston has made vast improvements in her streets, which have resulted in great public convenience, and in a wonderful enhance- Mlt. WAI'.UKNS AROUMKNT. ]3 nient of values. Within the hist year, there has been an appreciation of real estate to the amount of $40,- 000,000, or nearly twice the whole real valuation of Charlestown. Under these three methods combined, — the right to lay out streets under the charter, the right to buy and sell real estate as the public interest and convenience may require, and under the betterment law, your power is absolute. Commensurate with your power, so greatly enlarged, is your duty. A glance at your situation shows the magnitude of this trust resting upon you. Let us now see where we are, and the conditions of our growth. Twenty-five years ago, the population of the town of Charlestown was scarcely 12,000. It is now 30,000, — an increase of a hundred and fifty per cent. By the same ratio, in twenty-five years from now the population will be 75,000; in fifty years, 187,500, — perhaps the ultimate limit of tlie capacity of our terri- tory, as lar as we can nt)w understand the possible means of aggregation ; but we do not know. Boston has within its increased limits about five times the inhabitants who occupied the same territory half a century ago ; and in another half-century there will be a million of people living within her present limits. The same ratio of increase has obtained in the places on the other side of u.s, — in Somerville, in Maiden, in Chelsea, and in the towns beyond those. There is no ground to prognosticate a diminution in the immediate 14 MR. warren's argument. future. A four-years' war has not caused any. There is no probability of another war of that magnitude for the next fifty years. The teeming soil of our wide- extended land, the constantly improving arts of husbandry, and rapid and cheap transportation, assure us there will be no famine; and if our municipal authorities will exercise a wise forecast in the laying-out of streets, there will be no pestilence. Consider that, up to within a few years, Charlestovvn was fettered by tolls on the bridges to Boston, to Maiden, and till now to Chelsea, and henceforth the avenues connecting all these places are to be free, and you may judge whether there will be any falling-off in this progressive inci'ease. The problem for you is to make preparation for it. Monument Square occupies a central position in our territory. It commanded till recently a fine view of city, water, and country. But buildings, three and four stories high, are shutting out the beautiful panorama. Owing to the forecast of the last Board, Monument Street is extended to Medford Street ; and, through that precious vista of fifty feet, a glimpse of the Mystic River, with a passage for the northern breeze, is secured for all time. On the south side, all the streets leading up the hill are narrow, steep, and winding, and obstructed by buildings on other streets at their lower termini. If you consider Monument Avenue an exception to any part of this description, although straight, it is of insufficient width ; and it is blocked up at the opposite MR. \vaui;i;n s augumknt. .side of Main Street. In view of the immediate future, this sixtj-feet avenue direct to City Square, and across the Bridfre Avenue to Charles River, is a necessity for the hmjfs of tlie city. This opening, 1.200 feet long, is all that is re([uircd to biscsct our territory, and leave a free space from river to river. But witne.s.«es have l)een brought before you who say they do not see the need of this avenue ; though, for the most part, they haye the good taste to admit that it would be a fine thing in an artistic point of view. Mr. ]Mayor. a quarter of a century ago, a large and respectable pai-t of Boston were ready to give in their affidavits that tiie wells and springs of their city contained good water, and a suflicient supply. The Jamaica Pond Corporation would have contracted to supply for an indefinite period all the inhabitants who might be short of water. The Cochituate Water-Works have been completed and put in use e.Kactl\' twenty- one years; and now that l)eautiful lake, with all its tril)utarv sources, is not sulheient for Roston. I doubt, if at the tinu'. the City Council of Charlestown would have passed an order in advance, appropriating the sum of three thou.sand dollars for a scientific survey and report upon supplying this city with pure water. They would have .said, they could not .see the necessity of appropriating so much money at the present time, when other things were wanted, — a stereotyped remark. But Mayor Dana, on his own responsibility, and by his official authority, .solely unre- stricted by the charter and amendments, ordered it to 16 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. be done ; and to that able and comprehensive report of Messrs. Baldwin and Stevenson, and the consequent efforts of the City Council inspired by it, are we indebted for that inestimable boon and unappreciable property, — the Mystic Water- Works. So much for the short-sighted, and those well- meaning citizens, who, looking after their own private affairs well enough, do not closely study into the public interests, nor the mode of providing for them. That they leave to the City Government, with whom is the responsibility of delegated power. In foct, several of the witnesses called by the remonstrants prefaced their remarks by saying that they did not expect to be called, and obviously gave only first impressions. They will appreciate the street when constructed, and will be glad to participate in its beneflts. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, in his " Travels in New England " published in London in 1823, speaks thus of Charlestown : — "The streets are formed without the least regard to regularity." " After it was burnt, the proprietors had a fjiir opportunity of making it one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Had they thrown their property into a common stock ; had the whole been surveyed ; had they laid out the streets with the full advantage furnished by the ground, which might have been done without lessening the quantity of enclosed ground ; had they then taken their house-lots, whenever they chose MR. WAUREN'S AROUMENT. 17 to do SO, as near their former positions as the new loca- tion of the streets would have permitted, — Charlestown would have been only heautil'ul. Its present location is almost only preposterous. Such a plan was, indeed, sufficiently a subject of conversation ; but a miserable mass of prejudices prevented it from being executed." This is an historic judgment against our ancestors. But it may be saiil in their favor, that, while scarcely recovering from the shock of the Revolution, and from the waste of the great conflagration, they had no idea nor conception of the rapid progress of this country, in numbers and in wealth, which awaited the adoption of the national constitution. But we who are on the swelling tide, and know the rate of pro- gression, are wholly without excuse if we neglect to use ordinary forecast. Our streets, in general, are like the out-stretched fingers of the two hands interlaced within each other, — short and butting against a barrier. Heretofore we have not suffered, on account of the open space of unoccupied lands. But cover all the private lands with buildings, and, unless your Board interpose in time. Charlestown will be a stilled place. It is a rai-schievous error to suppose that the taking of land to make a new street, or to widen a narrow one, is diminishing the taxable property of the city. The (juantity of land may be lessened, but the value of 18 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. what is left on wide streets is increased. Take two lots on opposite sides of a thirty-feet street, each only seventy feet wide. They would be greatly enhanced by taking ten feet from the front of each, making the street fifty feet wide. The proprietors not only get the benefit of twice the land they each contribute in front, but the same benefit the whole length of the street. But as the land desired cannot be equally con- tributed, the betterment law comes in to equalize the burden. So, in la^'ing out a new street between prominent points, where everybody would wish a street if the land were wholly clear, no matter where such a street may come, — in front of some estates, or in the rear of others, or right through an estate, — the land on such a desired street is doubled, trebled, and sometimes quadrupled, in value. Thirty years ago, four tiers of house-lots were laid out on Lexington, Monument, and Concord Streets, between Bunker Hill Street and the rear of the lots fronting Monument Square. They were all of an average depth of seventy feet, bounded on the rear by ten-feet passage-ways. On some of these passage-ways tenements are erected, making on such lots an average depth of thirty-five feet for each house. Said an experienced surveyor, " In laying out city lots, have no ten-feet passage-Avays ; for such passage-ways will, in time, be built upon with a very inferior class of buildings, and will be a nuisance." Much greater is the nuisance. Mu. \v.\i:i:i:ns AiKifMioNT. lU and liaziinl of lire ami sickness, where tenements are liucklled in the rear of other houses, without a continu- ous passage-way, as is the case with some i)art of tiie hind througli which this proposed street will Ibrtu- nately pass. Mr. Dow testified, that, if this street is not to be laid oat, a conflagration would be, in the end, a permanent blessing. Mr. Adams says " that the great fire of 1835 gave us Chelsea Street, from City Square to its junction with Henley Street." What a pity the town did not have the foresight to make that great improvement in Chelsea Street before, and so stopped the fire! Is it not your duty to take warn ing from that example ? Let us now look at Main Street, filled with stores on each side, from this spot to far beyond Harvard Church, and consider how many of these stores have been altered from dwelling-houses, and how very few of them were originally built for stores. What a change within our own remembrance ! Now, who, in view of this, is to tell you how the land on this proposed avenue is to be improved ? with what buildings, and to what uses? Go a mile from here to Pemberton Square, all built upon within thirty years with elegant, firstrclass dwelling-houses, which, a few years since, would rent for only one thou.sand dollars : now they are altered into offices; and what was once a kitchen, or a back wash-room, rents for four or five hundred dollars; ami t lie whole estates arc trebled in value. In Pearl Street, where the Boston Athenaimn 20 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. once was, I saw elegant, fashionable residences erected, which m twenty years were torn down, and gave place to solid, palatial warehouses. While studying my pro- fession, I saw a part of the granite block erected by Mr. P. C. Brooks, which has lately given place to the Sears marble building. In the heart of a busy, growing city, the existence of a building scarcely averages thirty years. Buildings for new uses, in different styles, and with more stories, are called for. The enhancement of the land pays for the change. Walk now for an hour in some of the streets of Boston, where great improvements are made or in progress, and you will be convinced how foolish it would be to hesitate on this improvement in consequence of any buildings in the way. Yet it is admitted this avenue should be laid out if the land were clear. But I am told this is not Boston. • True ; but this very spot is within a mile of the heart of Boston, and is right in front of the deepest and best water for navigation in what is called Boston Harbor. By this avenue, land on and near it, so central and eligible, will be redeemed from inferior uses, and be made to answer more appropriate and profitable purposes. If com- merce and business have been tending southward, let us do what we can to make property near the Mystic at least as conducive to employment and profit, as, ere long, will be the estates near the Neponset. Let the coming Legislature see the record of your adoption of this measure and exhibit to them this Pho- Mil. WAUUKNS AUGUMICNT. Zl tograpliic View, and you will be more likely to obtain a grant for the inuch-ilesireil Bridge Avenue to Boston. You might then lay a foundation for an ap])eal to the patriotic sentiment of the Commonwealth, which would overcome the opposition to removing the old laudinarks of the Charles-River Bridge. As to the need for a street of ea.sy grade from City Square to High Street, no stronger testimony can be given than that of Mr. Stowell, who remembers with what ditliculty, during the erection of the uiouunieut, those ma.ssive blocks of granite were hauled up Winthrop Street, and the public attention which the hard efforts awakened. To the other obstacles which attended that great undertaking, the want of a suitable public street in which to draw the material to its des- tined place was added. Ever since, persons going that way with loaded teams have experienced the same difficulty. If Mr. Goodnow's horses could speak, they would go for this avenue. It is not proposed to make it of uniforui grade from its commencement. The View does not so exhibit it. But raising the grade of Warren Street as much as practicable, a regular grade from that to High Street should be adopted; and the situation is favorable. The expen.se of raising buildings, and of adapting other streets to the new grade, will be trifling indeed com- pared with the great permanent advantage. What an improvement is the raising the grade of Water and Devonshire Street*:, near the site of the new post-office ; ^^ MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. and how much more cheuply this grade of our street can be established ! Some have told jou that this measure is bipkacti- OABLE. If it be so, it is solely in 3'our want of inclina- tion to advance the public interest in this regard. The committee on laying out streets made a similar report in September, 1853, with respect to a proposition to alter, widen, and extend Monument Avenue, and to make it then worthy of its name. But, in 1868, Mayor Robinson declared, at a hearing before the same com- mittee, that the proposition ought to have been adopted, and that the city had lost by its not having been done. This judgment, formed in fifteen years after, only shows what you might expect would be said of you, were it possible that you are not going to carry out this plan. Take the house at the corner of Adams and Wiuthrop Streets, adjoining Rev. Mr. Miles's for example. It commences at a point at the corner, and gradually widens on Winthrop Street to about thirty feet: it is a commodious house, of commanding front, and with windows looking upon two squares. There is not a lot on the proposed avenue which would not afford even a better site. It is astonishing to find how many pleasant dwelling-houses in Boston cover the whole land. Buildings for stores are the better for running from street to street, having double fronts, better light and access. The less land, the higher the building, and the handsomer the front. If ouly they are on wide ;n's aroumknt. 23 streets the appeiirance of a city is vastly improved, and the sanitary advantages are not inconsiderable. Ii; in the country, it is a benefaction to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before, it is a proportionate advantage in a city, so to lay out the streets, wide and near together, and economize space in lots, that the value of a square foot of land may be doubled or trebled. In cities, the public must have ample room in streets. We hear much said of " one- horse" towns; but the phrase, "one-avenue" towns, designating those which have but one principal thoroughftire, is equally descriptive. The Monument Lots, so called, are restricted to a high class of buildings, .set back from the front line, and devoted to certain uses. So much is secured for- ever. What becomes of that part of High Street fronting the Square is a matter of chance. The pro- posed avenue takes the only estate on this side which cannot be bought, and will not be improved : make this street, and the High-street side will conform to the other three, and you have a square, the effect of which, in the enhancement of estates in the vicinity, you can- not adequately appreciate. The building on the estate to be taken is not occupied by the owners (tenants, cerUiinly, will not fight for their homes against the city's right to open streets) ; it is of little worth : a price per square foot of the land, according to the true value, will be a satisfactory compensation to the owners, who are not here to object. 24 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. With Monument and City Squares even as they are, is there any doubt that this avenue connecting them will soon be appropriately built upon, with ordinary precautions on your part ? We can only judge of the future by the past. Thirty years ago, when the monu- ment stood only eighty feet high, the land around rude and ungraded, with not a piece of a paved sidewalk from Main, by the way of Winthrop, to High Street, there was an auction of one hundred and fifteen " House- lots in the vicinity of the monument," of which forty- live were restricted. A handsome plan was exhibited, showing the view of the monument completed, and elegant blocks of lofty brick houses enclosing the Square. Those who purchased the restricted lots were told they would never live to see the monument finished ; and that the idea of such houses ever being built in Charlestown, so far from Main Street, was absurd : or, if two or three should be erected, they could be neither sold nor rented for a remunerating price ! Although the spirit of croaking still lives, it cannot be doubted, when we consider the start and impulse given at each end, and the greater resources and wealth of the city, that the ideal of the Photo- graphic View will be realized in a far briefer space of time. It is extremely rare that a street of this character can be laid out with so great economy as this. On City Square it takes but ten running feet of front land, and on High Street but thirty, making only forty feet MK. WARREN'S ARGUMKX'J 25 on the two s([iiiires ; whereas, were it not for existing openings, it would take one hundred and twenty feet. The net quantity of land taken for the whole street, after allowing for parts of streets discontinued, is less than thirty-eight thousand square feet ; whereas, if it went wholly through private land, it would be seventy- two thousand. This saving of land would be a perfect answer to the objection made to the crossing of other streets in a diagonal direction. But Mr. Park, in his evidence, stated that this diagonal crossing would be a great advantage in an artistic point of view, and in its better effect upon the surrounding property. You will re- member that Mr. Dow testified that he was much in favor of the street from the first ; but, since he heard Mr. Park's explanations, he was more in favor ; and that, if he owned the whole property, he would make the street at his own expense. Fortunately there are three rich banking corpora- tions owning estates on this avenue, which took their names from the associations connected with the spot to which it leads, and which derived great advantage thereb}-, — the Bunker Hill National Bank, the Warren Institution for Savings, and the Monument National Bank. Their corporate interests, as well as the natural inclinations of the corporators, would, at the proper time, induce such an improvement of their estates on the now line, as would tend to cause other proprietors to follow tlR-ir exauipk-. The old Bui.kiT IliU Hank was 26 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. the first organization — tlie Monument Association alone excepted — which in any way recognized our Revolutionary history ; and its unprecedented bank-note circulation and financial prosperity were greatly owing to its GOOD NAME. It owns a valuable estate, at small cost, a portion of which it intends to rebuild. By con- tributing only forty-five square feet, it would have a side front whose projecting bay-windows would look towards the monument on one side, and Charles River and Boston on the other. It would pay well to make the alteration. This bank was promi;)t, on the 19th April, 1861, to advance loans to this city to aid it in equipping and sending on her companies to the national defence ; and now that it has added National to its name, let it, while promoting its own interests and popular favor, take the lead in adorning this municipal memo- rial. The stately building of the Warren Institution for Savings would be vastly improved. The line fortu- nately takes off a part of the rear projection, giving it a straight front, and clearing away several nuisances and hazardous combustible buildings. By erecting a new facade on this line, under their skilful architect, the trustees could give new front entrances to the shops and the Post Office, and make the offices above more sightly and valuable. Several of the tenants are peti- tioners. The building, skilfully modified, would be wonderfully enhanced, and would be a still more wor- thy memento of the great martyr whose name it bears MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. -( Tlio jMonuinent National Bank touclies the lino on the rear of its lot. Its real estate stands at nothing on its books. As the Hard estate adjoins, from which a ten-feet strip is to be taken for Park Street, and as the building thereon is left of little value, tiiis l)ank might unite with the flourishing Charlestown Five- Cents Savings Bank, its tenant, and erect the building shown on the plan. But whether the bank or the Hurd heirs do thi.s, the investment will be judicious and lucrative. The president of this bank, and .some of the corporators of this and the other two, are petitioners. The money paid for damages to the Hurd heirs for this and for Park Street would erect a handsome build- ing on the new lot, paying better than the old one. The land between the junction of the avenue with Park Street recedes back from City Square like the block between Harvard and Bow Streets, and like that in Haymarket Square, Boston, between Union and Blackstone Streets ; or in the smaller square between Brattle Street and Cornhill. These are very precious sites for buildings, with great advantage of space, of light and acces.s, worth three or four times what the same land would be on a single street, even if in rec- tangular lots. The stable of Messrs. Wiley is already to lose a ten-feet strip by Park Street. They can be compensated to a considerable degree by extending the new lines of Warren and Park Streets, discontinuing the open space, which would not be needed. This peti- tion was pending before they purchased ; .so they can- 28 MI!. WARKEN'S ARGUMENT. not object. Cutting through the huge barn of Charles Hurd, which has stood so long, to the serious detriment of the surrounding property, would be an equal bless- ing to the owner and the public. Great improvement may be here anticipated, — any retrogression impossible. We need not fear that Mr. Barnard will make any distasteful or inappropriate use of his long frontage. Although a portion of his carriage-house, and his two brick dwelling-houses, are to be taken, he makes no opposition. He believes in this improvement, as men of his enterprise and business character generally do. You can satisfy Mr. Stowell by giving him a good bar- gain in his share of Winthrop Street discontinued, and in a short time he will thank us all for the great en- hancement of his property. In setting back the city armory, two wooden one-story schoolhouses are re- moved, which are unfit places for the children. Let the city not lag behind the banks ; but let it hasten to put a handsome front on the line, adding another story, with a Mansard roof, and the City Guard, the schools, and fire companies quartered there, will be proud of their new position. According to the first plan, the whole house of Mr. Waitt was to be taken to make a short fifty-feet street opening on Winthrop Square. But, since the opening of Park Street, this has become unnecessary ; as the object of a fine promenade is better accomplished by going round City Square, uj) this avenue, round Win- throp Square, and through Park Street. By giving Mr. MR. WAKUEN'S ARGUMENT. 29 Waitt the piece of the armon' lot and passage-way be- tween, the whole building can be so contrived as to be spacious enough to command a variety of prospect rarely found in one lot ; so that the estate will be worth as much as it is now. The rest of that block on Winthrop Street is slightly damaged ; and I predict that not many years will pass before handsome and high buildings will be erected in the rear; and, either by an agreed change of lines among the owners, or by an architectural arrangement of the sites as they are, by circular fronts or otherwise, the sharp angles are made to disappear in the interior disposition of the apartments. In crossing the estates on either side of Soley Street, there are only one or two which are almost entirely taken : the greater part will be sufficient for house-lots equal to the average of those in Boston of the same or higher class, and bet- tered by being on an avenue of twice the width of the street on which they now are. The residue will have valuable strips, which may be put together, or joined to the rear land. Private interest and gain will adapt all the parcels to the street, so as to be made most availa- ble. By taking the Sturtevant estate, you emerge into the pure air of the monument grounds, and, behold ! the way is clear: the two squares are united, and the work is done. It may take some time for 30U to arrange all the details of negotiation or assessment ; but the experience you have had as to Park Street and Crafts Corner will better .>ihow you how to do it ; and 30 WARREN'S ARGUMENT. for the cai-e and pains the duty may impose, you will have the well-earned reward of the public grati- tude. The net cost of the whole at first was estimated at $100,000. But this estimate included the fifty-feet street to Winthrop Square, and did not include cer- tain additional parts of Soley and Warren Streets, which, by careful study and examination, it is found should be discontinued. The net cost now, we find, cannot exceed sixty or seventy thousand dollars. Call it 175,000, at the outside; and the interest at six per cent, on a loan for twenty years, would be $4,500. Suppose hereafter our rate of taxes should be fifteen dollars on $1,000 (for this improvement will reduce the rate) ; then it will require an increase of valuation of $300,000 to pay that interest. Will the avenue cause this increase? On Monument Street, extended from Bunker Hill to Medford Streets, you will get it. It will be almost a straight line from the Mystic to the Charles ; and the monument, towering up between, will make the distance on either side appear wonderfully short. The natural advantages of this location, for elevation, water-prospect, and rural view, cannot be equalled in this region ; and the character of the buildings to be erected depends upon the laying-out of this avenue. There will be an increase of taxable property to more than that amount on High Street, and that sec- tion bordering thereon as far as Salem Street. Monu- ment Court will be vastly improved, and the lower MR. WAURKN'S ARGUMENT. 31 part of Solcy Street also. Owners in both these places are petitioners. Another element, suggested by Mr. Turrey, is the personal property, subject to a tax, to be brought by persons attracted here by this improved access to our best lands. Here, again, experience teaches us. Dur- ing the last twenty years, I have known many instances of persons of large means, who were almost persuaded to build and live here, but who could not overcome their objections to the disagreeable approaches to those situations, which, when reached, they acknowledged to be most delightful. Then, again, persons who huvc bought and lived on Monument Square have sold, and moved away, whose united personal tax would pa\' the interest required. Considering all these consequences, the question seems to be, not whether this avenue will pay, but, rather, whether the city, in justice to its inter- ests, as well as to its character, can aflbrd any longer to delay it ? In putting the cost at $75,000, no allowance has been made for betterments of estates on streets adjoin- ing: these will reduce that amount. I will not stop to meet the objection of Mr. Lovitt, that assessments for these betterments cannot be collected : it is presumed that this Board is competent to do its duty. The first cost of Monument Avenue and its exten- sion was less than $25,000 ; the interest on which is 81,500, which a tax on $100,000 mure tliau [iiiys. The 32 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. enhancement of values on this street and beyond, with- out the betterment law, has been more than double that amount ; and keeping an account with the cost and interest, and with the increase of taxes received from the enhancement, Monument Avenue has paid for itself. So says the witness, Mr. T. G. Frothingham : so say all of us. Now, the printed table before you shows what the money paid and to be paid by the Association will amount to in twenty years from 1870, if funded at seven per cent interest, payable annually, — a rate below what our banks receive. We know well enough, a "bargain is a bargain;" and the money will be paid. But is it conscionable in the city of Charlestovvn to receive this money from our patriotic Society without rendering a sat- isfactory equivalent, when this can be done in the way we ask, and the interests of the city can be pro- moted thereby ? Monument Avenue is not the avenue we asked for in 1 84 i" : it was laid out, with a mistaken economy, only forty feet wide, and one side of the monument, looking more to the interest of the land- owner. Though a good local street, it is not the ave- nue from Boston; nor is it the one for our own people. If this fund is not thought to be large enough to meet the loan in twenty years, add a little to it from the betterment money. Let no one, however, laugh at these useful sinking- funds. The credit of Massachusetts and of Boston is strengthened by them, and posterity is relieved. It is an old approved way to pay new debts incurred. Let Mi:, WARRKN-S ARGUMKNT. 33 Cliarlcstown Cdiiiiiieiice tlic system with this splendid avenue, and hereafter, as new enterprises are author- ized, plant the seed for the payment of the cost. It has been suggested that you apjjly to this work the money due from the Water -Works for interest on the water-loan, paid by taxation. How fitting it would be to employ the money returned from the success of one great improvement to the commencement of another! As this can never be done more cheaply than now, so you will readily (iad the ways and means to do it. The route proposed was the one pointed out by Dr. William J. Walker, a native of Charlestowu. as the one that should be adopted, soon after the monument was commenced. As soon as the Association saw that the forty-feet avenue to Main Street would not be the thing desired, they turned their attention to this route, but waited until all matters connected with the former ne- gotiation were properly adjusted. In 1867, the presi- dent, in his annual address, reported that a plan and a survey of this route were to be made, and a petition to be addressed to your Board to lay out a suitable avenue in conformity therewith. That report was unanimously accepted, and ordered to be printed. The petition was presented, and a hearing had. In 1868, report was made thereon by the president, and a vote was unanimously passed that the president should prosecute that petition, with the proviso, in.serted at his suggestion, that the avenue should be at no cost to the Association : that 34 MK. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. the city might distinctly understand that the Associa- tion would pay no more annuities beyond the existing agreement. At the last meeting, the president reported that the matter was referred to this Board, and that there was hope that the measure would be accomplished the present year; and he was again authorized and requested to take all possible means to present to your attention their petition as fully and fairly as possible. While Park Street was put through upon no petition whatever, but on an Order submitted by Alderman Dow ; while Warren Street was widened, and the buildings at the junction with Main Street removed without any petition (although there was a petition of a few citi- zens to go back farther to a line with Church Court, bringing the Universalist Church in view, and giving to it a better access), both which measures I believe to be justifiable, — the Monument Association, impelled by public and patriotic considerations, and deeming their duty yet unperformed in this regard, have been at greater expense and labor in preparing surveys, plans, estimates, tabular statements, views, and in other inci- dental matters, than have ever before been any other petitioners to any Municipal Board of Charlestown. They propose, farther, to place before you in permanent form, in order to assist your deliberations, some of the grounds already stated orally, upon which they feel bound to press their claim. This year, petitioners many and influential have sprung to our aid. It is one thing, Mr. Mayor, for tax- Mil. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. 35 payers to request yt)u uniler their own hands to incur a large expenditure, and ((uite another thing for others to sign a remonstrance to the same. The former are supposed to act upon examination and judgment ; the others may act from private interest, personal favor, or prejudice. Your attention having been called as to the wishes of those on Monument Square, I find, from the assessors' books, that, of the owners of estates on the four sides of the Square, a majority, both in number and in the taxed valuation, are petitioners, and only three liave recorded their names as remonstrants ; and of these, two, singularly enough, have recently purchased, and their grantors are petitioners; and I believe that these two will soon be with us. Of the others, they are from every ward ; showing that the improvement is by no means local, but in the largest sense municipal, and, in- deed, national. You will find the solid men, men of great enterprise, builders, professional men, clergymen, law- yers, architects, and engineers, and the promising young men of the city: many of them are representative men, the types and the hope of the city's progress. Our enterprising post-master and the majority of our public press go with us. The remonstrants are no more than might be ex- pected : some of them do not profess to be citizens nor tax-payer.s. I believe that the non-resident petitioners would about balance, in their taxes, all the remon- strants, leaving out tliose whose land is to be taken. One of these statL-d to vou tiiat .several to whom the 36 MR. wareen's argument. remonstrance was presented had refused to sign ; and it is a very creditable thing to the city, tliat, with all the effort and exaggerated statement of cost, so few have remonstrated. The witnesses of the petitioners were men who had studied the subject, and spoke from positive knowledge : Mr. Dow, who has marked with his improvements the whole line from the top of Harvard Hill through the Square to Front Street, and whose tax is probably the largest; Mr. Park, the travelled architect and artist, who has for a long time paid special attention to the effect of this street ; Mr. Torrey, who first gave an estimate upon assumed distances and areas, which did not wholly apply, but, at the next meeting, you remember, he re- affirmed his opinion as applied to the exact locality ; and the printed statement of Mr. J. H. Rand the architect, who built the block in Soley Street, and who superin- tended the bank building of the Warren Institution for Savings are referred to. The testimony on the other side was that of those who will be claimants for damages. The rest were doubtful merely : they were not experts in any sense ; nor have they been to any extent engaged in building. Of the objections urged in argument, not yet glanced at, the most alarming was that against straight, cannon- hall streets. Need we fear such danger from this ave- nue, to be only five times the length of the monument, and twice its breadth ? We will take the risk, Mr. MK. WAliUKNS AKGUMENT. -it Mayor. Time was, in Paris, wlien the ])opiilace would tear up the pavements and light with them : hence the emperor ordered the streets to be macadamized. Must we, therefore, have paved streets where we live ? Be- cause the emperor made wide streets and boulevards for his subjects, shall not you, on behalf of the people, provide them? Even the blind preacher, Millburn, when in Paris, could, through his remaining senses, feel the elevation of spirit, and the exaltation of soul and of character, when under such influences. Look at Chicago, with her straight streets seven miles long. Read the evidence of Dr. Holmes, and the forcible arti- cles of Mr. Elizur Wright, and you will learn the real dangers against which it is your duty to guard. We, who have been a long while accustomed to crooked ways, are not aware of the antipathy which strangers feel. As om* senses become blunted, character may, in course of time, be affected. The injunction, "Make your paths straight," is as old as Holy Writ. The judgment which Dr. Dwight passed upon our an- cestors still hangs over us, and threatens us more and more as population advances. It is proposed to give us a route by Park Street and through Winthrop Square. But Mr. Hull says that Park Street was intended in no way as a substitute for ours. It goes in another direction. At its terminus, you do not see the monument, nor would you on such a street for tiie whole distance on either sidewalk. You would spoil, to n(j purpose, what may lie a l)eauti- 38 MR. WAUKEN'S ARGUMENT. fill square. We ask for a lish, and they would have you give us a serpent. Then it is suggested that monuments should be in a retired nook or corner not easily seen ; and in the next breath you are exhorted to erect a soldiers' monu- ment. As the learned counsel spoke somewhat in dero- gation of the Bunker Hill Monument and the cause it represents, and somewhat more in depreciation of the patriotic utterances of that great orator, as contrasted with the stirring events and eloquent men of our day^ it must have occurred to you, that, if it be indeed true that this generation were coming to lose the veneration due to the jjrinciples and heroism of our Revolutionary fathers, with what feelings of neglect or aversion may not the next generation regard the monument you pro- pose to erect to our soldiers ? The counsel regretted that he did not hear the masterly and unanswerable ai'gument of Mr. Wheildon. If he had heard it, he would have toned and tempered his speech so as to have kept to the dignity of the subject. But he was speaking for his clients ; and he could not have uttered their mature convictions even, but rather the logical deductions from their false position of hostility to the great object the petitioners have in view. If they had said the thing was magnificent, indeed, but utterly beyond your power; that the city was too POOR to start what in the end would pay, and the ac- complishment of which, we believe, would establish the credit of the city more firmly, — they might have MR. WARREN'S AROUMENT. 39 keenly woiimled your ])ri(l(>, and th;i( of your fellow- citizens, but they would have attested some appreciation on their part of a splendid design. It will not do to deride tusthetic culture. We need not wonder that Monument and Winthrop Squares are sometimes treated with contumely ; that the enclosure of City Square is kept neat and trim only ijecause it is under lock and key ; lliat this new City Hall is already defaced with marks; and that fences and buildings are injured, — when we have so long kept the most glorious memorial the sun ever .shone upon, hid from tiie public view, as a light from a golden candlestick under a bushel. Nor need we wonder at some who say, " If any strangers come, they can .«;omehow find the way to the monu- ment. We want no new way to it." Open this avenue, and 3 ou remove a thick vkil. Let me quote the words of Mr. Park : — " By the opening of this avenue, the grand propor- tions of this famous memorial will at once present themselves to view from the principal entrance into the city, and, together with the picturesqueness of the street arrangement, will produce the most impressive city view in this country, and one not excelled by any in the world. "Seldom is it that a monument placed as this one is, upon the very site of the battle-ground itself, has so commanding a position, standing as it does on a hill, — Bunker Hill. By the consummation of this project, it 40 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. will be relieved of all intervening objects, and be bared from base to suuunit, in all its grandeur, against the sky for a background." Art promotes art ; one tasteful building provokes another ; and disagreeable sights disappear. Open this avenue, and soo.n, by voluntary efforts, the sug- gestion of Gen. Dana will be carried out ; and you will see the statue of John Winthrop standing in front, with his face turned southward to the noble metrop- olis, and his hand pointing to that pillared Mount of Sacrifice which transformed the colony he founded into an independent State. The Monument Square shall be adorned as our means may permit, in the best manner that art and taste can suggest. When all this shall be done, whoever shall speak of Bunker Hill Monument will connect it with the Grand Avenue you have laid out, which will have a fame not inferior to that of the Corso of Rome, the Strada Reale of Naples, the Rue de la Paix of Paris, or the Unter den Linden of Berlin. Do you wish to realize all this for the city under your care ? Lay out this avenue, and the work is half done. Incipere est cUmidium. To begin is half. Do you suppose, Mr. Mayor, if it had been foreknown in the spring of 1825 that it would be eighteen years from the laying of the corner-stone to the raising of the cap-stone, that they would have postponed the com- mencement of the work ? Had the projectors allowed MR. WAUUKN'S ARGUMENT. 41 tlio pupular title of tlit- hiiU-ccritLiiy iiiiniver.sary and of Lafayette's visit to subside without eflbrt, think you the monument would now have been built? Tlic place where Webster stood, on the 17th June, 1825, with the people around him, and the place where that historic scene of 1843 transpired, are both covered with dwellings. Hereafter the popular gatherings on great occasions will be on the beautiful slope on the southerly side, stretching down your other streets, and down this avenue to City Square. Prepare now for the great cextexxi.al. Let me remind you of the obligations this city is under to the Bunker Hill Monument Association. For fifty years the field of Bunker Hill was private land. The founders of that association, in executing their great work, contributed more service than all the un- paid labor of the municipal governments of Charlestown and Boston during the time. 1 need not recall the names of Webster and Everett, of Brooks and Lincoln, of Willard and Russell, of Baldwin and Dearborn, of Tudor and Perkins, of Amos and Abbott Lawrence, of Prcscott and Buckingham, of Wales and Darracott, of Wells and Thorndike, and of scores of others, whose names are identified with this monument. All the advantage of their labors is your.s. Look at Tufts' Plan of Charlestown in 1818, and observe how much consideration is due for the streets and lots laid 42 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. out by thein on land .siuTendered back to private use. Your valuation of that land as now improved is over one million. The wise restrictions on the lots facing the square have saved Charlestown from being a wood- en cit}'. Recognize, City Fathers, this obligation, and uncover the everlasting crown of the city. The Cumaean sibyl, as we read the early history of Borne, presented to the king nine books, for which a high price was demanded. The offer rejected, she burned three, and presented the six for the same price. Again rejected, she burned three more, and returned again with the remaining three, demanding for them the same price she first asked for the nine. The last offer was accepted ; and the sibylline books were pre- served, cherished, and consulted by those who governed Eome for five hundred years. From this singular his- tory, or fible, we take this extract of ancient wisdom : that, in the foundation of cities or of States, whatever is clearly desirable for the public welfare shoirld be at once secured, or afterwards necessity will compel the purchase of a part for as much, or more, even, than the whole would have cost at first. The Bunker Hill Monument Association now again, and for the third and critical time, advocate their peti- tion. They are joined by an array of citizens, who, in asking you to grant it, are convinced that the city's own interests will be greatly advanced. The Association represent that silent Oiiatou, whose influence may be MR. WAKKEN'S ARGUMENT. 43 made to hi'conio more potent by far than any sil)yl or deity of heathen mythology, as it may be viewed by the masses, whether in tlie day of jubilee, of national disaster, or in the quiet evcrj'-day life of undisturbed avocation. It pleads to you, as you may gaze upon it from that favored window in the broad glare of lunar light, that you shall no longer suffer it to be shut out from the daily view of the busy throng, but that you will open up to it the desired avenue, that it may speak to the popular heart, and that its visible pres- ence, bursting upon the thousands on thousands as they pass through this square, renowned as the seat of the early settlement, may remind them of the liberty and glory of their countrj^ and of what that country expects of TIIEM. Mr. Mayor, I greatly envy you and each of your as- sociates, in this your opportunity. All that most of us can hope will be said of our humble efforts, is that we served, or attempted to serve, well our day and genera- tion. But you, gentlemen, have it in your power, by taking measures to secure this improvement now, and to provide for its accomplishment the coming year, not only to serve this generation, but to make all posterity your debtor. The beneficent, all-pervading influences of this act of consummate forecast will endure as long as that world-renowned obeli.sk shall stand on yon famous height, keeping company with the sun and the heavenly star.s, ever telling those who here shall enjoy 44 MR. WARREN'S ARGUMENT. civil and religious liberty how to appreciate their birth- right ; as long as Bunker Hill and Faneuil Hall, brought by this in closer communication, shall be associated with the birth of the great American Republic on the bright page of the world's instructive history. IsT O T E S. Dr Dwight's Strictures. - Kvery one now acknowledges their force ; and itisadmittc.1 that the town should have been re,n,larly laid out after the Revolution. Yet now this avenue can be laid out, and one or two other streets straightene-l and extended, with as Hale relative cost There »s now an occupation and a business connected with the terr.tory that woald prompt an immediate improvonent and adaptation. Charlestown ,s yet young, com- pared with the places of the Old World, and just beg.nnmg to develop .t3 local advantages, which are unsurpassed. AxxTTAL Payments. -Tlie annual payments made and to be made by the Association will, if regularly invested, amount to fifty thousand dollars in twenty years, or enough to pay the net debt to be incurred, betterments beyond the street being deducted. The Bridge Avenue. -When the charter for Warren Bridge was ..ranted, the directors of the Corporation applied to their fellow-cUizen, Col. Lammi Baldwin, who stood at the head of his profession c,vd engmeers for a plan. With great care and study he prepared one, to be of stone piers and a'rches,witha stoneor iron superstructure^ be ^---^ wUh gravel of the width of eighty feet, with a circular br.dge and draw, enclo..ng a basin for the reception of vessels, so that there ^^S^^' ^.^^^V'^Zj travel at the draw. This bridge might then have been bmlt for 8120,000 and, when built, would have required no repairs. 0°«°f ''-'''.■••=•= ""-f" eco;omical man-returned the plan, and sai.l to Col. Baldwin '' ^^e n- tond, colonel, to build a bridge of wood, for four years' ">^"-» «" "J^ yours will cost."-"No doubt." replied the colonel, " you can do it but how long will such a wooden structure la^tf" So we find out now afte^ more than half a million of .lolUrs have been expen.led, an.l a great part wasted, that his plan, for economy and for public convenience, .s now wante.i. The extension of Washington Street to ILiymarket ^-^^^'^l^^ wide bridge, wi.h no detention a. the draws; and the avenue to the monu- Col. Baldwin made the first plan and estimate for the Monument ; and he illustrated to the Committee, of wliloh he was Chairman, how superior the view and approach to the Monument would be from a diagonal direction, showing two sides of the obelisk, by setting up a shingle, cut in the shape of the front, which he said would be the appeai'ance from a rectangular direction, showing but one side. Tenants wili, not fight for their homes. — Alluding to the elo- quent remark of counsel, that " our fathers fought to protect their homes." As if that was an ai-gument against a street ! The View of 1839. — At the time this view was exhibited, showing the monument completed and the square handsomely built upon, the work on the monument was not only suspended, but the Association was embar- rassed, and there was no prospect of completion. The ladies' fair in 1840 finished the work. The expectation that this avenue will be handsomely built upon in a very short time is far more reasonable than the hope then held out in relation to the monument and Monument Square. The Cost. — That the cost can, by proper exertions, be made to come within the statements of the petitioners can be easily demonstrated. sCannon-Ball Streets. — Alluding to the remark of Napoleon, quoted in the case, " That cannon-balls go in a straight line." As it that was the only or the best reason for laying out straight streets in a city ! That Historic Scene. — The painting by John Pope, representing Mr. Webster delivering the address on the completion of the monument, which stood in front of the speaker, was presented to the city by Mr. Warren, on behalf of the subscribers, in 1853, as a suitable memorial of the great statesman and orator. The proposed Statde to John Winthrop. — The " Great House," where Governor Winthrop is supposed to have first unrolled the Colonial Charter before the Council, is on City Square ; and the proper position for the Statue, as indicated in the argument, would be near, if not on the precise spot, where he then stood. When this avenue is constructed, it would be an easy matter for the people of Charlestown and Boston — both which places he founded — to raise the necessarj- funds, by Ladies' Fairs, or by voluntary subscription-, to erect this desired Monumental Statue, which would be well- placed as it is merited. The Favored Window. — The window from the Council Chamber, in which the argument was delivered, in the third story of City Hall, gives the finest view of the monument to be had in Charlestown, or anywhere else, except from the harbor. This view, not now enjoyed by the multitude, the avenue wiU give to all who cross City Square. ABSTRACT OF EVIDENCE. William S. Park of Boston, Architect, hadvisitotl foi- ei.ru countries, and spoke in favor of the widening and laying out streets in general and also as to the benefits to be°accrued in this particular instance. He had been in Europe, and through the principal cities of America; but had never seen a structure which was so imposing ■IS this would be rendered by the proposed avenue. In laying out cities so that the greatest advantage may be gained by the combination of utility and beauty, two systems present themselves for the general arrange- ment of streets. First, a system by which all the streets are made to cross each other at right angles, and another by which they are made to diverge from, and converge to certain points of marked interest. Some cities are planned wholly upon the first principle, while others are arranged upon the other ; that is to say, while some streets, or districts of streets, indeed cross at right angles, the main effort is to concentrate attention upon perma- nent landmarks and centres of business by direction of n.ain avenues to and from those points. While the first- nauicd principle of arran..euK-nt oilers, peibap.s perlect 48 ABSTRACT OF EVIDENCE. advantages to the transaction of business, but can claim nothing of picturesque beauty, a city arranged after the other plan loses no business facilities ; and, by care- fully designing structures to suit their locations, here and there appropriating bits of ground at the sharpest street-angles for the site of flower-gardens, trees, and fountains, is filled with delightful street-views. In the former case, a building standing upon a corner gains but very little advantage over any other by its position in the street-view, as it cannot be seen until approached quite near ; whereas in cases where the streets are forked, or cross each other obliquely, as frequently occur in the latter arrangement, buildings placed at the angles may be seen from quite a distance, and become conspicuous objects in the view. In applying the foregoing named principles to the proposed avenue from City Square to the monument, it is plain this undertaking comes under the second- named system of arrangement. Here is an object of great historical and aesthetic interest, without any direct and handsome approach, and which can he seen from no Ijoint in the city under the advantageous circumstances it deserves. By the opening of this avenue, the grand proportions of this famous memorial will at once pre- sent themselves to view from the principal entrance into the city, and, together with the picturesqueness of the street arrangeiaent, will produce the most impres- sive city-view in this country, and one not excelled by any in the world. Seldom is it that a muuuiuent placed as this one is, AltSTUACT OF KVIDENCE. 49 upon the very site of the hattle-groiind itself, has so coinmandiug a position, standing as it does on a hill, — Bunker Hill. By the consummation of this j^roject, it will be relieved of all intervening objects, and be bared from base to summit, in all its grandeur, against the sky for a background. The immediate construction of this avenue would have the effect to insure the extension of Washington Street in Boston to Haymarket Square, and a change of the location of Charles River Bridge to a line parallel and adjacent to Warren Bridge, mak- ing of the two bridges one spacious avenue to Boston. Moses A. Dow said he had signed the petition for the general benefit of Charlestown. He was strongly in favor of this street from the first ; but, since he heard Mr. Park's explanations as to the effect of diagonal street-crossings, he was more in favor than ever before. Unquestionably the street ought to be laid out. If this street were laid out, a great amount of Jand which is now I'ear lots would become front ones. Better buildings would be placed thereon, and the danger from fire would be much less. He considered that not only should this street be laid out, of easy grade, but all the property in the vi- cinity of Park, Chelsea, and Henley Streets should be raised for the health and comfort of the residents and the value of property. This street must some time be laid out, and delay was expensive. Every foot of land in the city would be raised in value by this improve- ment lie considered that the improvements in City 50 ABSTRACT OF EVIDENCE. Square had increased the valuation of Charlestown more than one milHon dollars. The present occupation of the territory has an injurious effect upon surrounding property. A fire would be a benefit to the neighbor- hood, if the street were not laid out. Everett Torrey said he considered the street should be laid out for the general interest of Charlestown. What Charlestown wants is broad avenues. Here was a good chance to inaugurate such a policy, at trifling cost compared with the benefits. He gave some esti- mates, not based upon the dimensions of the street, but upon the subject in a general sense, in which the value of property would be much improved. The following testimony given at the hearing before the Board last year was also submitted : — James H. Rand, Esq., Architect, testified that the enhanced value of the estates would be very great, even more than Mr. Buchanan had estimated ; so that the cost would be less than his estimate. He thought that the general advancement of property in the vicinity would fully compensate for the making of this street, even though it should cost double the estimates. He had examined the whole plan, and believed that all the land upon the street, even the triangular pieces, could be used to advantage, and be worth vastly more than they now are. This street would be of an easier grade ; so that access to High Street would be much improved for the benefit of the heavy travel. He was ABSTIIACT OK KVIUENCE. 51 in iavor of making tlie ivvenue even sixty leet wide, so as to show the monuinont in the centre from Warren Bridge. The city could not make anywhere so great an improvement us this. Most of the streets are irregu- hir; and it is very important that wide and straight avenues be hiid out, so as to bring the hind into tlie most profitable use. Estimates of cost, plans, and photographic views, were presented and explained. In accordance with the suggestion of Mr. Rand, and of the petitioners generally, the petition and plans are for a sixty-feet avenue, instead of lifty feet, as befoi'e proposed. - [From The Charlestown Advertiser.] THE NEW STREET TO THE MONUMENT. As a part of the proposed improvements, not only desirable, but deemed in the progress of events abso- lutely essential for the interests of Charlestown, is the straight and broad avenue from City Square to the monument, the centre of the avenue being in a line with the centre of the monument. The adoption of this measure by our City Council the present year will have great weight with the Counnon Council ol' Boston in confirming the extension of Washington Street to Haymarket Square, as already decided by the aldermen of that city. It will have none the less weight with the Legislature next January, when it shall be invoked to authorize the consolidating of the two bridge ave- nues to Boston into one magnificent highway over Charles River, having two circular routes over the channel, with draws for the passage of vessels, so ar- ranged that the travel may pass over the one or the other without interruption. If Charlestown shall do its part, and open the avenue to the monument, and if the other two projects be carried out. Washim;toii Street, Irom its commencement THE NKW STREET TO THE MONUMENT. 53 at tliu suiitlieniuiost limit ol' l>o.ston, would k'ati diiuc-tly to the finest niomimeut in the world, tiie superb view of which would be enjoyed by the traveller as he passes over the bi'idge, before he enters upon the limits of Charlestown. The effect of this will not only be to afford infinite pleasure and delight in beholding a magnificent object of architecture — unequalled any- where in the world — but it will give great practical value find appreciation to all the property extending on and beyond High Street to the top even of old Bunker Hill. The remark is often made, that there are a great many pleasant situations in Charlestown still unim- proved, and also elegant residences not yet able to com- mand their relative intrinsic value in the market, be- cause there is no suitable and pleasant access to them. There is not a handsome, direct, and well-graded street to our highlands; and all these lands — some of which are the finest in this vicinity — are greatly depreciated on this account. The proposed avenue meets the great public want. Commencing at the centre of the northerly side of City Square, the opening for which is now nearly pro- vided, its whole length to High Street is but twelve hundred feet. But. as it passes ovei- existing ways, its course over private lands is but ten hundred and fifty feet. The avenue, being twelve hundred feet long by sixty wide, requires seventy-two thousand .'square feet ; by discontinuing parts of streets that will not be re- • (iiired. and deducting the ciossiugs, tlie (juaulity of 54 THE NEW STREET TO THE MONUMENT. private land that will be taken for this purpose will be about thirty-eight thousand square feet, or but two thousand more than one-half of the whole area. But the cheapness and economy with which this avenue can now be laid out are more strikingly appar- ent when we compare the present occupation of the land, and the character of the buildings upon it, with the first-class improvements which would inevitably be made as soon as this avenue is constructed. It would be impossible to suppose that a wide and well-graded avenue, extending from City Square to the monument, would not command for every foot of its frontage more than double or treble the price which the same land would now bring in its present condition. By several independent estimates made by competent judges, the net cost to the city of laying out and con- structing this avenue, allowing for betterments only on the two sides thereof, would be about sixty thousand dollars. One-half, at least, of this sum might be assessed, under the betterment law, upon the estates extending beyond. The whole aggregate cost would be realized to the city in seven years, in substantial enhancement of values, in increase of business, and the erection of a better class of buildings. Compared with this improvement, the extension of Park Street, and the widening at Crafts' Corner, al- though in themselves important and to be approved, sink into utter insignificance. They have their advantages; but the benefit is circumscribed to a com- paratively small locality. This avenue, however, is lor THE NEW STREET TO THE MONUMENT. 00 the benefit of the wliole chy. Lying wholly- in Wmxl One, it is vastly for the benefit of Wards Two and Three. It will greatly promote the convenience of those who travel in vehicles, or who labor with loaded teams; while all citizens and travellers will have the advantage of a better access and a commanding view. The whole city, indeed, will be crowned with an orna- ment unsurpassed, whose matchless beauty may bo seen as it cannot bo now from any street or pul)lic [)lace within tlie city limits. Ik*. "^ l"^ »'j< »?".^.!:^% "> :^ ;^ ^^w^" .', '.° .'^^'^. ■'^55^ %,^ :^M^ "\/ ;^fe^ "^..^ %'. ^. ^^0« 6'. «^ .■^ ,^ V .^^' .-^* .^-; ^n^ 'bV ', -f .^^^.. v •^^. 5^^ <* v.. •&' v-"^°- .% -^^.^^ .'. ./""^. ': ^^' r ^^'^m-y. %. .. ^'^.i^i'^'^^^ y ' ' ^ *>-^', -^^ '^ tt. V .' ^^' /=> /^5^*- '■'>- :v >. .^^ >'.cv /?5!!*^' ^'^..^^^' .• .•i' o K -^ h -^^ -^^ ^^ .y,-^,'. > ,0^ V ;^/ . •^^'^ , . ^ V •** 5©^ 'oK \ f^cf^ ^o, *.Tr^.-' ,0' \/ ^^<^ .^^"-. ?^- .•i'^^