Chapter XII: Chelsea’s Future

In spite of the fact that no municipality in the State ever had such a blow as Chelsea, which lost millions of taxable property and fully one third of its population, the city has a glorious future before it. Of this there is no doubt. It will be rebuilt, bigger and better in every way. It will be a different kind of a city, however. The conservative people, who have lived in their old houses year after year, although the environment about them had changed, will in many cases rebuild in different sections of the town. The old style of architecture will give way to the new. There will be a relocation of schools and churches, and the City Hall and other public buildings will be more conveniently located. Streets will be widened and laid out differently in many cases, and the old houses and buildings which had been remodeled into stores along Broadway will be replaced by fine business blocks of brick and concrete construction. Hardly had the smoke of the fire cleared away when the people turned their thoughts towards rebuilding.

Chelsea is the home of many able and influential people, representing large manufacturing, banking, political, and professional interests. These men, who had their business and property interests at stake, decided that to secure confidence in the city and rapid rebuilding was impossible under the existing city charter, but that if a board of five competent men were appointed by the governor and given the power of the mayor, Board of Aldermen and School Committee for five years, it would be possible. The appointment of such a board or commission, it was believed, would cut out all political strife. A bill was therefore introduced and at a hearing held on April 28 at the State House nearly all the prominent citizens were present. As a matter of record the following speeches are of interest, showing, as they do, the general feeling of the people.

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Mayor John E. Beck spoke as follows:--

“We have come to the conclusion, regardless of everything else
in the city, that legislation is needed to promote the welfare
and future of our city. Nearly five hundred acres have been
destroyed by the fire, and now we are confronted with the task
of rebuilding the city. We have agreed, I believe, in the city
of Chelsea, almost to a man, that if we have Chelsea’s future
at heart, and we believe that her future must be protected,
that legislation of this kind is needed. Political ambition
and other things of that nature must be eliminated. We have
come to you as a unit from the city of Chelsea, to ask you
gentlemen of the committee to give us this bill. It will
then be in the hands of the governor to appoint whom he sees
fit, citizens, as the members of that commission, so long as
they are of our own citizenship. We can then bring back the
confidence that is desired, and build a more beautiful and
substantial Chelsea than before. The mayor or Board of Aldermen
lack the power to do what is now needed to accomplish this
work. The work of reconstruction must be carried on by a body,
independent in action, and as a citizen, I wish to further
those things which are of essential benefit to every inhabitant
of our city. This cannot be accomplished by politics. This is
my first year as mayor; I am willing to sacrifice that and all
my own political ambitions, that our city may prosper in this
year of progress and take its place among the leading cities of
the Commonwealth. A bill of this nature carries with it the one
thought, that we must have the best men possible; in order to
restore confidence and thus secure results which will insure
the future and best interest of the city.”

Congressman Ernest W. Roberts said:--

“The little I have to say will be as a citizen of Chelsea, a
resident of that municipality for over forty years. Chelsea of
to-day is not a city of wealthy people. You have heard from the
city treasurer somewhat of the losses that we have sustained.
If our city is to be rehabilitated, if we are to become once
more a flourishing municipality, it is necessary in the first
instance to restore confidence, both in the people now living
in Chelsea and those who have been forced out of the city by
reason of this fire, and what is much more important, the
confidence in financial men in the future of that city. We
have got to have large amounts of money poured into the city
to rebuild it, and without that basic principle of confidence
in the future of the city we are not going to get the money.
I am not in favor of government by commission, but there are
times and conditions when it seems to me that the commission is
the only solution of the problem, and I firmly believe to-day
that the question confronting the people of Chelsea can only
be solved through a commission. Without a commission there
would be a lack of continuity of government, so essential for
the successful solution of the problem that now confronts the
people of Chelsea. Through a commission a comprehensive scheme
can be laid out and can be carried out, step by step. After
its conclusion and when the commission has done that work,
the government of the city can be turned back to its citizens
under its present plan, or such other plan as the conditions
then presented to the city and country may warrant. I am not
here to argue for every line in the bill, but I am in favor of
the basic idea of the bill, which is a commission which shall
have a fixed tenure of office in order that there may be given
to those men sufficient time to carry out their plans. If
your bill does not provide enough time, you are not going to
accomplish what we want, and that is the creation of confidence
among monied men. I would suggest for the consideration of the
committee one possible amendment, and that would be towards
fixing a definite sum of money which the commission could raise
by the issue of bonds. It would seem to be wise not to leave
the matter entirely open in the bill as it is to-day.”

Hon. Willard Howland spoke as follows:--

“I think there has been wiped out no single complete ward.
The area of the city is fourteen hundred acres, and about
four hundred and ninety have been devastated. That is a strip
about six thousand feet long and one thousand feet wide. It is
estimated that about $8,000,000 of its taxable property has
been destroyed. This bill comes before you as the result, I
think, of a very great concerted action among all the citizens.
Necessarily, some one must take the lead. Shortly after the
fire, within a day or two, representatives of the financial
interests and the insurance interests, manufacturing and
other interests of the city, were called together by some few
representative men and others and discussed the prospective
needs of the city. The great problem is the one of to-morrow,
and it was believed that inasmuch as a very large proportion
of the property destroyed must be rebuilt by capital borrowed
for the purpose, the essential was a large degree of confidence
in the city’s ability to go forward and pay the debts which it
would be obliged to incur, a confidence which it was necessary
to reestablish, if it had been destroyed. Now it is true that
the fire passed through largely the residential portion of
the city, and on both sides of the fire-swept district remain
many business enterprises. I think there were thirty-seven of
the various institutions represented in the consideration of
this matter, for we have some manufacturers there who employ
a thousand men and whose payroll amounts from $10,000 to
$11,000 a week. The people’s opportunity for employment has not
been interrupted, but their homes have been destroyed. It is
intended to rebuild them, but the constitutional limitations
would prevent our asking for aid for the accomplishment of
that purpose. That must come through the confidence of private
investors in our ability to rebuild and maintain our city.

“I think, however, it may be said that there are three
propositions on which we agree absolutely, and that is, that
there should be at this time a commission appointed to take
charge of financial affairs and administer the government for
the city. I think we are agreed that the commission should be
appointed by the governor with the advice of the council.
There is necessity for the State’s assistance to be rendered
in this emergency. We differ on some things which I think
are not so essential as those things upon which we agree. I
think that the appointment of the commission should be in the
hands of the governor, without the limitation as made. We are
not agreed as to the terms of the commission, that is, the
length of time that it should serve. My own opinion of that
is this, that we should appoint a commission for such term as
should be sufficient to warrant the opinion that some policy
could be defined and carried out. If the Legislature chooses
at some future time to change the situation, they can do so.
If any citizen desires a change, he, individually, or they,
collectively, can come to the Legislature and ask for a change.
If government by commission is to the satisfaction of all
citizens, it may continue without further legislation. The
necessity is apparent and I think nine tenths of the citizens
are in favor of the bill. You may feel that some of its
elements should be changed or limitations made, and, of course,
that is open to your consideration.”

Others who appeared in favor of the commission were: Judge Albert D. Bossom, Ex-Mayor Carter, Ex-Mayor Mitchell, A. B. Atwood, Rev. R. Perry Bush, Hon. James Gould, William Martin, Hon. H. W. Pratt, Walter C. Mitchell, Ex-Mayor Strahan, Benjamin F. Dodge, Colonel Moses, Councilor Hoag, Charles G. Roberts, H. P. Sanborn, Royal S. Wentworth, C. Willis Gould, John Duncan, William Prescott, George H. Buck, Reinhard E. Bartels, Lorenzo D. Dixon, George H. Dunham, Hon. Eugene T. Endicott, George B. Guild, Ralph W. E. Hopper, Andrew T. Hunnewell, Geo. E. Morrill, Herbert L. Slade, Henry H. Stickney, Leonard A. Treat, Walter Whittelsey, and James S. Wilson.

The hearing was practically unanimous in favor of the bill as presented.

The next day two other bills were put in, not greatly different, and after a tiresome delay a combination of the three was made up by the Committee on Metropolitan and City Affairs and put before the Legislature. The bill quickly passed the Senate, only to be held up in the House, but finally after a lengthy debate passed, to the general satisfaction of all those who had the best interest of Chelsea at heart.

It is pretty safe to say that any commission the governor appoints will prohibit light and flimsy buildings. This will tend more than anything else to drive out the undesirable citizens.

This commission will not be prejudiced for or against any particular ward, neither will the members have any constituents to care for to the detriment of the city.

Although Chelsea has an attractive residential district, which was not destroyed by the fire, as can readily be seen by the illustrations, it never again will be the residential city that it was fifty years ago, as the area is too limited and the shipping facilities make it too valuable for anything but manufacturing purposes.

When the work of dredging, now in progress along the water front, is completed the city will have a mile of valuable wharf property, which is bound to bring more business into the city and to increase the valuation.

The shoe factories, which employ thousands of people, were just outside the burned area, which was fortunate for the employees, who lost their homes. Most of these people carried some insurance and can rebuild as long as they are assured of employment.

The Chelsea Trust Company proposes to erect a fine building entirely for their own use. The Chelsea Savings Bank has bought additional property, and in rebuilding will double the size of its former building.

The city is assured of a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar Post-office. Ex-Mayor Strahan proposes to rebuild his beautiful home on Bellingham Hill.

The Frost Hospital drew $35,000 insurance, and as much more is assured to build a new hospital.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will certainly provide Chelsea with a fine armory to replace the one destroyed.

Most of the churches will at once start to rebuild; and when the city gets its many buildings up, it will not be long before many new and desirable people will locate in Chelsea.

An attempt is to be made to get the Metropolitan Park Commission to secure permission from the United States government and carry out the plans originally made during Mayor Pratt’s administration for a Marine Park along the Mystic River in front of the Naval Hospital.

At that time John D. Long was Secretary of the Navy and was interested to the extent of visiting Chelsea and inspecting the project. It was found, however, that the cost of filling would be too great.

Since then the government has appropriated money to dredge the Mystic River, and the only expense would be to move the sea wall out several hundred feet to the low-tide mark. The dredging could then be done by the new hydraulic system, thus saving carting the dirt out to sea to be dumped.

This improvement would not only greatly help Chelsea, but would make the hospital grounds and neighborhood much healthier.

The residents of Chelsea are determined to drive out the Hebrew junk dealers, and the insurance companies are helping by canceling all policies on rag shops. The people of Chelsea have tolerated these undesirable citizens as long as they propose to; fire after fire of incendiary origin has taken place until there is no alternative,--they have got to go.

As terrible as the fire was, God saw it was for the best, and in a very few years the people are going to look at it in the same way. The new city which is about to spring up will take the place that the Chelsea of the sixties held,--excelled by none, and better than most.

THE END

Transcriber’s Notes.

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