5 order, may be run over the tracks of the said Suffolk Railroad 6 Company in Haverhill, Causeway, Merrimac, and Portland 7 Streets, and that if the compensation to be paid to said 8 Suffolk Railroad Company by the corporation or corpora9 tions, for running their cars over said tracks of the Suf10 folk Railroad Company, cannot be mutually agreed upon, 11 the compensation to be paid shall be determined by the 12 Board of Aldermen for the time being, or by Commissioners 13 which may be appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court.

Also, under the further express proviso and condition, to 2 the location of tracks and turnouts, granted under the 3 authority of this order, that said Suffolk Railroad Company 4 shall accept this said order of location, and agree to comply 5 with its several provisions and conditions in writing, within 6 twenty days of the date of its passage, and file said accept7 ance and agreement with the City Clerk; otherwise it shall 8 be null and void.

The roadway or cartway mentioned in this order is to 2 include the whole space between the edgestones supporting 3 the sidewalks on both sides of the street.

CITY OF BOSTON.

In Common Council, October 3, 1861.

THE Joint Special Committee on Relief to the Families of Volunteers, respectfully submit the following report.

At the outbreak of the present unhappy rebellion, the insecurity of the National Capital demanded for its protection the united energies of all good citizens, and everywhere throughout the State, and nowhere more generally or generously than in Boston, the call was responded to with an ardor unparalleled. All felt that their first duty was to their country, and those who were prevented from taking arms in its defence emulously endeavored to do whatever else was in their power for the public security. Money was liberally contributed and expended for arms and uniforms, as well as for supplying the men with food and quarters while in preparation for the field.

Among other claims stood paramount that of saving from distress or unnecessary privation the families of soldiers gone to the war, many of which, in the hurry of departure, were left without provision for their support, in some instances indeed reduced, by the absence of their natural protectors, from competence to actual destitution. For their relief, private individuals organized associations, and time and means were devoted without stint, and to good effect; but so numerous were the demands upon public liberality for other objects growing out of the occasion, that the effort to procure funds was soon found inadequate to the need. Fortunately, for communities to protect the families of their defenders from want had become generally recognized

as a sacred obligation, in harmony with our republican institutions, and, within proper limits, would we rely for our armies upon voluntary enlistment rather than upon draft, an important element of national strength, and an appropriate subject for legislation. From its novelty in our laws, and in those even of other countries, no precedent existed as a guide, and the emergency requiring precipitation, the Statute of 1861, Chapter 222, which was passed in May, was not as complete as could have been wished.

In Boston and in many other cities and towns, the municipal governments assumed the charge of carrying the law into effect, and as large amounts of public money, for the rightful application of which they were responsible, were to be distributed, and the statute required the accounts before reimbursement to be certified by them, they could not well have delegated it to other persons. Notwithstanding the varied and engrossing nature of their ordinary functions, and the annoyances and perplexities of this unusual claim upon their time, our City Council devoted themselves to the task without hesitation. Rules and orders were framed with despatch, and the members from each ward organized into committees. The applicants at the outset were very numerous, but their homes being near by the residences of the committee having charge of their particular claims, their cases were easily investigated, and the labor involved as it became familiar, growing sensibly lighter, was submitted to with cheerfulness.

From the impossibility of anticipating the nature or extent of the aid that might be needed, or the possible requirements of those that were to audit the accounts, the plan adopted was more complicated than subsequently proved necessary. Simplifications suggested by experience have been from time to time introduced, and while all important information is retained in an accessible form, repetitions are avoided, and the time of those employed in keeping the books and accounts essentially economized. Imperfections were to be expected in a system improvised like this for an extraordinary occasion, but it is believed to possess every safe