EIGHTH HEARING.

MONDAY, MAY 15, 1871.

The meeting was called to order at ten minutes to 8 o'clock by the Clerk, and in the absence of the President, Mr. Robbins, of Ward Eight, was chosen temporary Chairman.

The following petitions in favor of free ferries were received: Of G. H. Fleming and 33 others; E. W. Bearse and 45 others; Rev. James Fitton and 41 others; John Foley and 45 others; John Kirby and 44 others; A. O. Pierce, Daniel McLaughlin and 40 others; James Armstrong and 41 others; Thomas O'Malley and 35 others; Thomas Bond and 28 others; Edward L. Grueby, Thomas Barnes and 38 others; L. L. Sterling and 39 others; Emanuel Downing, C. Littlefield and 42 others; John Tyler and 25 others; H. M. Williams and 42 others; Daniel J. Haines and 21 others; Littlefield and Bradden and 36 others; J. A. Pratt and 42 others; E. S. Stevens and 41 others; Robert Moore and 41 others; E. Hodge & Co. and 46 others; Andrew Webster and 42 others; Edward Butler and 38 others.

Mr. KEITH. I desire to call the attention of the Committee to the report of the present Directors of the East Boston Ferry Co., on file among the papers in this case, showing the extent of the travel upon the ferries for the six months prior to the making of the report. By that report, it appears that the total number of passengers carried during the six months was 2,840,581. Dividing that by the number of days in the six months gives an average per day of 15,609 foot passengers. The total number of teams in the six months, of every kind, according to that report, was 277, 196. Dividing that by the number of days, gives day; or, excluding Sundays, it gives

an average of 1,523

per

an average of 1,765 daily. The trips of the boats, as we shall

show, vary from 200 to 236 per day. Taking the smaller numbers of trips as the criterion, and dividing the number of teams by the number of days, gives an average of less than four and a half teams per boat.

I now put in the statement of the managing director of the Fulton Ferry, New York.

OFFICE OF THE UNION FERRY COMPANY OF BROOKLYN, BROOKLYN, 15 April, 1871. Dear Sir:- In answer to your note from Mr. Bowker, I can say from the best information I can arrive at, made up from daily returns of receipts, we carry at Fulton Ferry 50,000 foot passengers per day, or 1,500,000 per month, over and back,— of carts and carriages 800 per day, or 24,000 per month.

Yours respectfully,

J. W. GERARD, Esq., 43 Williams street.

C. P. SMITH,
Managing Director.

TESTIMONY OF THOMAS HILLS.

Q. (By Mr. KEITH.) Mr. Hills, you are one of the Board

of Assessors - the Chairman of the Board, I believe?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. How many years have you been in the department?
A. Six years.

Q. How many years chairman of the Board?

A. Well, sir; I hardly know that. Three or four years.

Q. I will ask you, sir, whether you have made any examination of the amount of taxes assessed in the city of Chicago, as compared with the taxes assessed in the city of Boston ?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Will you state to the committee the result of that examination?

A. I have made, during some three or four years past, at the request of the Auditor of Accounts, tables of comparative taxation between the different leading cities of the Union, as I could get data for them; but I early became convinced that that data was unreliable, because, while I could get all the taxation there was of Boston, I could not get all the taxation of the other cities, the systems varying. This year, having special facilities afforded me, by the visit of our Secretary to Chicago, to get the real figures in that case, and prompted thereto, perhaps mainly, by the extraordinary figures which appeared in the public prints a few months ago, by which, apparently, Chicago, a city about our own size, was enjoying a general tax levy of four millions against ours of eight and three-quarter millions, and that their rate of taxation was only fifteen dollars on a thousand, I made special effort to get the real facts in the case. I find the statement to be as follows:

In Boston, the tax or general levy for 1870 was $8,636,862. There are three classes of special assessments to be added to that Sewers, Sidewalks and Betterments. The tax for sewers in 1870 was $52,200; for sidewalks, $29,920. (These figures, with the exception of the general levy, come from the reports of the departments in the City Hall, and not from the Assessors' Department.) Since 1866, when the law generally known as the "Betterment Law" went into force, there have been "betterments," as they are generally termed, assessed upon property specially benefited by street widenings, that amounted, in 1870, to $1,330,705. That makes the grand total of assessments, of every kind, name and nature, in the City of Boston, for the year 1870, $10,049,787. I question very much whether that very large item of "Betterment," $1,330,705, should be looked upon as an assessment. I do not believe that it is of the same character as special assessments for street widenings.

Now, the Chicago account for the same year, stands as fo llows:

It will be seen that the city of Chicago is divided into three separate districts, and each one of those districts is separately and independently assessed for its share of State and County expenses, and for special local improvements, like public parks; and each of these districts collects from the railroads which run. through it a certain tax, which is measured by the value of the location within that district.

Q. Can you give us the valuation of the two cities?

A. Yes, sir. Boston, with a population by the census of 1870 of 250,526, had a valuation of $365,593,100 real, and $218,496,300 personal; making a grand total of valuation of $584,089,400. The same year, Chicago, with a population of 298,983, had a valuation of real, $223,643,600; and of personal, $52,342,950; making a grand total of valuation of $275,986,550.

Q. Their valuation, then, is less than one-half that of Boston, is it?

A. Yes, sir; their total valuation is less than one-half that of Boston.

Q. Now, sir, supposing you divide the total that was raised by taxation in the city of Chicago, upon their valuation, what rate will it give per thousand dollars?

A. The rate of Boston last year was $15.30 per thousand dollars. If you add her sewer tax, it was $15.38. If you add sewers and sidewalks, it was $15.45. If you add sewers, sidewalks, and betterments, it was $17.80. Chicago's general levy was $15 on a thousand. Add her State, county, and town taxes, (those district taxes I referred to) and you have $23.22 on a thousand. Adding likewise her special assessments, you get a rate of $33.14 on a thousand.

Q. Then, if you include in the Chicago tax the same items that are included in the Boston tax, it will make a tax of $33 on a thousand?

A. Yes, sir. If you include likewise the Boston tax for betterments, it will make a rate of some $17. The case stands $17 against $33.