Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/792

PHILADELPHIA. has a special advantage, owing to its proximity to abundant resources of coal and iron. It is noted particularly for the manufacture of locomotives, the Baldwin Locomotive Works, on North Broad Street, having a yearly capacity of 1500. For years Philadelphia has been the foremost shipbuilding centre in the country. Many warships of the United States and also a number for foreign governments have been built at the Cramp shipyard, which occupies some 52 acres in the Port Richmond section. These two establishments are not only the leading ones of Philadelphia, but each excels, in its own line, for the country at large. In the total manufacture of textiles also the city ranks first (though not for any one branch), the value of the principal textiles produced in 1900 being as follows: Woolen goods, $18,340,012; worsted goods, $16,242,250; cotton goods, $15,723,654; hosiery and knit goods, $13,040,905; silk and silk goods, $4,531,794. The output of the sugar and molasses refining industry was valued at over $36,000,000; the output of clothing, $28,000,000; of carpets and rugs, nearly $22,000,000; of leather, nearly $20,000,000; and of liquors, over $12,000,000.

The executive branch of the government is of a dual nature, consisting of county and municipal departments. The municipal form of government is provided for by the Bullitt Bill, act of June 1, 1885, amended April, 1903, the basic elements of which are concentration of authority in the mayor and the distinction between the executive and legislative functions. The executive departments are: Public Safety, which includes bureaus of police, fire, electricity, corrections, boiler inspection, building inspection, and city property; Public Works, which includes bureaus of water, highways, gas, lighting, street cleaning, surveys, ice boats, and filtration (temporary); Law, Education, Public Health and Charities, Receiver of Taxes, City Comptroller, and City Treasurer (ex-officio County Treasurer), and Supplies. The mayor, who is elected every four years and is ineligible for succession, appoints directors of the Departments of Public Works, Safety, Health, and Supplies, subject to confirmation by Select Council. Directors appoint chiefs of bureaus and other employees under civil service requirements. The receiver of taxes, city treasurer, city comptroller, and city solicitor are elected by popular suffrage. The Department of Education consists of 42 comptrollers, appointed by the judges of the Courts of Common Pleas. The Sinking Fund Commission consists of the mayor, city comptroller, and one member elected by Councils. The commissioners of Fairmount Park and members of the Board of Revision of Taxes, and the Board of City Trusts, in charge of Girard College and Estate and minor trusts, are also appointed by the courts. Sixteen port wardens are elected by the Councils. The county officials are commissioners in charge of elections, etc., treasurer, recorder of deeds, register of wills, clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, coroner, sheriff, and district attorney. The legislative function is exercised by Select and Common Councils, the former consisting of one member from each of 42 wards, the latter of one member for every 4000 voters. Select Councilmen serve three years, and Common Councilmen, two, without pay. The veto power is vested in the mayor, a three-fifths vote enacting over it. The judiciary consists of police magistrates (limited civil and preliminary criminal actions); judges of the Courts of Common Pleas (civil), who are also judges of the Courts of Quarter Sessions (criminal); and the judges of the Orphans' Court (estates). The Superior and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and the United States District and United States Circuit Courts sit in the city.

The city has leased its gas-works for a maximum period of 30 years, expiring December 31, 1927. Electric lighting is supplied by a private corporation. The water-works are under municipal ownership. A system of slow sand filtration is being installed, and in August, 1903, when upward of $17,000,000 was involved in contracts, it was over half finished and in partial operation. The complete works, with a daily capacity of 300,000,000 gallons, are estimated to cost $26,000,000.

The city's receipts for 1902 were $33,520,729. The important items were: taxes, $16,793,680; gas, $486,491; State appropriation (1901-02) for schools and teachers' annuities, $316,000; loans negotiated, $6,915,000; personal property tax, $1,249,332; permits, fees, etc., $7,400,000, including water rents, $3,422,000, liquor licenses, $1,766,000, and premiums on loans, $581,000; interest, $365,000. The expenditures were $34,605,948; the largest item was $25,904,693 for municipal departments and bureaus; of this amount schools received $4,186,000; police, $3,565,000; fire, $1,124,000; water, $6,511,000; highways, $2,109,000; street cleaning, $1,238,000. Other large disbursements were: interest on funded debt, $1,404,036; several sinking funds, $1,727,787; loans redeemed, $680,000; mandamuses, $1,456,105. The general cash balance on January 1, 1903, was $17,166,865. The gross debt at the same date was $59,361,845; the city loans held by the sinking fund amounted to $6,645,300, leaving a net city debt of $52,716,545; the total assets were $29,132,473, not including the real estate owned by the city, valued at $64,520,994. The assessed real estate valuation, as estimated in August, 1903, for 1904, was $1,160,392,710. Under the law the debt is limited to 7 per cent. All permanent loans after the 2 per cent. point has been exceeded must be authorized by a vote of the people.

The population in 1900 was 1,293,697, Philadelphia ranking third among American cities. Since 1854 no territory has been added to the municipal limits. The percentage of increase from 1880 to 1890 was 23.58, and from 1890 to 1900, 23.57. Fifty-four and seven-tenths per cent. of the white population is of foreign parentage, but native whites of foreign birth comprise 32 per cent. of the entire population. The negroes numbered 28,940 in 1900; Chinese, Japanese, and Indians, 1277. The largest classes of European descent are German, Irish, English, and Italian. French, Greeks, Armenians, Russians, Bohemians, and Poles are present in much lesser numbers. Though some tendency to congregate is shown, there are few well-defined foreign colonies. In 1800 the population of Philadelphia was 28,522; in 1820, 63,802; in 1840, 93,665; in 1860, 563,529; in 1880, 847,170; in 1890, 1,046,964.

The first settlement (called Wicaco) within the present limits of Philadelphia was made in 1636 by a company of Swedes sent out by the Government of Queen