“ There has been of recent years a great increase in the activities undertaken by the municipality, which is one of the most progressive in the United States. These now extend to a municipal printing plant, work in the repair and construction of city buildings, watering of the streets, municipal bath-houses, lectures and concerts, free excursions for children, a camp for boys, etc. Besides these, and the greatest of municipal enterprises, the new subway, there are the combined municipal works comprised in the metropolitan systems of parks (already mentioned) , of sewerage, and of water supply. ”

“ The fishing industry, which formerly was one of the chief sources of Boston's prosperity, is still of importance, the value of its products amounting annually to more than $500,000. Boston is the centre of immense mining, railroad, and insurance interests, which are operated all over the country, particularly in the West. ”

“ The Museum of Fine Arts, on the east side of the square, is of red brick, in Italian-Gothic style, and is the repository of works of inestimable value, the collection of Japanese art and that of antique casts being among the best in the world. ”

“ Boston's interests are commercial rather than industrial, the factories owned by Boston capital being mostly out of town; the manufactures, however, are extensive and varied. According to the census of 1900, a total of nearly $145,000,000 was invested in the various manufacturing industries, which had a production valued at over $205,000,000. The city is the second wool market in the world, ranking next to London, and is second to New York only among American ports in the value of its foreign traded which amounts to about $200,000,000 annually. ”

“ While it is claimed for Boston that it still retains its old American spirit and character, the city has a larger foreign element than many other large American cities. The percentage of people of foreign birth in 1890 was 35.27, and those of foreign parentage constituted 60.9; while in 1900 the former constituted 35 per cent. of the total population. Of the foreign nationalities, the Irish are most strongly represented. The largest immigration of Irish took place in the decade 1845-55, the immigrants settling in the once fashionable section of the North End. ”

“ The New England Conservatory of Music has an enviable reputation, and the Lowell School of Design, the Massachusetts Normal Art School, and the school connected with the Museum of Fine Arts are representative of Boston as a centre of art education. ”

“ The Scotch, English, and Germans are represented in much smaller numbers, while lately the immigration has been made up largely of Italians and Russian Jews, the latter having taken the place of the Irish in the North End of the city. The colored population is very small, having been less than 12,000 in 1900. The geographical conditions, unlike those of New York, have allowed of an easy expansion of the city limits, thus preventing excessive overcrowding. ”

“ With the facilities afforded by the subway, the Boston transit system has attained a high degree of efficiency; the elevated and electric roads supplement each other, and connect also with the steam-railway terminals. The elevated road system, opened in 1901, extends through the city, from Roxbury to Charlestown, and is connected with each end of the subway. The structure is of steel and the trains are operated by electricity. ”

“ At the beginning of the Eighteenth Century Boston was the largest and most important town in America, and its citizens took a leading part in the expression of public opinion in the conflict of the colonies with Great Britain. The impressment of seamen by the home Government in 1747 caused several riots, and the spirit of independence increased till the Stamp Act in 1765, and later the revenue acts, incited riots, which led to the quartering of two British regiments in Boston. ”

“ The government is vested in a mayor, elected every two years, a bicameral city council composed of 13 aldermen and 75 councilmen, and subordinate administrative officials, of whom the street commissioners are chosen by popular vote, the city clerk, the city messenger and clerk of committees elected by the council, the police board appointed by the State Governor and council, and all others appointed by the mayor, a number of the appointments, however, being made subject to the consent of the upper house of the municipal council. ”

“ Intercommunication between the various districts of the city is afforded by an efficient street-railway system which operates about 200 miles of track, and by a number of bridges, East Boston alone being connected by ferry. ”

“ Buildings. Boston is replete with objects of architectural interest. The State House, on Beacon Hill, built in 1795 after designs by Charles Bulfinch, and subsequently enlarged at various times, is a prominent structure some 400 feet long, crowned by a guilded dome. The Shaw Monument, by Saint Gaudens, the reproduction of the Beacon Monument which was erected in 1790, and statues of Daniel Webster and Horace Mann, are of interest in this locality. ”

“ The principal imports are wool and woolen manufactures, fibres, sugar, hides and skins, cotton and cotton manufactures, chemicals, manufactures of iron and steel, leather and manufactures of leather, wood and wooden products, fruits, fish, and paper-stock. The facilities for handling this great traffic are excellent: a system of freight terminals brings together the railroads and ships, deep-water terminals making accessible docking facilities for the largest vessels. In 1900 the internal revenue collections at Boston were about $8,000,000, and the post-office receipts $3,200,000. ”

“ The appearance of the old town is still retained in the narrow and irregular streets of the North End, now one of the most squalid parts of the city. As historical relics remain three old burying-grounds—Copp's Hill Burial Ground, containing the graves of the Mathers; Central Burying-Ground, dating from 1756; and Old Granary Burial Ground, in which are buried several persons noted in history. A few old buildings are still standing—Christ Church (Old North Church) (1723) , from the spire of which were hung the lanterns for Paul Revere ”

“ A prominent feature of the municipal government is the large number of public-spirited citizens who administer, without remuneration, important departments; among these may be mentioned the trustees of the Public Library, trustees of the City Hospital, overseers of the poor, Park Commission, boards governing the institutions for paupers, children, and insane ”

“ The exports, which represent five-eighths of the total, comprise provisions (including animals) , breadstuffs, cotton and its manufactures, leather and its manufactures, iron and steel manufactures (the above-named classes constituting 90 per cent. of the whole amount) , wood and its manufactures, and distilled spirits. ”

“ The City Hall, an Italian Renaissance structure, on School Street, is fronted by statues of Benjamin Franklin and Josiah Quincy, and the granite County Court House, a type of German Renaissance, is 450 feet long, erected at a cost of $2,500,000. ”