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Powers of towns in relation to work-houses.

Overseers of work-house.

and duties.

TITLE 109. Work-Houses.

An Act authorising towns to erect Work-Houses, or Houses of Correction.

SECT. 1.

E it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened, That the several towns shall have power to establish work-houses, or houses of correction therein; to erect and provide suitable buildings, with cells or apartments, proper for the confinement of offenders sentenced thereto; to furnish materials for the work of those who are ordered to labor; to direct the kind of labor, and the manner and place in which it is to be performed, either within, or without the work-house; and to make all regulations necessary to carry this law into effect, not inconsistent with the laws of the state.

SECT. 2. The select-men of each town shall be the overseers of the work-house therein they shall have Their powers power to appoint some meet person to be the master or keeper of the same: they shall superintend and direct the master, as to the management, labor and food of the prisoners they shall, once in three months, at least, visit such work-house they shall see that the law is duly executed they shall take care that the prisoners are suitably provided for, and not exposed to abuse, or oppression and if the master shall be guilty of miscon duct, they may remove him, and appoint another in his place.

Duties of the master.

Escape of prisoners.

Punishment.

SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the master of each work-house, to receive all persons, who shall be sent there, by lawful authority, and to keep them to such labor as they are able to perform, during the time for which they are sentenced to such work-house; and if any of them shall be refractory and stubborn, and refuse to work, or to perform their work in a proper manner, he may put them in close confinement, till they will submit to perform their tasks, and obey his orders; and in case of great obstinacy, and perverseness, he may reduce them to bread and water, till they are brought to submission and obedience.

SECT. 4. If any offender shall abscond, escape, or depart from the work-house, without licence, the master shall have power to pursue, retake, and bring him back, and to require all necessary aid for that purpose; and when so returned, the master may confine him to his

work, by fetters or shackles, or in such manner as he may judge necessary; or may put him in close confinement till he will submit to the regulations of the workhouse; and for every escape, each offender shall be holden to labor, in the work-house, for the term of one month, in addition to the time for which he was committed.

prisoners, how

nually.

SECT. 5. It shall be the duty of each town to provide Expense of for the support of the prisoners in the work-house; and supporting all the earnings of any prisoner more than sufficient to defrayed. pay for his support, and the costs of prosecution against him, shall be paid to him, or if he has a family, for their support, if necessary; and if the earnings are insufficient to defray the expense, it shall be borne by the town, except in the case of prisoners, who have sufficient estate to pay it, and of stubborn and rebellious children and apprentices, who have parents or masters able to pay it, and then it shall be paid by them. And the master of each Master to acwork-house shall render an account to the overseers, once count semi-anin six months, at least, of the expense of the work-house, and of the labor and earnings of the prisoners. SECT. 6. If any persons are committed to the workhouse, who are not able to work, they shall be properly ble to work, taken care of; if possessed of estate, at their own ex- how supportpense; if not, at the expense of the town where they belong. Males and females shall be kept and confined General reguseparately; and no spiritous liquors shall be suffered to lations. be sold to the prisoners. If any one shall amend, behave well, and reform, on certificate of the keeper and overseers of the work-house, he may be released, by the authority committing him, before the expiration of the time for which he was committed.

SECT. 7. All idle persons, who have nothing wherewith to support themselves, and no visible means of livelihood; all sturdy beggars, who go from door to door, or place themselves in streets or highways to beg, in towns where they belong; all who wander abroad from place to place, and beg; all vagabonds and vagrants, who roam about from place to place, without any lawful business; all night-walkers, wandering from place to place, in the night season, without any lawful occasion, and sleeping in out-houses, barns, or in the open air, who can give no good account of themselves; all jugglers, brawlers, and fortune-tellers; all persons, who run away, and leave their wives and children, to be supported by the town; all persons, who mispend what they earn, and do not provide for the support of themselves and families; all lewd and dissolute persons, who frequent houses of bad

Prisoners una

ed.

Who may be committed to the workhouse.

Power and duty of justices to issue

warrants, convict and com

mit offenders.

Second conviction.

Two or more towns may join.

fame; and all common prostitutes, and common drunkards, may be committed to the house of correction, and sentenced to hard labor, for such time as the court before whom they are convicted shall think proper, not exceeding forty days.

SECT. 8. And it shall be the duty of justices of the peace in each town, on their own knowledge, or on a verbal or writen complaint, from any of the grand-jurors, constables, or select-men, or any substantial house-holder of the town, to issue his warrant to apprehend such persons, and on due conviction, to send them to the workhouse as aforesaid and on a second conviction for the same offence, any offender may be sentenced to the workhouse, such additional time as the court shall judge proper, not exceeding forty days.

SECT. 9. Two or more towns may join in building, occupying or maintaining a work-house, in such manner, and on such terms, as they shall all agree. (1)

(1) In the revision of 1702, there is a statute constituting the gaols in the several counties, houses of correction; and in the revision of 1750, there is a statute directing each county to erect houses of correction, and containing regulations for the government of them." No houses of correction have been erected, by any county. The legislature has, from time to time, authorized particular towns to erect workhouses; and in 1813, gave the same power

Persons and property of

wrecks to be kept in safety.

Wrecked pro

cured and disposed of.

SECT. 1.

to every town. Where they have been erected, they have been found to answer an important purpose. Should the regulations of this statute be carried into effect, in the several towns, there can be no question but that the discipline of the workhouse would be more effectual to restrain the commission of crimes of an inferior degree, than any other punishment that can be devised.

TITLE 110. Wrecks.

An Act concerning Wrecks.

BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened, That if any ship, or other vessel, shall suffer shipwreck, upon the coasts, or in the rivers, harbors, creeks or waters of this state, there shall be no violence, or injury, offered to the persons of the mariners, or passengers, or to the goods belonging thereto; but the persons of the mariners and passengers, shall be relieved and harbored, and their goods, and the goods of the vessel, preserved in safety, till authority may be informed thereof, and shall take further care, and give order relating thereto.

SECT. 2. Whenever any ship-wrecked property shall perty, how se- be discovered on the sea-coast, or in the waters, rivers, harbors or creeks of this state, it shall be the duty of the select-men of the nearest town thereto, and it shall be lawful for any other person, to take

Owner, &c.

may claim the

same within a

year and day.

the most effectual measures for saving and securing the same; and if need be, such person shall apply to a justice of the peace, who is hereby authorized to grant a warrant, directed to a proper officer, to impress, and call forth, requisite assistance for that purpose; and the person securing such property, shall immediately give notice thereof to a judge of the county court, of the county where the same shall be secured, who shall direct the sheriff of said county, to seize the said property, and the same to keep and hold, until it shall be released, or disposed of, by order of said court; and if any owner or claimant of such property, being a person entitled by the laws of the land, or by the law of nations, to a restoration thereof, shall, within a year and a day after such seizure, appear and claim the same, it shall be restored to him, on his paying such reasonable costs and salvage, for the persons to whom the same may be due, as the said county court shall allow and order; and if no such owner or claimant shall, within that time, appear and claim said property the same shall be sold, by order of said court, and the avails thereof, (after deducting reasonable costs and salvage, for the persons to whom due,) shall be lodged in the treasury of the state. But if the property so seized, be of a perishable nature, the said court may, at their discretion, direct it to be sold within the time limited, as aforesaid, retaining the avails thereof, for the same purposes, as the said property was holden. And in Enough to be case no owners or claimant shall appear, within one month, sold to pay after such seizure, and pay, or offer to pay salvage and salvage and costs, the said court may, at any time, afterwards, order so much of said property to be sold, as shall be sufficient to pay the salvage and costs.

TITLE 111. Yale-College.

An Act concerning the Corporation of Yale-Col

lege.

If no owner make claim, how disposed

of.

If the property be of a perishable nature, to be sold, &c.

costs.

Whereas the corporation of Yale-College, in considera- Preamble. tion of a grant made to them, by the general assembly, in the year 1792, agreed, that the governor, lieutenant-governor, and six senior assistants, should be trustees or fellows of said College; and whereas by the eighth article of the constitution of this state, the charter, so modified, was confirmed, and the said corporation have since agreed, consented and requested, that the governor, lieutenant-governor, and six

Governor, lieutenantgovernor and six senior senators, to be members of the corporation.

Vacancies, how supplied.

Quorum.

Annual ac. count.

senior senators, should be members of said corpora

tion :

SECT. 1.

BE

E it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened, That the governor, lieutenant-governor, and six senior senators, for the time being, shall ever hereafter, in virtue of their said offices, be trustees, or fellows of said college, and shall, together with the president and fellows of said college, and their successors, constitute one corporation, by the name and style mentioned in the charter of said college; and shall have and enjoy the same power, privileges and authority, in as full and ample a manner, as though they had been expressly named and included in said charter. And in case of vacancy, by the death or resignation, or in any other way, of any of the other fellows of said college, and their successors, such vacancy shall forever hereafter, be supplied, by them and their successors, by election, in the same manner as though this act had not been passed. And the governor, lieutenant-governor, and six senior senators, or any four of them, together with the other fellows of said college, or any six of them, shall, at all future meetings of the corporation, constitute a quorum to transact business.

SECT. 2. And the president and fellows shall annually render to the general assembly, an account of the receipts and expenditures of the monies belonging to said College.

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