CHAP. XX.

$8. The trustees are hereby directed and empowered to Establish establish such by-laws as they may deem necessary and expe- by-laws. dient for regulating the appointment and duties of officers, teachers, attendants and assistants, for fixing the conditions of admission, support and discharge of pupils, and for conducting in a proper manner the business of the asylum; also to ordain and enforce a suitable system of rules and regulations for the internal government, discipline and management of the asylum.

superinten

$9. The superintendent shall be the chief executive officer Duties of of the asylum. He shall have the general superintendence dent. of the buildings, grounds and farm, together with their furniture, fixtures and stock, and the direction and control of all persons employed in and about the same, subject to the laws and regulations established by the trustees. He shall have the appointment of his co-resident officers, with power to assign them their respective duties, subject to the by-laws. He shall employ, subject to the supervision of the board of trustees, such teachers, attendants and assistants as he may think proper and necessary for the economical and efficient carrying into effect of the design of the institution, prescribe their several duties and places, and fix their compensation, and may discharge any of them. He shall, also, from time to time, give such orders and instructions as he may judge best calculated to induce good conduct, fidelity and economy in any department of labor and expense, and he is authorised and enjoined to maintain salutary discipline among all who are employed by the institution, and to enforce strict compliance with such instructions and uniform obedience to all the rules and regulations of the asylum. He shall further cause full and fair accounts and records of all his doings, and of the entire business and operations of the institution, together with the condition and prospects of the pupils, to be kept regularly, from day to day, in books provided for that purpose; and he shall see that all such accounts and records shall be fully made up to the first days of April and October in each year, and that the principal facts and results, with his report thereon, be presented to the board at its semi-annual meetings. The exercise of the foregoing powers shall be subject to the approval of the trustees, except as herein otherwise provided. He shall conduct the official correspondence of the institution, and keep a record of the applications received, and the pupils admitted, and he shall be accountable for the careful keeping and economical use of all furniture, stores and other articles provided for the asylum, and prepare and present to the board at its semi-annual meetings a true and perfect inventory of all the personal property and effects belonging to the asylum.

tions

$10. The resident officers of the asylum and all the Exempteachers, attendants and assistants actually employed therein, of officers. during the time of such employment shall be exempt from

PART L

Board to

keep a record.

Times of meeting of trustees.

Trustees

shall have access to accounts and building.

Duties of treasurer.

Authority

serving on juries, from all assessments for labor on the highways, and in time of peace from all service in the militia; and the certificate of the superintendent shall be conclusive evidence of such employment.

$ 11. The board shall keep in a bound book, to be provided for that purpose, a fair and full record of all its doings, which shall be open at all times to the inspection of any of its members, and of all persons whom the Governor or either house of the legislature may appoint to examine the same.

$12. The board of trustees shall maintain an effective inspection of the affairs and management of the institution; for which purpose the board shall meet at the asylum twice in each year, at such time as the by-laws shall provide; and a committee of three trustees to be appointed by the board, at the annual meeting thereof, shall visit it once in every month; such committee shall also perform such other duties, and exercise such other powers as shall be prescribed by the by-laws, or as the board may, from time to time, ordain.

$ 13. It shall be the duty of the resident officers to admit any of the trustees into every part of the asylum, and to exhibit to him or them, on demand, all the books, papers, accounts and writings belonging to the institution, or pertaining to its business, management, discipline or government; also, to furnish copies, abstracts and reports whenever required by the trustees.

$14. The treasurer shall have the custody of all moneys, bonds, notes, mortgages and other securities and obligations belonging to the asylum. He shall keep full and accurate accounts of receipts and payments, in the manner directed in the by-laws, and such other accounts as the trustees shall prescribe. He shall balance all the accounts on his books annually, on the first day of October, and make a statement of the balances thereon, and an abstract of all the receipts and payments of the past year; which he shall, within three days thereafter, deliver to the auditing committee of the trustees, who shall compare the same with his books and vouchers, and verify the same by a further comparison with the books of the superintendent, and certify the correctness thereof to the trustees at their annual meeting. He shall further render a quarterly statement of his receipts and payments to said auditing committee, who shall compare and verify the same as aforesaid, and report the result, duly certified, to the trustees, at the annual meeting thereof, who shall cause the same to be recorded in one of the books of the asylum. He shall further render an account of the state of his books, and of the funds and other property in his custody, whenever required so to do by the trustees.

S 15. Said treasurer is also authorized to receive for the use of treasurer of the asylum, any and all sums of money which may be due upon any note or bond in his hands belonging to the asylum; also any and all sums which may be charged and due accord

ing to the by-laws of the asylum, for the support of any pupil therein, or for actual disbursements made in his behalf for necessary clothing and traveling expenses, in an action in the supreme court, to be brought in said treasurer's name, as treasurer of the asylum of idiots; and which shall not abate by his death, removal or resignation, against the individual or county liable therefor, and having neglected to pay the same when demanded by the treasurer; in which action judgment shall be rendered for such sum as shall be found due, together with costs, and interest from the time of the demand made as aforesaid. Every such action may be brought in the county of Onondaga. Said treasurer may, also, upon the receipt of the money due upon such judgment, or upon any mortgage in bis hands belonging to the asylum, execute a release, and acknowledge full satisfaction thereof, so that the same may be discharged of record.

CHAP. XX.

residence of

$16. The superintendent shall, at the time of the admission Name and of any pupil into the asylum, enter in a book to be printed pupil to be and kept for that purpose, a minute, with date, of the name kept. and residence of the pupil, and of the person or persons upon whose application he is received; together with a copy of the application, statement, certificate and all other papers accompanying such idiot; the originals of which he shall file and carefully preserve.

to pay $20

$ 17. The supervisors of any county in the state, from Supervisors which state pupils may be selected and received into the for each asylum, are hereby authorized and required while such pupils Pupil annuremain at the asylum, to raise the sum of twenty dollars annually, for the purpose of furnishing suitable clothing for each pupil from said county; and on or before the first day of April in each year, pay over the same to the treasurer of the asylum. The superintendent shall immediately, on receiving any pupil, give notice thereof to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county from which such pupil shall have been sent to said asylum.

receiving

$18. There shall be received and supported gratuitously in Manner of the asylum one hundred and twenty pupils, to be selected pupils. in equal numbers, as near as may be, from each judicial district, from those whose parents or guardians are unable to provide for their support therein, to be designated as state pupils; and such additional number of idiots as can be conveniently accommodated, may be received into the asylum by the trustees, on such terms as may be just. But no idiot shall be received into the asylum, without there shall have been first lodged with the superintendent thereof, a request to that effect, under the hand of the person by whose direction he is sent, stating the age, and place of nativity, if known, of the idiot, his christian and surname, the town, or city, and county in which they severally reside, the ability or otherwise of the idiot, his parents or guardians, to provide for his support in whole or in part, and if in part only, then

PART I

Relating to

discharge of

payment of expenses.

what part; and the degree of relationship, or other circumstance of connection between him and the person requesting his admission; which statement shall be verified in writing, by the oath of two disinterested persons, residents of the same county with the idiot, acquainted with the facts and circumstances so stated, and certified to be credible by the county judge of the same county. And no idiot shall be received into said asylum unless the county judge, of the county liable for his support, shall certify that such idiot is an eligible and proper candidate for admission to said asylum as aforesaid.

$ 19. Whenever the trustees shall direct a state pupil to be pupil and discharged from the asylum, the superintendent thereof is authorized to return such pupil to the county from which he was sent to the asylum, and deliver him to the keeper of the poor house of such county; and the superintendents of the poor of said county shall audit and pay the actual and reasonable expenses of such removal, as part of the contingent expenses of said poor house. But if any town, county or person be legally liable for the support of such pupil, the amount of such expenses may be recovered for the use of the county, by such superintendents of the poor. If such superintendents of the poor neglect, or refuse to pay such expenses, on demand, the treasurer of the asylum may pay the same and charge the amount to the said county; and the treasurer of the said county shall pay the same, with interest, after thirty days, out of any fund in his hands not otherwise appropriated; and the supervisors of the said county shall levy and raise the amount as other county charges.

Relating to support of pupils.

$20. The superintendent is authorized to agree with the parent, guardian or committee of any idiot, or with any other person or persons, for the support, maintenance and clothing of any idiot, at the asylum, upon such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the by-laws or approved by the trustees. But every parent, guardian, committee or other person applying for the admission into the asylum of any idiot who, or whose parents or guardians, are of sufficient ability to provide for his maintenance therein, shall, at the time of his admission, deliver to the superintendent a bond, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the trustees in such a manner as they shall prescribe, in the penal sum of at least three hundred dollars, conditioned to pay to the treasurer, for the time being, of the asylum, by his name of office, all such sum or sums of money, at such time or times as shall be agreed upon as aforesaid; and to remove such idiot from the asylum, free of expense to the trustees, within twenty days after the service of the notice hereinafter provided. And if such idiot, or his parents or guardians, are of sufficient ability to pay only some portion less than the whole of the expenses of supporting and clothing him at the asylum, said bond shall be conditioned only for his removal as aforesaid; and the

CHAP. XX.

superintendent may take security by note or other written Amount to contract or agreement, with or without sureties, as he be paid by may parent or deem proper, for such portion of the said expenses as the guardian. idiot, his parents or guardians, are able to pay, subject, however, to the approval of the trustees, in the manner that shall be prescribed in the by-laws. Notice to remove any idiot from the asylum, shall be in writing, signed by the superintendent; it shall be directed to the parents, guardians, committee or other person or persons, upon whose request he was received, at the place or places of residence mentioned in such request, and may be served by depositing the same in the post office at the city of Syracuse, and with the postage prepaid. If the idiot shall not be removed from the asylum, according to the conditions of said bond, within twenty days after the service of such notice in manner aforesaid, he may be removed and disposed of by the superintendent, as directed in the last preceding section in relation to state pupils, and all the provisions of that section respecting the payment and recovery of the expenses of the removal and disposition of a state pupil, shall be equally applicable to similar expenses arising under this section.

$21. The provisions of section nineteen of this act shall be applicable to all state pupils now in the asylum. And any bond, bill, note, agreement, undertaking or other security for the maintenance or support of any pupil at the asylum, heretofore made by any person in his behalf, and now belonging to the asylum, shall be valid and effectual in law, and may le prosecuted as provided in section fifteen of this act.

Not to affect any note belonging

the validity

of

or security

to asylum.

S22. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the pro- Repeal. visions of this act, are hereby repealed.

CHAP. 229.

AN ACT in relation to habitual drunkards.

PASSED May 7, 1840.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate

and Assembly, do enact as follows :

tures.

31. Every person upon whom the notice mentioned in sec- Exception tion first, title four, chapter twenty, first part of the Revised as to forfei Statutes has been served, shall be liable to the forfeiture prescribed in the second section of the same title, whenever any clerk, agent or member of the family of such person shall knowingly give or sell in any manner whatever spirituous liquors to any person designated as an habitual drunkard, in the manner mentioned in said first section; except by the personal direction or on the written certificate of some physician stating that such liquor is necessary for the preservation or recovery of the health of such drunkard, as prescribed in such second section.