term of office shall be three years, and the salary shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. In case of a vacancy occurring during a term the same shall be filled by appointment by the board of supervisors until the first day of January next following the ensuing general election, except that if such vacancy occurs within thirty days prior to the general election a commissioner shall not be elected until the general election in the year following, and the commissioner appointed by the board of supervisors shall continue in office until the first day of January following such election. A commissioner elected at a general election shall hold his office for the full term of three years. The commissioner shall give a bond in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. A commissioner shall be elected at the general election in the year nineteen hundred and sixteen.

§ 2. Upon the taking of office of the commissioner elected in the year nineteen hundred and sixteen all the rights, powers, authority and jurisdiction now possessed by, and all the duties devolving upon the superintendent of the poor, the keeper of the almshouse or poorhouse, and all the duties of caring for and the management of the hospital connected with such almshouse, or of any general hospital to be constructed in the county of Westchester, and also the management and control of the Westchester county penitentiary and workhouse now under construction, shall devolve upon and be possessed, exercised and performed by such commissioner in person or by deputy; but all expenses of maintaining the institutions under the charge and care of the commissioner of charities and corrections, together with the expenses authorized by this act, shall be audited and paid as other county charges are paid. (As amended by chapter 6 of the Laws of 1917.)

§ 3. The commissioner shall appoint and may at pleasure remove a deputy commissioner of charities and corrections. The deputy commissioner shall perform such duties under the direc tion of the commissioner as the commissioner may prescribe. In case of the absence of the commissioner from the county or his inability to perform the duties of his office the deputy commis

sioner shall act as commissioner until the commissioner returns or the disability ceases. The salary of the deputy commissioner shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. The commissioner shall appoint and may at pleasure remove the following heads of departments: A superintendent of the hospital, a warden of the penitentiary and workhouse, a superintendent of the almshouse, a superintendent of the county farm, a director of child welfare, a steward of county institutions, each of which divisions is hereby declared to be a county department. The commissioner with the approval of the head of the department shall appoint and at pleasure remove all other officers and employees serving in or connected with any institution under the supervision of the commissioner. Each of the above named officers shall have such powers and perform such duties under the direction of the commissioner and head of the department as the board of supervisors may prescribe. The salaries or compensation shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. The commissioner may appoint an advisory board of not more than seven members to assist in the management of the county hospital and may designate such physician as he may deem proper to constitute a visiting staff for rendering medical service in the county hospital. The members of the advisory board and of the visiting staff shall serve without pay and during the pleasure of the commissioner. In addition to the powers conferred upon the commissioner by existing laws or by this act he may appoint and at pleasure remove all deputies, subordinates, clerks and employees authorized by the board of supervisors and at the salaries or compensation fixed by the said board. The commissioner shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as the said board of supervisors may prescribe and shall have supervision and control of all charitable and penal institutions hereafter established by the said board of supervisors.

§ 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the board of supervisors of the county of Westchester are authorized to adopt by an act of said board such rules and regulations governing the employment of the inmates of all institutions under the supervision of the commissioner and the disposition of the products of such employment, and the compensation, if any, to he

allowed for such labor, and the method of the payment thereof; also adopt such rules and regulations governing the discipline of such institutions as to them shall seem for the best interest of said institutions. The county of Westchester and the political divisions thereof are hereby required to purchase such supplies needed by them as can be furnished by such institutions, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law; the prices therefor shall be fixed by the board of supervisors or by such parties as they may authorize so to do.

§ 5. Commitments to institutions by overseers of the poor or by commissioners of charities of any city in Westchester county shall hereafter be limited to commitments to almshouses, and all such commitments shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner of charities and corrections, who shall commit to such institutions as to him may seem proper, subject to the general requirements for the commitment of children as now provided by

law.

6. The commissioner shall have the power to make such arrangements for the care of needy children as may be authorized by the board of supervisors.

§ 7. The commissioner shall have the power to transfer inmates from one institution to another under his supervision as necessity may arise, but no person shall be transferred to a penal institution without judicial process.

§ 8. The commissioner shall have the power to detain and it shall be his duty to care for all feeble-minded inmates duly committed to the hospital or the almshouse until admission can be obtained for them into a proper state institution. The com missioner is further authorized to detain under his custody persons committed by the courts as feeble-minded, pending their admission to a state institution.

§ 9. All commitments to the hospital shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner or of the superintendent of the hospital when duly authorized by the commissioner. The commissioner shall have power to establish and maintain a training school for nurses in connection with the hospital when authorized by the board of supervisors.

CARE OF THE POOR IN CERTAIN TOWNS OF NEW YORK STATE, AS PER SPECIAL STATUTES.

Town of Fishkill, Dutchess County.

AN ACT for the better support of the poor in the town of Fishkill, in the county of Dutchess.

Chapter 89, Laws of 1857, as amended by chapter 186, Laws of 1882.

Section 1. The office of overseer of the poor of the town of Fishkill, county of Dutchess, is hereby abolished. There shall be one commissioner for the support of the poor in said town who shall have and possess all the powers and authority now vested by law in the overseers of the poor in towns, except as hereinafter provided, and shall be subject to the same duties and liabilities as such overseers. The commissioner of the poor of said town shall be elected by the electors of said town in the same manner, and at the same time, and shall be alike qualified to be elected as other town officers; and he shall hold office for the term of two years, or until his successor shall qualify. The first election under this act shall be held at the annual town election in said town on the first Tuesday in March, eighteen hundred and ninety. amended by chapter 22 of the Laws of 1890.)

(As

§ 2. The said commissioner shall, on the last Thursday preceding the annual meeting of the board of supervisors of the county of Dutchess, submit to the board of auditors of the town. of Fishkill, a report, containing an exact and accurate account of all moneys received by him, and the sources from which such moneys were received during the preceding year; an exact and accurate account of all his expenditures, and of all debts incurred by him which are unpaid for the same period of time, and the objects for which such debts were incurred, and to what such expenditures were applied, together with the names of the persons to whom they were paid for the same period of time, the number and names of those provided with permanent relief, the number and names of those provided with temporary relief; which

said report shall be signed by the said commissioner for the support of the poor, filed in the office of the town clerk of such town, and published in the papers printed, or in circulars, or both.

§ 3. The said commissioner shall also, on the last Thursday preceding the annual meeting of the board of supervisors of the county of Dutchess, furnish the supervisor of the town of Fishkill with a written estimate, to be signed by him, of the amount of moneys that, in his judgment, will be required for the support of the poor of said town; said estimate shall, by the said supervisor, be laid before the board of supervisors of the county of Dutchess, at their next annual meeting, who shall cause the moneys in such estimate mentioned, to be levied and collected in the said town, at the same time, and in the same manner as the other taxes are levied and collected; and they shall, also, by their warrant, direct and require the collector to pay the same over to the supervisor of the said town, who shall distribute the same to the said commissioner, according to the need of each district, to be applied by him to the relief and support of the poor, in the manner herein directed.

§ 4. The said commissioner shall have and possess the following powers: to visit the poor in said town, inquire and examine into their circumstances, the place of their former residences, their employments and the causes of their poverty; and a careful and accurate record of such information, in each case relieved, shall be embraced in the annual report of said commissioner and filed with said report, and said commissioner may grant relief to poor persons in conformity with the statute made and provided for overseers of the poor in towns; but such commissioner shall not grant relief to any person unless he has knowledge by personal examination, or from competent testimony, that such person is deserving and worthy of relief as provided by statute for the relief of the poor by overseers in towns.

§ 5. It shall not be lawful for the said commissioner, for the support of the poor, to be concerned or interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale of any goods, merchandise, or other personal property found, furnished or provided for the use of the poor of the town of Fishkill; nor shall such commissioner take or receive