fare demands; and also furnishes, in tabulated statements, as nearly as possible, the numbers, sex, age, and nativity of those in the state, and in the several counties thereof, who are in any way receiving the aid of public or private organised charity, with any other particulars they deem proper. By a resolution entered on its minutes, subject to such terms and regulations as it prescribes, the board can designate three or more suitable persons in any county to act as visitors in said county of the several poorhouses and other institutions therein subject to the visitation of the board, in aid of and as representatives of the board, except such institutions as have a board of managers appointed by the state, and these visitors shall be admitted to these institutions, to visit, examine, and inspect.

No per

son, association, or corporation shall establish or keep an asylum, institution, house, or retreat for the care, custody, or treatment of the insane or persons of unsound mind, without first obtaining a licence therefor from the state board of charities; but this does not apply to any state asylum or institution, or any asylum or institution established or conducted by any county, or by any city or municipal corporation chartered by the legislature; or to cases where insane persons, or persons of unsound mind, are detained and treated at the houses of their families or relatives. Upon application, and after full examination, the board, if satisfied, grants a licence, making such conditions, terms, and regulations in regard thereto as seem meet and proper for the care and protection, health and comfort, and for the inspection and examination of all insane persons, or persons of unsound mind, lodged, boarded, kept, or detained in such asylum, &c. This licence is filed in the office of the clerk of the

county in which the asylum or institution is situated. The board may revoke licences, for reasons satisfactory to it, such revocation being in writing, and filed as aforesaid, and notice thereof being given in writing to the person, association, or corporation to whom the licence was given,

The governor nominates, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints an experienced and competent physician, called the state commissioner in lunacy, who holds office for five years, and receives an annual salary of $4000 and travelling expenses, not exceeding $1000, paid on presentation of vouchers to the comptroller. He is a member ex officio of the state board of charities, and makes full report of all his official acts and visitations to said board from time to time, under such regulations as the board prescribes. The duty of the commissioner is to examine into and report the condition of the insane and idiotic in the state, and the management and condition of the asylums and other institutions for their custody. It is also the duty of the commissioner, under the direction of the board, to inquire and report from time to time, as far as he is able, the results of the treatment of the insane of other states and countries, together with such particulars pertaining thereto as he deems proper, or the board requires ; and he shall perform such other duties as the board from time to time prescribes. The authority conferred upon the board of state charities and commissioners to issue compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, and to examine persons under oath, is conferred upon the commissioner of lunacy in all cases where there is, in the opinion of the board or said commissioner, from information given to the board or to him, or otherwise,

reason to believe that any person is unjustly deprived of liberty, or is improperly treated in any asylum, institution, or establishment in the state for the custody of the insane, and he reports the testimony taken in any investigation to the board, with his opinions and conclusions thereon, without delay. The board of commissioners may, in their report from time to time to the legislature, suggest any improvements they think desirable for the care and treatment of the insane, with facts and information pertaining thereto, as they deem expedient and proper, and such reports are made annually on or before the 15th day of January.

By chap. 661, laws of 1873, "An Act to provide for the support and care of state paupers," every poor person, who is blind, lame, old, impotent, or decrepit, or in any other way disabled or enfeebled, so as to be unable by work to maintain himself, who applies for aid to any superintendent or overseer of the poor or other officer charged with the support and relief of indigent persons, and who has not resided sixty days in any county of the state within one year preceding the time of such application, is deemed to be a state pauper, and is maintained as such. The state board of charities can contract in writing, filed in the office of the board, with the authorities of not more than fifteen counties or cities of the state for the reception and support in the poorhouses or other suitable buildings of such counties or cities respectively, of such paupers as may be committed to such poorhouses which, while thus used, are designated by the board and known as state almshouses. The board establishes rules and regulations for the discipline, employment, treatment, and care of such paupers, and for their discharge. Notice is

given to the county clerks of the several counties of the location of each of these almshouses, and they promulgate it to the superintendents and overseers of the poor, &c., in their respective counties. The keeper or principal officer in charge of each almshouse duly registers the names, &c., of all persons received, together with the names of the officer making the complaint and the judge or justice by whom the commitment was made, in a book kept for that purpose, and within three days after the admission transmits by mail the name of the person, with particulars, to the secretary of the state board of charities; and notice of the death, discharge, or absconding of any such person is, in like manner and within like time, sent to said secretary, who enters the names thus furnished in a book kept for that purpose in the office of the board, and verifies the correctness thereof by comparison with the books kept in the almshouses, and by personal examination of the several inmates thereof, &c. He also furnishes to the board, in tabulated statements, on or before the second Tuesday in January annually, the number of inmates maintained in each and all of these almshouses during the preceding year, the number discharged, transferred to other institutions, bound out, or removed from the state, and the number who died, or left without permission during the year, &c. These almshouses are each visited periodically by some member or members of the board, who examine into the condition and management, and report. It is also the duty of the secretary of the board to visit and inspect each almshouse at least once in every three months, and as much oftener as in his judgment it may be expedient, or the board may direct; and for the purposes of such inspections, he possesses all the

powers of a member of the board, and such further powers as said Act confers. If the accommodations in any almshouse are, in the opinion of the secretary, not adequate or proper for the treatment and care of an insane inmate, the secretary may cause his removal to the appropriate state asylum for insane. The expenses for

the support, treatment, and care of insane persons, or persons of unsound mind, so received in any state asylum, are paid to the treasurer thereof by the treasurer of the state, on the warrant of the comptroller, upon the account being duly rendered and certified to by the secretary of the board; provided, however, that such expenses do not exceed those charged to counties, cities, or towns in such asylum. Any person becoming an inmate of any such almshouse, and expressing a preference to be sent to any state or country where said pauper may have a legal settlement or friends willing to support or to aid in supporting him, the said secretary may cause his removal to such state or country; provided, in the judgment of the said secretary, the interest of the state and the welfare of the pauper will be promoted thereby; and the secretary shall report from time to time to the state board of charities the names of all persons removed under the provisions of this Act, the places whence removed, and the cost of the several removals. If any inmate of either of said almshouses leaves the same without being duly discharged, and within one year thereafter is found in any city or town of the state, soliciting public or private aid, he may be punished by confinement in the county jail of the county in which he is so found, for a term not exceeding three months, or he may be committed for a like term to any workhouse of the state, by any court of competent jurisdiction; and it is the duty of every superintendent and overseer of

the poor and other officers charged with the support and relief of indigent persons to cause, as far as may be, these provisions to be enforced.

The trustees, directors, or managers of any incorporated orphan asylum, or institute, or home for indigent children, may bind out any orphan or indigent child; if a male, under the age of twenty-one years, or, if a female, under the age of eighteen years, which has been surrendered to the care or custody of said society by its parent or guardian, or placed therein by the superintendent of the poor of the county, or the overseers of the poor of any city or town in the county within which the asylum or institute is located, to be clerks, apprentices, or servants, until such child, if a male, shall be twentyone, or, if a female, eighteen years old. Such binding is as effectual as if the child had bound itself with the consent of its father. When the father of an indigent child is dead, or has abandoned his family, or neglected to provide for them, the mother is the guardian for the purpose of surrendering the child to the care and custody of the society; and in case of the death of both parents, the mayor of the city, or the supervisor of the town within which the asylum or institute is located, is ex officio the guardian of the child for the purpose of enabling said trustees, managers, or directors, to bind out such child. The father of any indigent child, or where he is dead or has abandoned his family, or neglected to provide for them, the mother may, by a written instrument, commit the guardianship of the person and custody of such child to the directors, trustees, or managers of any incorporated orphan asylum or institute, in terms as agreed upon; and in case of the death of both parents, the guardian legally appoint

ed may, with the approval of the court or officer appointing him, entered of record, commit to such asylum the guardianship of the person and custody of such child in the same manner and upon the same terms that the parents might have done. When children placed under the care and custody of any incorporated charitable institution, and supported in part or in whole by the city of New York by taxes imposed for that purpose, are considered as deserted; then, if no inquiry has been made about their welfare and no board has been paid by parents or guardians for the space of one year, any judge of a court of record in the county where such children are taken care of is authorised and empowered, on application of the charitable institution having the charge of it or them, to order their adoption by suitable persons named by the institution, or their transfer to any incorporated non-sectarian institution or society selected by parties or persons seeking homes or occupation for children, if said societies consent to receive them; and these societies, when consenting to receive such child or children, may bind them out as stated. It is the duty of the superintendent, warden, or other proper officer in charge of

each of the benevolent institutions of the state in which are persons whose maintenance, treatment, tuition, or clothing is a charge against any county, to make a report in each year to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county to which such maintenance, &c., are chargeable, showing the name, age, sex, colour, and nationality of every person in each institution chargeable to such county, also when each person was received, to what time the expense of such person has been paid, and the amount chargeable to such county for each such person for the ensuing year. This report is verified by the oath or affirmation of the person making it.

By chap. 347, laws of 1880, each of the asylums, reformatories, homes, retreats, penitentiaries, jails, or other institutions of the state, in which the board, instruction, care, or clothing of persons committed thereto is a charge against any county or town, shall be known for the purposes of the Act as one of the state benevolent institutions of the state; but poorhouses in the several counties are exempted from the provisions of the Act, which also does not apply to the county of Kings.

No person shall be committed to or confined as a patient in any asylum, public or private, or in any institution, home, or retreat for the care and treatment of the insane, except upon the certificate of two physicians under oath, setting forth the insanity of such person. But no person shall be held in confinement in any such asylum for more than five days, unless within that time these certificates be approved by a judge or justice of a court of record of the

county or district in which the alleged lunatic resides; and said judge or justice may institute inquiry and take proofs as to any alleged lunacy, before approving or disapproving of the certificates, and may in his discretion call a jury in each case to determine the question of lunacy. The physicians granting the certificates must be of reputable character, graduates of some incorporated medical college, permanent residents of the state, and have been in the