§ 75. Compromise with putative fathers in New York. The commissioners of public charities of the city of New York, or any two of them, may make such compromise and arrangements with the putative fathers of bastard children in said city, relative to the support of such children, as they shall deem equitable and just, and thereupon may discharge such putative fathers from all further liability for the support of such bastards.

ARTICLE 6

Soldiers, Sailors and Marines

Section 80. Relief of soldiers, sailors and marines, and their families.

81. Post to give notice that it assumes charge.

82. Posts to appoint joint relief committees in certain cities. 83. Poor or indigent soldiers, sailors or marines without families.

84. Burial of soldiers, sailors or marines.

85. Headstones to be provided.

§ 80. Relief of soldiers, sailors and marines, and their families. No poor or indigent soldier, sailor or marine who has served in the military or naval service of the United States, nor his family nor the families of any who may be de ceased, shall be sent to any almshouse, but shall be relieved and provided for at their homes in the city or town where they may reside, so far as practicable, provided such soldier, sailor or marine or the families of those deceased, are, and have been, residents of the state for one year; and the proper auditing board of such city or town or in those counties where the poor are a county charge, the superintendent, if but one, or superintendents of the poor, as such auditing board in those counties, shall provide such sum or sums of money as may be necessary to be drawn upon by the commander and quartermaster of any post of the Grand Army of the Republic, or of any camp of the United Spanish War Veterans of the city or town, made upon the written recommendation of the relief committee of such post or camp; or if there be no post or camp in a town or city in which it is necessary that such relief should be granted, upon the like request of the commander and quartermaster and recommendation of the relief committee of a Grand Army post, or a

camp of the United Spanish War Veterans, located in the nearest town or city, to the town or city requested to so furnish relief, and such written request and recommendation shall be a sufficient authority for the expenditures so made. (As amended by chapter 102 of the Laws of 1910.)

The power to determine who are the indigent persons and families, the necessity for their relief, the measure thereof, the place where and the circumstances under which the same shall be administered, is not vested exclusively in a relief committee of a Grand Army post, but the proper officers of a town, city or county, having jurisdiction to raise and appropriate money for the relief of the poor, have jurisdiction and control over the same, and may determine the amount of money necessary.

The Grand Army post may apply to the auditing board of the municipality for such sum of money as it deems necessary for the purpose of the act, and that board must exercise its judgment and discretion as to the amount to be appropriated; where it has so done its determination is final, and not subject to review by any court.. Court of Appeals, January, 1893, People es rel. Crammond v. The Common Council, 136 N. Y. 489.

§ 81. Post or camp to give notice that it assumes charge. The commander of any such post or camp which snall undertake to supervise relief of poor veterans or their families, as herein provided, before his acts shall become operative in any town, city or county, shall file with the clerk of such town, city or county, a notice that such post or camp intends to undertake such supervision of relief, which notice shall contain the names of the relief committee, commander and other officers of the post or camp; and also an undertaking to such city, town or county, with sufficient and satisfactory sureties for the faithful and honest discharge of his duties under this article; such undertaking to be approved by the treasurer of the city or county, or the supervisor of the town, from which such relief is to be received. Such commander shall annually thereafter, during the month of October, file a similar notice with said city or town clerk, with a detailed statement of the amount of relief requested by him during the preceding year, with the names of all persons for whom such relief shall have been requested, together with a brief statement in each case, from the relief committee, upon whose recommendation the relief was requested, provided, however, that in cities of the first class said notice and said detailed statement shall be filed with the comptroller of such city, and said undertaking shall be approved by him, and provided further that in any city of the first class which is now or may hereafter be divided into boroughs, a duplicate of such notice

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and of such detailed statement shall be filed with the commissioner of charities for the borough in which the headquarters of such post or camp is situated, and it shall be the duty of such commissioner to annually include in his estimate of the amount necessary for the support of his department such sum or sums of money as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of sections eighty, eighty-one, eighty-three, eighty-four and eighty-five of this chapter, and the proper officers charged with the duty of making the budget of any such city shall annually include therein such sum or sums of money as may be necessary for that purpose. Moneys actually laid out and expended by any such post or camp for the relief specified in section eighty of this chapter shall be reimbursed monthly to such post or camp by the comptroller on vouchers duly verified by the commander and quartermaster of said post or camp, showing the date and amount of each payment, the certificate of the post or camp relief committee, signed by at least three members, none of whom shall have received any of the relief granted by the post for which reimbursement is asked, showing that the person relieved was an actual resident of such city, and that they recommended each payment, and the receipt of the recipient for each payment, or in case such receipt could not be obtained, a statement of such fact, with the reason why such receipt could not be obtained. Such vouchers shall be made in duplicate on blanks to be supplied by the comptroller and shall be presented to the commissioner of charities for the borough in which the headquarters of the post or camp is situated, and if such commissioner is satisfied that such moneys have been actually expended as in said voucher stated, he shall approve the same, and file one of said duplicates in his office and forward the other to the comptroller, who shall pay the same by a warrant drawn to the order of the said commander. And provided further, that in any city, county or borough in which Grand Army posts or camps have organized or may organize a memorial and executive committee, the latter shall be regarded as a post of the Grand Army of the Republic or a camp of the United Spanish War Veterans. And the chairman, treasurer or almoner and bureau of relief or relief committee referred to, shall exercise the same privileges and powers as the commander, quartermaster and relief committee of Vol. III-9

a post or camp, on complying with the requirements of this and the preceding section. Wilful false swearing to such voucher, shall be deemed perjury and shall be punishable as such. (As amended by chapter 102 of the Laws of 1910.)

A claim for relief, furnished to an indigent soldier, upon the recommendation of the relief committee of a Grand Army post, and the order of the officer of such post, was properly disallowed by the board of town auditors, where the alleged relief was furnished by two members of such relief committee. Supreme Court, October, 1895, People ex rel. Hovey v. Leavenworth, 90 Hun, 48; s. c. 69 St. Rep. 853.

§ 82. Posts or camps to appoint joint relief committees in certain cities. In all cities of this state containing less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, where there are more than one post of the Grand Army of the Republic or camp of the United Spanish War Veterans, there shall be appointed and constituted a joint relief committee, consisting of one member from each post of the Grand Army of the Republic and from each camp of the United Spanish War Veterans in said city, which shall have complied with the provisions of law as hereinafter provided, to be chosen in such manner as such post or camp shall direct, and one member appointed by the auditing board of said city, to which all orders for relief drawn by the commander or quartermaster of any post of the Grand Army of the Republic or camp of the United Spanish War Veterans in said city shall be referred; and no relief shall be furnished under the provisions of sections eighty or eighty-one of this chapter, except upon the approval and recommendation of said committee or a majority of the members thereof. No post of the Grand Army of the Republic or camp of the United Spanish War Veterans shall be entitled to membership in said committee unless such post or camp shall have complied with the provisions of the preceding section, and in case such post or camp shall fail to so comply with the provisions of said section and to select a member of said committee, the commander or quartermaster shall not be entitled to draw upon the fund provided by the auditing board of said city as provided in section eighty of this chapter. (As amended by chapter 102 of the Laws of 1910.)

§ 83. Poor or indigent soldiers, sailors or marines without families. Poor or indigent soldiers, sailors or marines provided for in this article, who are not insane, and who have no families or friends with whom they may be domiciled,

may be sent to a soldiers' home. Any poor or indigent soldier, sailor or marine provided for in this chapter, or any member of the family of any living or deceased soldier, sailor or marine, who may be insane, shall, upon recommendation of the commander and relief committee of such post of the Grand Army of the Republie or camp of the United Spanish War Veterans, within the jurisdiction of which the case may occur, be sent to the proper state hospital for the insane. (As amended by chapter 102 of the Laws of 1910.)

The

§ 84. Burial of soldiers, sailors or marines. board of supervisors in each of the counties shall designate some proper person or authority, other than that designated for the care of poor persons, or the custody of criminals, who shall cause to be interred the body of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine, who has served in the military or naval service of the United States, or the body of the wife or widow of any soldier, sailor or marine, married to him previous to eighteen hundred and ninety, who shall die such widow, and who shall hereafter die without leaving sufficient means to defray his or her funeral expenses, but such expenses shall in no case exceed fifty dollars. If the deceased has relatives or friends who desire to conduct the burial, but are unable or unwilling to pay the charge therefor, such sum shall be paid by the county treasurer, upon due proof of the claim, and of the death and burial of the soldier, sailor or marine, or of the wife or widow of such soldier, sailor or marine to the person so conducting such burial. Such interment shall not be made in a cemetery or cemetery plot used exclusively for the burial of poor persons deceased.

§ 85. Headstones to be provided. The grave of any such deceased soldier, sailor or marine, and the grave of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who served in the army or navy of the United States during the late rebellion, who shall have been heretofore buried in any of the counties of this state, but whose grave is not marked by a suitable headstone, and who died without leaving means to defray the expense of such headstone; and the grave of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine. who served in the army or navy of the United States during the revolutionary war, the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, the war with Mexico or the war with Spain, and the incidental.