specifications under which they were purchased and conformed in quantity to the invoice rendered for such supplies. Such statement shall be accompanied by the voucher showing the payment of the several items contained in the statement, the amount of such payment and for what the payment was made. Such vouchers shall be examined by the fiscal supervisor and compared with the estimates made for the month for which the statement is rendered, and if found correct shall be indorsed and forwarded by the fiscal supervisor, with the statement, to the comptroller, who shall have the power of final audit in accordance with the estimate. If any voucher is found objectionable, the fiscal superviser or the comptroller shall indorse his disapproval thereon, with the reason therefor, and return it to the treasurer, who shall present it to the board of managers for correction and immediately return it. All vouchers shall be filed in the office of the comptroller. (As amended by chapter 405 of the Laws of 1911.) § 48. Purchases. All purchases for the use of the state institutions reporting to the fiscal supervisor shall be made for cash or on credit or time not exceeding thirty days; every voucher shall be duly filled up, and with every abstract of vouchers paid there shall be proof on oath that the voucher was properly filled up and the money paid. The board of managers or trustees shall make all needful rules and regulations to enforce the provisions of this section. The fiscal supervisor, a member or officer of the state board of charities or manager or officer of any such institution, shall not be interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of materials, labor or supplies for the use of any such institutions nor shall any manager or trustee act as attorney or counsel for the board of managers or trustees thereof. The boards of managers or trustees or other board or officer performing similar functions in the institutions reporting to the fiscal supervisor may be authorized by the fiscal supervisor to purchase by contract such supplies not included under joint contract as it may be found desirable to purchase for the use of any such institution. Such contracts shall be executed by the superintendent of such institution under the direction of the board of managers or trustees or other board or officer performing similar functions, as the case may be, and subject to the approval of the fiscal super visor. Such contracts shall be let in conformity with the provisions of this article in relation to estimates and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. All goods for the use of such institutions, except those furnished pursuant to law by some other institution of the state, shall be bought, as far as practicable, of manufacturers or their immediate agents. All contracts, if let, shall, subject to the provisions of this article relating to estimates, be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. Each of such institutions may manufacture such supplies and materials to be used in the institution as can be economically made therein. Between the first day of July and the thirtieth day of September in each year the fiscal supervisor shall call the superintendents of the state institutions reporting to the fiscal supervisor to meet at his office in Albany. The fiscal supervisor shall notify the president of the board of managers or trustees of each state institution reporting to the fiscal supervisor at least ten days in advance of such meeting of the superintendents, and each such president may designate a member of the board of managers or trustees of which he is president to attend such meeting as a representative of such boards. The necessary traveling expenses of a manager or trustee in attendance upon such meeting shall be paid in the same manner as the traveling expenses of managers or trustees when in attendance upon meetings of boards of managers or trustees. The superintendents and managers or trustees present at such meeitngs shall consider and determine, subject to the power granted to the fiscal supervisor in section forty-five of this article the following matters: 1. Which articles of supplies it is practicable to purchase for all the state institutions reporting to the fiscal supervisor or any of them, by joint contracts. 2. The specifications for articles of supplies to be purchased by joint contract. 3. The provisions of the contracts under which articles of supplies are to be purchased jointly. At such meetings of the superintendents and managers or trustees there shall be designated by those present a purchasing committee, to consist of not more than six superintendents, who shall serve as such purchasing committee until the next annual meeting of the superintendents and managers or trustees. Such meeting of superintendents and managers or trustees may refer to such purchasing committee any matters which might be considered and determined by such meeting of superintendents and managers or trustees. Such purchasing committee shall meet whenever so requested by the fiscal supervisor, and shall possess the same powers as the annual meeting of superintendents and managers or trustees provided for in this section. Such purchasing committee may appoint a secretary who is also a stenographer and may also consider proposals and make awards under joint contracts for the purchase of staple articles of supplies for any or all of the state institutions reporting to the fiscal supervisor and shall appoint a committee of two to execute joint contracts in accordance with such awards, subject to the approval of the fiscal supervisor. All powers conferred in this section upon the annual meeting of superintendents and managers or trustees, and upon the purchasing committee, shall be exercised subject to the powers now possessed by, or hereafter conferred upon the fiscal supervisor of state charities. (As amended by chapter 149 of the Laws of 1909 and chapter 305 of the Laws of 1911.) Voucher of a temporary employee in position of overseer, for materials furnished, may be approved by the Fiscal Supervisor, such position not coming under designation of a public officer. STATE OF NEW YORK, ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Hon. DENNIS MCCARTHY, Fiscal Supervisor, Albany, N. Y.: DEAR SIR.I am in receipt of your letter of the 17th inst., in which you state that a voucher of the New York State Hospital for Incipient Pulmonary Tuberculosis at Raybrook, for materials furnished, in favor of William Anderson, Jr., a temporary employee of the institution, holding the position of overseer at a salary of $6 per day, has been submitted for your approval, and you ask my opinion whether the State Charities Law will permit the approval of this voucher. Section 48 of the State Charities Law, as amended by chapter 149 of the Laws of 1909, is the statute regulating purchases for the use of the State institutions reporting to the Fiscal Supervisor. The only restriction, in so far as it relates to the authority to purchase from persons connected with the institution, is the following: "The Fiscal Supervisor, a member or officer of the State Board of Charities, or manager or officer of any such institution, shall not be interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of materials, labor or supplies for the use of any such institutions, nor shall any manager or trustee act as attorney or counsel for the board of managers or trus tees thereof." The question is, therefore, does a temporary employee of the institution, holding the position of overseer and receiving a stated amount per day, come within this restriction. As the position is not one of those specifically named in the section, it must be held in order to bring the occupant thereof under its provisions, that he comes under the general title of officer of the institution. Section 156 of the State Charities Law provides for the appointment of a superintendent and a treasurer of this institution, who are referred to therein as officers. I do not find any other statute creating or authorizing the creation of any other offices in connection with this institution, except that of its board of trustees. You have informed me that the position of overseer held by Anderson is a position filled by appointment by the superintendent of the institution, and that the occupant takes no oath of office. Authority, therefore, seems to be given by section 157 of the State Charities Law, which in part, provides: "The superintendent shall, (1) appoint such employees as are necessary and proper for the due administration of the affairs of such institution, prescribe their duties and places, and, subject to the approval of the trustees, fix their compensation, within the appropriation fixed therefore." The statute itself names such appointees as employees as distinguished from the occupants of the more important positions created by statute, who were designated as officers. In the case of Fox v. Mohawk and H. R. Humane Society, 165 N. Y. 517, the opinion at page 525 states: "Of course the State or any of its subdivisions may employ individuals or corporations to do work or render services for it; but the distinction between a public officer and a public employee or contractor is plaia and well recognized." In the case of Miller v. Warner, 42 A. D. 208, where the question arose whether an electrical operator, appointed by resolution of the police board of the city of Rochester and given the title of superintendent, was an officer, the opinion states: "A public office is not a natural growth of the soil, and can be created only by the legislature or by some municipal board or body authorized by the legislature to create a public office. The learned counsel in this action did not state any statute of this state creating such an office or authorizing any board or body to create the office of superintendent of the police telegraph system of the city of Rochester, and in the absence of such an act there can be no such office." In Fox v. Mohawk and H. R. Humane Society above referred to, the opinion of the Appellate Division (25 A. D., at page 30) states: "A corporation is not eligible to any public office for the reason, if there were no others, that it cannot take the oath of office." That taking an office is a necessary characteristic of a public office, is recognized also in the same case by the Court of Appeals (165 N. Y., at page 525). In the case of McDonald v. Mayor of New York, 32 Hun, at page 91, in construing a similar section in the New York Consolidation Act, the court said: "That section is not to be broadly construed, because its effect is to restrict the exercise of private rights by restraining a class of persons from being interested in the performance of contracts, work, or business, or the sale of articles, in which, by general law, all persons may engage. It does not, therefore, apply to any one who is not within the description of persons included in the prohibition." In view of the fact, therefore, that the position occupied by Anderson is not among those designated as offices by the statute, but that he is.employed by the superintendent under a statute empowering such superintend ent to appoint employees, and that the occupant is not required to take an oath of office, and in view of the nature and temporary character of his employment, I am of the opinion that he is not an officer under the meaning of section 48, and does not come within the class prohibited thereby from furnishing supplies to the institution. Yours very truly, EDWARD R. O'MALLEY, State Fiscal Supervisor may disapprove contracts made by the purchasing committee of superintendents. Hon. DENNIS MCCARTHY, Fiscal Supervisor, Albany, N. Y.: April 25, 1910. DEAR SIR.I have your letter of the 23d inst., in which you ask my opinion as to your right to disapprove a contract which you state was made on March 28, 1910, between the purchasing committee of superintendents for institutions reporting to your department and the Van Wyck Thorpe Company of Hudson for coal. I note that this contract has not yet been delivered to you for approval but that you are just in receipt of an analysis of coal delivered which indicates to you that a delivery has been made under it. Section 48 of the State Charities Law provides the method by which a purchasing committee of superintendents and managers or trustees of institutions reporting to you may be created and defines the powers of such committee. It provides in part: "Such purchasing committee may appoint a secretary who is also a stenographer and may also consider proposals and make awards under joint contracts for the purchase of staple articles of supplies for any or all of the State institutions reporting to the Fiscal Supervisor and shall appoint committee of two to execute joint contracts in accordance with such awards, subject to the approval of the Fiscal Supervisor." It is further provided that all powers conferred by this section upon the purchasing committee shall be exercised subject to the powers possessed or hereafter conferred upon you. It is my opinion that under the foregoing provisions of the statute you may disapprove the contract entered into by the purchasing committee for |