Putnam County. AN ACT to abolish the office of county superintendent of the poor in the county of Putnam, and to authorize the board of supervisors of said county to employ a keeper of the county poorhouse and farm. Chapter 118, Laws of 1856. Section 1. The office of county superintendent of the poor of the county of Putnam is hereby abolished, and the provisions of the act passed December sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fortyseven, and all other acts inconsistent with this act, requiring the election of such officers so far as the same apply to the county of Putnam are hereby repealed. § 2. The board of supervisors of said county are hereby empowered and authorized to employ on such terms as said board shall deem proper, a keeper of the county poorhouse of said county, whose duty it shall be to take charge of and superintend the management of the poorhouse and farm of said county, under the control and direction of said board. Rensselaer County. AN ACT relating to the support of the poor of Rensselaer county.* Chapter 344, Laws of 1860. Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, the two superintendents of the poor having the shortest time to serve, shall be designated auditing superintendents, and shall be competent to do no other acts officially, nor shall do any other acts officially than those prescribed in this act. The third superintendent of the poor, being the one having the longest term to serve, shall be designated the acting superintendent of the poor; shall discharge all the duties required by law, from a county superintendent of the poor; together with all other duties required by this act, from the acting superintendent of the poor. And hereafter there shall be elected at the general election preceding the expiration of the term of office of each of said two first named superintendents of the poor, one auditing superintendent of the poor, to fill that office for three years; and at the *See chapter 236, Laws of 1906, p. 912. general election preceding the expiration of the term of the third named superintendent of the poor, there shall be elected one acting superintendent of the poor, who shall fill that office for three years. The term of office of the present acting superintendent of the poor, Martin P. Defreest, shall end and terminate on the thirtyfirst day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and seventysix, and the term of office of Barent I. Van Hoesen, one of the present auditing superintendents of the poor, shall end and termi nate on the thirty-first day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-five; and the term of office of Jonathan Dennison, one of the present auditing superintendents of the poor, shall end and terminate on the thirty-first day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six. In case of vacancy in the office of the acting superintendent or of the auditing superintendents, such officer shall be elected for the full term of three years, at the general election in said county of Rensselaer, next succeeding the happening of such vacancy; and in the meantime such vacancy shall be supplied as now provided by law. (Added by chapter 590 of the Laws of 1875.) § 2. The acting superintendent of the poor so elected, shall give bail in the amount required by the board of supervisors for a county superintendent of the poor, and his bonds shall be approved by said board as now required by law in such case. § 3. The (acting and) auditing superintendent* of the poor shall, on the first Wednesday of every month, meet at the house of industry, or the office of the acting superintendent, at the court house, in said county, and then and there audit, examine and allow or disallow, every claim, account, bill or demand presented by the acting superintendent, or any other person or persons, against the acting superintendent, or the board of superintendents, for the support of the county poor, or for any service, subsistence, supplies or maintenance of the county poor of said county, or for the support of any or all the inmates of the house of industry. $ 4. They shall keep a book in the office of the acting superintendent of the poor, in the court house, in Rensselaer county, in which shall be entered a full and correct statement of all articles * So in original. purchased for the care, support and maintenance of the inmates of said house of industry; or for the management and cultivation of the farm, and for the keeping of the team or teams, cattle and stock upon the same, together with the name of the person or persons of whom the same was purchased, and the price thereof; another book in which all articles sold shall be entered, with the price, names of the purchasers and date of said purchase; and a third book in which shall be entered at length every contract, whether written or verbal, and the names of the contracting parties; and a fourth book, in which shall be entered the name, age, sex, previous habits, nativity, last place of residence and name of every committing officer, of every pauper inmate, together with the name of the town or city to which they are severally chargeable. § 5. The said books shall be open for the examination of every taxpayer of said county, from ten o'clock in the morning to twelve at noon, and from one till four o'clock in the afternoon of every day except Sundays, legal holidays and election days. § 6. The said auditing superintendents shall each receive four dollars per day for every monthly meeting for auditing said accounts, and twenty cents for every mile necessarily traveled to attend said meetings, reckoning only one way, which bills shall be audited and allowed by the board of supervisors, as other accounts are allowed, and no more than eight dollars per month and said travel fees, for one journey shall be allowed. (As amended by chapter 486 of the Laws of 1863.) § 7. The acting superintendent shall, immediately upon the passage of this act, make an estimate of the beef, flour, pork, fuel of all kinds, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, cloth, clothing, boots, shoes, leather, fish, salt, candles, soap, lumber, grain, seeds, and every other article of use or subsistence, the annual consumption of which at the house of industry exceeds twenty-five dollars; and shall advertise under the notice of "proposals for supplies at the house of industry" for twenty days in two daily and in two weekly newspapers, having the largest circulation, published in the county, for sealed proposals to furnish the kind, quality and quantity of the articles of subsistence, estimated to be needed for the keeping of inmates of the said house of industry for six months; and at the end of every six months the said acting superintendent shall renew the said estimate and advertisements. No purchases except those provided for in this act shall be made by the said acting superintendent. § 8. At the next monthly meeting of the said superintendents, after the expiration of the said twenty days, the said sealed proposals shall be opened by the said acting superintendent in the presence of at least one of the auditing superintendents, and the contract or contracts shall be awarded to the lowest bidder or bidders, who shall furnish ample security for the performance of the said contract or contracts. A guarantee shall accompany each proposal, signed by the bidder and one other responsible party, and in case said proposal is accepted, said bidder will enter into contract as required, and in case said contractor shall fail to perform his contract, it shall be the duty of the acting superintendent forthwith to readvertise for the supplies called for by the contract, in the manner prescribed in section seven of this act. $ 9. Nothing contained in this act shall be construed as forbidding said superintendent from purchasing in open market such articles as may be necessary in the event of the neglect of a contractor or contractors to comply with their contracts, nor from purchasing articles not required to be purchased by contract. § 10. The board of superintendents of said county shall appoint the keeper of the house of industry, who shall be the manager of the county farm, subject to the general directions of the acting superintendent, which directions the acting superintendent shall communicate in writing whenever requested so to do by the said keeper, and said board shall also appoint a physician and all necessary officers and servants of the said house of industry, and said keeper and physician and the officers and servants respectively shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the said board. The annual salaries of the said acting superintendent, keeper and physician shall be fixed by the board of supervisors, and shall neither be increased or diminished during their term of office; except that after the expiration of the term of office of the present acting superintendent, and thereafter, the acting superintendent shall receive an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dollars, which said salary shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which said acting superintendent shall have been elected. Said salary shall be paid monthly the same as the salaries of other county officers are paid. It shall be the duty of the acting superintendent to perform all services which he is or shall be required or authorized by law to perform by virtue of or by reason of his holding such office, and no compensation, payment or allowance shall be made to him or any other person for performing any services, appertaining to the said office of acting superintendent, except the salary aforesaid. (As amended by chapter 216 of the Laws of 1862, chapter 418 of the Laws of 1896, and chapter 636 of the Laws of 1903.) § 11. No money shall be paid nor draft delivered to any contractor or to any other person for articles furnished under the contract before mentioned or for any other property furnished by any person until the said articles shall have been actually delivered at the house of industry, and the same shall have been examined, their weight or measure ascertained by the keeper; which delivery, weight and measure shall be verified by the affidavit of the keeper, which shall state that at date thereof he has personally received, inspected and weighed or measured such articles, and that the quantity and quality is correct as charged. (As amended by chapter 216 of the Laws of 1862, q. v.) § 12. (Repealed by chapter 593 of the Laws of 1886.) § 13. The county treasurer shall pay no draft for and in behalf of the support of the poor of the county of Rensselaer, unless the same shall have been drawn by the acting superintendent of the said county, and the same shall have been countersigned by at least one of the auditing superintendents; nor shall be pay any draft of said superintendents, except to discharge a liability incurred pursuant to the provisions of this act. § 14. No produce of the county farm or garden, nor any of the stock kept thereon, nor any other property of whatever name. or nature, upon or pertaining to the same, shall be sold by any other person than the acting superintendent aforesaid, and such sales shall be only for cash paid upon the delivery of the said |