OBJECTS AND MANAGEMENT.

AN ACT to define the objects of the New York State Institution for the Blind, and to provide for its management.

Chapter 744, Laws of 1867.

Section 1. Persons entitled to privileges of the institution.All blind persons of suitable age and capacity for instruction, who are legal residents of the State, shall be entitled to the privileges of the New York State Insitution for the Blind, without charge, and for such a period of time in each individual case as may be deemed expedient by the board of trustees of said institution; provided, that whenever more persons apply for admission at one time than can be properly accommodated in the institution, the trustees shall so apportion the number received, that each county may be represented in the ratio of its blind population to the total blind population of the state; and provided further, that the children of citizens who died in the United States service, or from wounds received therein during the late rebellion, shall take precedence over all others.

§ 2. Non-residents.- Blind persons from without the state may be received into the institution upon the payment of an adequate sum, fixed by the trustees, for their boarding and instruction; provided that such applicant shall in no case exIclude those from the state of New York.

3. Applications for admission, how made; certificate required.-Applications for admission into the institution shall be made to the board of trustees in such manner as they may direct, but the board shall require such application to be accompanied by a certificate from the county judge or county clerk of the county or the supervivsor or town clerk of the town, or the mayor of the city where the applicant resides, setting forth that the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and state claimed as his or her residence. (As amended by chapter 616 of the Laws of 1872.)

§ 4. Object of the institution. The primary object of the institution shall be, to furnish to the blind children of the state the

best known facilities for acquiring a thorough education, and train them in some useful profession or manual art, by means of which they may be enabled to contribute to their own support after leaving the institution; but it may likewise, through its industrial department, provide such of them with appropriate employment and boarding accommodations as find themselves unable, after completing their course of instruction and training, to procure these elsewhere for themselves. It shall, however, be in no sense an asylum for those who are helpless from age, infirmity, or otherwise, or a hospital for the treatment of blindness.

§ 5. Successors of present board of trustees. Upon the expiration of the term of office of the present board of trustees, the governor shall, by and with the consent of the senate appoint their successors, two of whom shall reside in the county wherein said institution is located, and a majority of whom shall reside within fifty miles of said institution, and at the first meeting of said board, after their appointment as aforesaid, they shall divide themselves by lot into three equal classes, who shall serve for two, four and six years, respectively, from the date of their appointments, and until their successors shall have been appointed, and every alternate year thereafter the governor shall, by and with the consent of the senate, appoint three trustees to fill the places of those whose term of service will have expired, in accordance with the provisions of this section.

§ 6. Declension.- In case of the declension of any member of said board of trustees to act under his appointment, or of the occurrence of any other casual vacancy in the board, the governor shall forthwith appoint some suitable person to fill such vacancy, and the member so appointed shall serve out the term of his predecessor.

8 7. Trustees to receive no compensation, except mileage.— The trustees shall receive no compensation as such, but they may allow themselves mileage, at the same rate as that paid to members of the legislature, for any distance actually traveled in the service of the institution. Nor shall any trustee be pecuniarily interested in any contract for buildings pertaining to the institution, or in furnishing supplies therefor.

§ 8. Powers of board of trustees. The board of trustees shall have charge of all the affairs of the institution, with power to make all necessary by-laws and regulations for their government and the proper management of the institution, as well as for the admission of pupils, and to do all else which may be found necessary for the advancement of its humane design.

§ 9. Adoption of seal. They shall elect from their own number a president, treasurer and secretary, together with such standing committees as they may deem necessary, and adopt a common seal for the institution.

§ 10. The treasurer shall have the custody of all the funds of the institution, and pay out the same only upon properly authenticated orders of the board or its executive committee. Before entering upon the duties of his office, he shall execute and file in the office of the comptroller, a bond with such sureties and in such amount of penalty as the comptroller shall require and approve, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties as such treas(As amended by chapter 154 of the Laws of 1905.)

urer.

§ 11. Superintendent. The trustees shall have power to appoint a competent and experienced superintendent, who shall be the chief executive officer of the institution, together with an efficient corps of instructors and other subordinate officers; prescribe the duties and terms of service of the same; fix and pay their salaries, and for just cause, remove any or all of them from office. They shall likewise employ the requisite number of servants and other assistants in the various departments of the institution, and pay the wages of the same.

§ 12. Furniture. They shall purchase all furniture, apparatus and other supplies necessary to the equipment and carrying on of the institution in the most efficient manner.

13. Provision of clothing for those admitted to institution.—. When any blind person shall, upon proper application, be admitted into the institution, it shall be the duty of his or her parents, guardians or other friends, to suitably provide such person with clothing at the time of entrance and during continuance therein, and likewise to defray his or her traveling expenses to and from the institution at the time of entrance

and discharge, as well as at the beginning and close of each session of the school, and at any other time when it shall become necessary to send such person home on account of sickness or other exigency. And whenever it shall be deemed necessary by the trustees to have such person permanently removed from the institution, in accordance with the by-laws and regulations thereof, the same shall be promptly removed upon their order, by his or her parents, guardians or other friends.

§ 14. Neglect to provide the same. If the friends of any pupil from within the state of New York shall fail through neglect or inability to provide the same with proper clothing or with funds to defray his or her necessary traveling expenses to and from the institution, or to remove him or her therefrom, as required in the preceding section, the trustees shall furnish such clothing, pay such traveling expenses, or remove such pupil to the care of the overseers of the poor of his or her township, and charge the cost of the same to the county to which the pupil belongs, provided that the annual amount of such expenditures on account of any one pupil shall not exceed the sum of sixty dollars. And in case of the death of any pupil at the institution, whose remains shall not be removed or funeral expenses borne by the friends thereof, the trustees shall defray the necessary burial expenses, and charge the same to his or her county as aforesaid. Upon the completion of their course of training in the industrial department, the trustees may furnish to such worthy poor pupils as may need it, an outfit of machinery and tools for commencing business, at a cost not exceeding seventy-five dollars each, and charge the same to the proper county, as aforesaid. (As amended by chapter 463 of the Laws of 1873, § 1.)

§ 15. Itemized accounts against respective counties. On the first day of October in each year, the trustees shall cause to be made out against the respective counties concerned, itemized accounts, separate in each case, of the expenditures authorized by the preceding section of this act, and forward the same to the board of supervisors chargeable with the account. The board shall thereupon direct the county treasurer to pay the amount so charged to the treasurer of the institution for the blind, on or before the first day of March next ensuing.

§ 16. And payment of the same. The counties against which the said accounts shall be made out as aforesaid, shall cause their respective treasurers, in the name of their respective counties, to collect the same, by legal process, if necessary, from the parents or estate of the pupils who have the ability to pay, on whose accounts the said expenditures shall have been made; provided that at least five hundred dollars' value of the property of such parents or estate shall be exempt from the payment of the accounts aforesaid.

§ 17. Books gratuitously distributed by state. The institution shall be entitled to receive copies of all books and other publications which are distributed gratuitously by the state to township or county libraries, common schools, academies, colleges and societies. It may also receive in the name of the state, bequests or donations of money or any kind of property, but such money or property shall in all cases belong to the state, and be subject to its control; provided that the same shall not be diverted from the particular object for which it shall be bequeathed or donated.

§ 18. Records of proceedings of board of trustees. The board of trustees shall keep full and complete records of their proceedings, and make an annual report of the same to the legislature, at the commencement of the regular session thereof, strictly accounting in detail for their expenditures, on account of the institution, during the preceding fiscal year, of the state, setting forth the progress and condition of the several departments of the institution, making such suggestions concerning its future management as they may deem essential, and submitting proper estimates of the funds needed for its support, as well as for building and all other purposes.

§ 19. Payment of appropriations. The state treasurer is hereby directed to pay over to the board of trustees, upon the warrant of the comptroller, all moneys which shall hereafter be appropriated on account of the New York state institution for the blind; the general appropriations for the current support of the institution, to be paid in equal quarterly installments, and specific appropriations for building and other purposes, to be paid when needed by the trustees.