and for all permanent and temporary relief or medical attendance furnished to the poor of said city.

§ 162. Monthly report of commissioner of charities. The commissioner of charities, at the first regular meeting of the common council in each month, shall under oath report in detail to the common council all appropriations, expenditures for temporary relief, medical attendance, and allowance made by him as such commissioner during the month preceding, which report shall specify the name and place of abode of each person relieved, the quantity and price per pound, or otherwise as the case may be, of each article furnished or ordered, and from whom obtained; said report shall also contain the names and places of abode of all persons to whom meals or lodgings have been furnished, the number of such meals and lodgings, from whom obtained, or by whom furnished, and the cost of the same. Said report shall be filed with the city clerk.

$ 163. Common council to audit accounts. All charges and accounts against said city for services rendered, acts done or meals, provisions or supplies, furnished under the direction of the commissioner of charities of said city under the provisions of this act, or otherwise, shall be made out in items, duly verified, by the persons entitled to the payment therefor, and presented to the common council at the first regular meeting of said council in each month, for all claims and demands incurred or which may have accrued during the preceding month. All such claims, accounts and charges shall, if approved, be audited by the common council and paid from the poor fund of said city.

§ 164. Commissioner of charities not to be interested in purchases. The commissioner of charities shall not, directly or indirectly, furnish to any person, any groceries, provisions, fuel, medicines or property belonging to himself, or in which he shall have an interest or be interested, nor shall he receive any commission upon or for any goods or articles or relief furnished, or on any orders given by him for any such goods or articles or relief furnished. For any violation of any provisions of this section, said commissioner shall be removed from office by the common council and he shall forfeit to said city a penalty of one hundred dollars for every such violation.

(Note.

Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County.

Commissioners of charities appointed by the mayer for a term of three years. President of board receives a salary of $100.)

Chapter 425, Laws of 1896.

TITLE X.

Of the Support of the Poor.

$ 170. The city of Poughkeepsie shall not hereafter be subjected to taxation for the support and maintenance of the poor and the relief of indigent persons of or in the towns of the county of Dutchess, nor shall the towns of the county of Dutchess be taxed or required to contribute for the support of the poor and the relief of indigent persons of or in the city; but such city for all the purposes of supporting the poor within its limits, and carrying into effect the laws of the state for the support and relief of indigent persons, shall be a separate and distinct district, except as hereinafter provided.

§ 171. The board of charities of the city of Poughkeepsie shall consist of six members who shall be styled commissioners of charities. Upon the expiration of the terms of office of the present commissioners of charities, and annually thereafter, the mayor shall appoint two commissioners of charities to serve three years. The almshouse of said city shall hereafter be known and designated as the city home. (As amended by chapter 204 of the Laws of 1901.)

§ 172. The commissioners of charities shall meet at the board rooms on the first day of January, in each year, unless it be Sunday, and then on the next day, and organize a board by the name of "the commissioners of charities of the city of Poughkeepsie," which shall possess the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes, for the year, by electing one of their number president. If a president of the board shall not be elected on or before the fifth day of January, in any year, the mayor shall forthwith desig nate one of the commissioners as, and he shall be, the president for the year. After the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hun dred and one, the president of said board shall receive an annual

salary of one hundred dollars. (As amended by chapter 204 of the Laws of 1901.)

§ 173. The said board shall have the sole and exclusive care and management of the poor in said city and shall provide for and maintain the same in the manner hereinafter mentioned; and for that purpose it shall have and exercise all the powers and authority now vested by the poor law in the overseers of the poor of towns, and in the superintendents of the poor of counties, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. It shall also have and possess the powers following:

1. To appoint, by a resolution to be entered upon its minutes, an officer to be denominated "the superintendent of the poor of the city of Poughkeepsie," who shall also be the keeper of the city home, and to employ such other agents as may be necessary, in order to carry into effect the purposes of this act; which said superintendent and other agents shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the said board, and receive such fixed annual salary, as a compensation for their services, as the said board may direct.

2. To visit the poor of the said city at their several places of residence, and inquire and examine into their circumstances, and number and ages of the members of their families, the places of their former residence, their employments, for what length of time and to what extent they have been dependent upon the public for support, their ability to labor, and the cause of their poverty; and the board may direct either permanent or temporary relief to such poor persons, irrespective of the cause of such poverty, under such rules and regulations as it may from time to time adopt.

3. To contract for, purchase and provide provisions, fuel, clothing, and other necessaries for the support of or the distribution amongst the poor, and such cattle, stock, furniture and farming utensils for the city home and lands as in its judgment it may deem

necessary.

4. To cause to be constructed within, or within the vicinity of said city home, a cell or cells or other place or places of confinement, for the temporary imprisonment or detention of vagrants. And the recorder of the city of Poughkeepsie is hereby required by his warrant, to be directed to and executed by one of the police

officers of said city, to commit to the custody of the keeper of the said city home, to be confined in such cells or places of confinement, all persons adjudged vagrants according to the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, and liable to be sentenced by him to imprisonment in the county jail therefor; and the keeper of said city home is hereby authorized to require all persons, so committed to his charge, to do and perform such work and labor as he shall direct; and the board and maintenance of every such vagrant at the price per week allowed the sheriff of Dutchess county for the board of prisoners in the county jail, for a term not exceeding sixty days upon any one conviction, shall be a county charge, and shall be audited and paid in the same manner as other county charges. (See § 892, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by chapter 689 of the Laws of 1911.)

5. To establish rules and regulations for its own government, the government of its superintendent, and its other agents and servants, in the examination of paupers and others applying for or entitled to relief, or for admission to the city home, and in the distribution of food, fuel, clothing and other necessaries among the poor of the city.

6. It shall have the same powers as overseers of the poor have in relation to lunatics within said city, and to provide for their safe-keeping in a proper place in such city, or to send them to a lunatic asylum.

7. It shall have the same powers as overseers of the poor and county superintendents of the poor now have in relation to bastards within said city; and all proceedings to be had in such cases shall be in its corporate name, and all bonds required according to the provisions of the statutes relating to bastards shall be given to it in its corporate name. (As amended by chapter 659 of the Laws of 1900.)

§§ 174, 175, 176. (Repealed by chapter 232 of the Laws of 1898.)

$ 177. The said superintendent of the poor shall keep an office. to be provided for him by the said board in the city, which shall be open and accessible to those having business therein, at such

hours as said board may designate. He shall devote his time and attention to the discharge of his public duties, and shall attend the meetings of the said board and act as the secretary thereof. He shall aid in the examination into the circumstances and conditions of the poor persons applying for and entitled to relief, and shall keep a record of such examinations. He shall keep the minutes of the proceedings of the board and an account of its receipts and disbursements, together with the names of the persons relieved, the manner of the relief, and the time when it was rendered, and prepare its annual and other reports. He shall carry into effect the orders and directions of the said board in distributing relief to poor persons, and generally perform all such duties as may be assigned to him from time to time.

§ 178. The said board shall, on the thirty-first day of December, make to the common council a report containing au exact and accurate account of all moneys received by it, and the sources from whence such moneys were received, during the preceding year, and an exact and accurate account of all its expenditures, and of all debts incurred by it which are unpaid for the same period of time, and the objects for which such debts were incurred, and to which such expenditures were applied and the persons to whom they were paid for the same period of time also; the number of persons admitted to and discharged from the city home; the number of those provided with outdoor relief; the expenses incurred for keeping and supplying such city home, and the expenses incurred for such outdoor relief during the year. (As amended by chapter 659 of the Laws of 1900.)

$179. The said board shall, on or before the first day of October in each year, estimate and certify to the common council what amount of money will be required for the support of the poor of said city during the next year, specifying in detail the objects for which the same will be required, and the amount for each object. And the common council shall appropriate an amount not exceed ing the amount in such estimate mentioned, from the general city fund to be known as the poor fund. (As amended by chapter 232 of the Laws of 1898.)