necessary. Whenever practicable, meetings of the board shall be held at the school. The board shall elect from its own number a president and a vice-president.

SEC. 31. Until six months after the date of the establishment of the school the board of managers shall exercise such powers only as may be delegated to them by the department. From and after six months after the date of the establishment of the school the board of managers shall become responsible for the control and management of the school, and shall have the general protection and control of its property and affairs. They shall see that the objects for which it was established are secured. They shall have power to establish such rules, by-laws, and regulations as they may deem necessary for defining the duties of the officers and employees of the school and for the management of its affairs, and shall, subject to the approval of the department, determine from time to time the number and salaries of such employees. They shall maintain an effective inspection of the school. They shall, on or before the 15th of each month, submit to the department a detailed estimate of the expenses of conducting the school during the ensuing month. They shall keep a record of their proceedings, which shall be open at all times, together with the other books and papers of the school, to inspection by the department. They shall appoint, whenever a vacancy occurs in that office, a superintendent of the school.

SEC. 32. The superintendent shall be the secretary of the board, and shall be the chief executive officer of the school. Subject to the by-laws and regulations established by the board, the superintendent shall have the general oversight of the buildings and grounds, with their furniture and equipment, and shall have the direct control of all persons therein. She shall personally see that each inmate receives such training and instruction as may be suited to her years and capacity. The board shall, upon the nomination of the president, appoint such resident officers as they may deem necessary for the efficient management of the affairs of the school, and may remove any such officer for cause, stated in writing, after an opportunity has been afforded her to be heard. The cause of the removal shall be entered in the permanent record of the school. The superintendent shall see that suitable records are kept concerning each inmate, showing her name, previous history, place of birth, date of admission, cause of commitment, age, previous residence, and her conduct, progress, and physical condition, from time to time in the school, and her conduct and occupation after leaving the school until discharged from its custody. The superintendent, under the direction of the board, shall cause the children in said school to be instructed in the branches taught in the public schools of the island, and shall provide from time to time such courses of industrial training as will enable the inmates of the school, other than those received for temporary care, to maintain themselves at some useful trade, calling, or occupation.

SEC. 33. There shall be established a system of credits or rewards for good conduct, and of demerits for bad behavior, idleness, or carelessness, which will enable any child to earn by two years of good conduct a discharge upon parole. Whenever any child in said school shall have earned a discharge upon parole, or shall have given evidence, satisfactory to the authorities of the school, that the objects sought by her commitment have been secured, and that said child is no longer in need of reformatory discipline, the authorities of the school shall report such fact to the department, with a statement of the terms upon which said child shall be paroled. The department shall forthwith provide for such child upon parole by placing her in some family, or providing her with employment, or returning her to her parents or grandparents, if there are any of good character and of sufficient means to provide a home for her, or in such other manner as the department may deem advisable. But such child shall, unless given a full and complete discharge, as provided in section 35 of this decree, remain under the custody, control, and oversight of said school until she reaches the age of eighteen years. If at any time before reaching the age of eighteen years any child, who has been discharged upon parole and who has not been granted a full and complete discharge, shall violate the provisions of her parole, the department shall return her to said school for further reformatory discipline, under the system of credits and demerits above provided for.

SEC. 34. If any inmate of said school shall, by gross or habitual misconduct, or by a flagrant offence, exert a dangerous and pernicious influence over the other inmates, and if the authorities of the school shall be convinced that they are unable to effect a reformation in her conduct, the board of managers may cause such child to be taken before any court authorized to commit children to said school, with a written statement of the facts concerning such child's conduct. The court shall inquire into the facts and hear the girl's statement, and if the judge shall be satisfied that such a course is proper, he may commit such child to any jail or penitentiary for a period not to extend beyond the date on which such child will become eighteen years of age. At the expiration of the term of such commitment, or sooner if the board of managers

of the school shall so direct, she shall be returned to the custody of the school, unless such child shall have reached the age of 18 years.

SEC. 35. The board of managers of said school may, if it shall appear to their satisfaction that any child under their custody has been fully established in habits of industry, obedience, and good conduct, grant to such a child a full and complete discharge from their custody, control, and oversight.

SEC. 36. The board of managers shall, after it shall become responsible for the control and management of the institution, appoint a treasurer, who may or may not be of their number, and who if not a member of the board may receive a salary, to be regulated as are those of other employees. The treasurer shall—

(a) Receive and have the custody of all moneys belonging to or appropriated to the institution.

(b) Pay the salaries of the officers and employees of the institution, upon the order of the board of managers.

(c) Keep a full and accurate account of all receipts and payments and such other accounts as may be required of him by the board of managers and in such form as the board of managers may direct.

(d) Balance his books on the first day of each January and make a statement thereof and an abstract of all receipts and payments during the preceding year, and within five (5) days thereafter deliver the same to an auditing committee to be appointed by the board of managers. They shall compare the same with his books and vouchers and certify as to the correctness thereof to the board of managers at their next meeting.

(e) Perform such other duties as the board of managers may direct.

THE BUREAU FOR PLACING CHILDREN IN FAMILIES.

SEC. 37. There shall be maintained in the department of charities a bureau for placing children in families. The department shall appoint a superintendent of this bureau and such other inspectors and clerks as may be necessary from time to time. The object of this bureau shall be to provide homes in private families for as many as possible of the children who become charges upon public funds, or who are committed to the care of the department, or who earn a discharge upon parole from a State reform school. The department may place any child committed to its care directly in a family home, if such shall be available, or it may place such child in the training school for boys, or in the training school for girls, according to its sex or in some municipal or private institution for children, until a home for the child can be found; but children shall, whenever practicable, be placed in families.

SEC. 38. The department is also hereby authorized to remove from any municipal, private, or other asylum any child who is being supported at public expense, and place such child in a family, and may similarly remove a child from the training school for boys or the training school for girls, and place such child in a family. When the department shall be notified that any inmate of the reform school for boys or the reform school for girls has, by good conduct, earned a discharge upon parole, or has given evidence satisfactory to the authorities of the school that it is no longer in need of reformatory discipline, the department, through its bureau for placing children in families, shall provide for such child as herein before stated.

SEC. 39. No child shall be placed by the department in a family until the department has satisfied itself by an adequate investigation of their circumstances, reputation, and character that such family is of good moral character and is able to make adequate and proper provision for the care, education, and moral training of such child.

SEC. 40. The department shall maintain an effective oversight of children placed by it in families until such children shall reach the age of sixteen years, for the purpose of ascertaining whether such children are adequately and properly cared for, comfortably clothed, kindly treated, and given the educational advantages to which they are entitled, and proper moral training. Such oversight shall be exercised by personal visitation by duly appointed agents of the department, by correspondence, and by securing reports regularly, at such intervals as may be determined, from the teacher of each public school which should be attended by any child under the care of the department.

SEC. 41. All children placed in families by the department are to be regarded as under its care until they reach the age of sixteen years, and the department will be held responsible for the proper care and education of such children. If it shall appear to the department that any child placed by it in a family is not treated kindly, or is not provided with suitable clothing, or is not sent to school for such period of time as the department shall deem proper, the department shall forthwith remove such child and place it in some institution, subject to the inspection of the department, as it may deem wise.

ARTICLE III.

CONCERNING THE INSANE.

SEC. 42. The institution located at Mazorra, province of Havana, and known as the General Asylum for the Insane, is hereby declared to be the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba. Such hospital shall hereafter be supported wholly by the State. The object of this institution shall be the curative treatment and humane care of all persons who become insane on the island. No person judically declared to be insane shall hereafter be kept in any prison, jail, hospital for the sick, or other similar public institution, but every such person shall be sent, under proper protection, to this hospital. The expenses of such transportation shall be borne by the municipality from which the person is sent.

SEC. 43. The Hospital for the Insane shall remain under the direction of a board of managers, which shall hereafter consist of seven members. There shall be appointed by the military governor a number of managers, sufficient, with those now in office, to make the number of managers seven. The military governor will, when such appointments are made, assign the managers terms of one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5), six (6), and seven (7) years, respectively. Subsequent appointments to fill vacancies caused by death, resignation, or otherwise shall be for the unexpired term. The members of the board of managers shall serve without salary. The board shall hold regular monthly meetings and such other regular or special meetings as it may determine. The board shall elect from its own number a president, a vice-president, and a secretary.

SEC. 44. The board of managers shall have the general direction and control of the property and affairs of the hospital. They shall see that the objects of the hospital are secured. They shall establish such by-laws, rules, and regulations as they may deem necessary for defining the duties of the officers and employees of the hospital and for the management of its affairs, and shall, subject to the approval of the department, determine from time to time the number and salaries of such employees. They shall maintain an effective inspection of the hospital. They shall, on or before the 15th of each month, submit to the department a detailed estimate of the expense of conducting the hospital during the ensuing month. They shall keep a record of their proceedings, which shall be open at all times, together with the other books and papers of the hospital, to inspection by the department. They shall appoint, whenever a vacancy shall occur in that office, a superintendent of the hospital, who shall be a well-educated physician and a graduate of an incorporated medical college, and who shall have had experience in the care and treatment of the insane.

SEC. 45. The superintendent shall be the chief executive officer of the hospital. Subject to the by-laws and regulations established by the board, the superintendent shall have the general oversight of the buildings and grounds, together with their furniture and equipment, and the direction and control of all persons therein. He shall maintain an effective supervision and inspection of all parts of the hospital and shall direct the care and treatment of the patients. He shall personally examine the condition of each patient within three days after his admission to the hospital, and shall see that every patient receives the care and medical treatment which is best adapted to secure his recovery.

SEC. 46. The board of managers shall, upon the nomination of the superintendent, appoint such resident officers as they may deem necessary for the efficient performance of the business of the hospital, and may remove any such officer for cause stated in writing, after affording him an opportunity to be heard. The cause of the removal shall be entered in the permanent record of the hospital. In the absence of the superintendent, the first assistant physician shall perform his duties and be subject to his responsibilities.

The superintendent shall establish and direct a training school for attendants and nurses. He shall see that records are kept concerning each patient, showing his name, age, previous residence, occupation, date of admission, by whom committed, previous history, in what condition received, mental state, bodily condition, and medical treatment, from time to time, in the hospital. Upon the death or discharge of such patient, the circumstance thereof shall be entered on such record.

SEC. 47. The superintendent of the hospital may discharge any patient after filing in his office a written statement that, in his judginent, such patient has recovered, or not recovered, but that the discharge will not be detrimental or dangerous to the public welfare or injurious to the patient; provided, that before discharging any patient who has not recovered the superintendent shall satisfy himself, by an adequate investigation, that relatives or friends of the patient are willing and able to

receive and care for such patient. No patient shall be discharged from the hospital without suitable clothing.

In the discretion of the superintendent, any patient, upon discharge, may be provided with transportation to the locality from which the patient came or in which relatives or friends may then reside, and with an amount sufficient to purchase food for the journey, not to exceed ten dollars.

SEC. 48. The department of charities is authorized to collect from the estate of any person committed to the hospital, or from the parents or children of such patient, if they have sufficient means, an amount to cover the actual expense of the maintenance of such patient while in the hospital. To facilitate such collection, there shall be included in every paper hereafter executed for the commitment of an insane person a statement as to the approximate amount of property owned by said person, and the names and address of children or parents, if living, with such statement as to their financial condition as may be available. The department of charities is authorized to make such further inquiry as to the financial condition of such patients or children as it may deem advisable.

SEC. 49. The board of managers shall appoint a treasurer, who may or may not be of their number, and who if not a member of the board may receive a salary for his services, such salary to be regulated as are those of the other employees. The treasurer shall

(a) Receive and have the custody of all moneys belonging to or appropriated to the institution.

(b) Pay the salaries of the officers and employees of the institution and all other disbursements of said institution, upon the order of the board of managers.

(c) Keep a full and accurate account of all receipts and payments and such other accounts as may be required of him by the board of managers and in such form as the board of managers may direct.

(d) Balance his books on the first day of each January and make a statement thereof and an abstract of all receipts and payments during the preceding year, and withm five (5) days thereafter deliver the same to an auditing committee to be appointed by the board of managers. They shall compare the same with his books and vouchers and certify as to the correctness of the same to the board at their next meeting.

(e) Perform such other duties as the board of manager may direct.

SEC. 50. The observation of persons alleged to be insano will be made in the institutions designated in the royal decree of May 19, 1885, and their admission to such institutions and their examination and treatment therein will be in accordance with the provisions of said decree, as modified by civil order No. 21, issued by the governor of Havana April 12, 1900, which is hereby extended to the island of Cuba, except that said decree and order are hereby amended so as to limit the period of observation to 30 days. The physicians in charge of such observation shall, on or before the expiration of 30 days after the admission of such patient, execute a certificate declaring such person, in their opinion, to be not insane, or to be insane but not in need of treatment and care in a hospital for the insane, or that such person is insane and is in need of treatment in a hospital for the insane. The object of the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba being the curative treatment of insane persons, it is desirable that all persons becoming insane should, at the earliest possible date, receive treatment therein, and for this reason the period of observation shall in no case be extended beyond 30 days.

SEC. 51. For the admission of a person to the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba, or to any other institution for the care and treatment of persons who have been judicially declared to be insane, there shall be required the following:

1. An order executed by a court of competent jurisdiction committing such person to such institution for treatment and care. Such commitment shall not be for a definite term.

2. A verified petition addressed to said court asking for such commitment and stating that the petitioner is the nearest relative of the person alleged to be insane, or, if there are nearer relatives, that they are absent or are unwilling or unable to execute such petition; and also that the petitioner is not a relative, within the fourth civil degree, of either of the physicians who executed the accompanying certificate. When the nearest relative of any person who is apparently insane shall neglect or refuse to make such application, the alcalde of the municipality in which such person resides shall make such application.

3. A certificate executed within five days preceding the date of such order by two physicians, stating that they have, within the preceding ten days, jointly examined the person mentioned in the petition, and that, in their opinion, such person is insane and is in need of treatment and care in a hospital for the insane, and that they are

not related to the petitioner or to the alleged insane person within the fourth civil degree. Such certificate shall contain a statement of the facts and circumstances upon which such opinion is based and must be certified by the subdelegate of medicine of the district, or by an alderman or delegate of the sanitary department in case the subscribing physicians belong to the medical municipal board.

SEC. 52. When any such order is issued by a court, the authorities of the municipality within which the person referred to in such order resides shall provide such person with clean and comfortable clothing, and shall, at the municipality, provide for transportation forthwith, under proper escort, to the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba, unless at the request of the petitioner said person has been committed by said court to some other institution for the insane, to be supported therein by the petitioner at his own expense, when such transfer shall be made at the expense of the petitioner.

SEC. 53. The Superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba is hereby authorized to receive and retain in such institution any person duly committed thereto in the manner herein authorized and who is accompanied by the order, petition, and certificate herein provided for. The department of charities is hereby authorized to prescribe forms for such order, petition, and certificate, and after such forms have been prescribed and forwarded to the appropriate authorities commitments shall be made exclusively upon such forms.

SEC. 54. Civil order No. 57, issued February 9, 1900, and civil order No. 158, issued April 14, 1900, are hereby revoked.

SEC. 55. In case any relative or friend of an inmate of such hospital shall believe that any patient is improperly retained therein, such relative or friend may apply to the judge of first instance in whose district the hospital is situated for the discharge of the patient in question. The judge will, before acting upon the request, call upon the superintendent of the hospital for an immediate report of the patient's condition. In case the superintendent recommends the discharge of the patient, the judge will grant the appeal. In case the superintendent recommends the retention of the patient, the judge is authorized to deny the appeal, or, if he has any doubt upon the subject, he will cause the patient to be examined by two competent physicians, who will report in writing, setting forth the condition of the patient and their recommendation as to whether it is proper or safe that he should be released or retained. their recommendation is that the patient should be retained, the judge will deny the appeal for release.

If

SEC. 56. The relative or friend may, at any time after one week subsequent to the date of such application for the patient's release, submit a final appeal to the secretary of state through the board of charities, which board shall investigate the case and submit their report and recommendations to the secretary of state and government, who shall then finally decide the matter. His decision shall be binding upon the authorities of the hospital.

SEC. 57. Any person who is confined in any prison or jail upon conviction of a crime or misdemeanor and who becomes insane may be committed to the Hospital for the Insane of Cuba by any court of competent jurisdiction, upon a certificate of two physicians executed as provided in section fifty-one (51) of this decree. Such commitment shall include a statement of the offense for which such person was convicted, the term for which he was committed, and the date upon which such term will expire. If such person be discharged from such hospital before the date of the expiration of the term of imprisonment, he shall be returned by the superintendent of said hospital to the jail or prison from which he was received.

ARTICLE IV.

CONCERNING HOSPITALS.

SEC. 58. Hospitals for the care of the destitute sick shall remain under the charge of municipalities, boards of managers or other lawful authorities, as now provided by law, except as otherwise provided in this decree. The destitute sick who become subjects of public support shall be a charge upon the local authorities throughout the island.

Appropriations from the insular treasury in aid of hospitals will be discontinued at the earliest practicable date. Boards of managers of hospitals shall continue to be appointed according to the provisions of laws and decrees now in force, except as otherwise provided in this decree. The board of managers of a hospital under the control of a municipality shall be appointed by the alcalde, and he shall be ex officio a member of such board. Whenever, after date of this decree, a vacancy shall occur