twenty days prior to the application for the commitment. The judge or justice to whom the consent and certificate are presented may require affidavits to be submitted in support of the allega tions contained in such certificate, or may institute an inquiry to take proof as to such facts before making the commitment. No such commitment shall be for a longer term than one year, but the same may be renewed for a like term or terms upon a proceeding taken as hereinbefore prescribed in the case of an original commitment. § 347. To be kept apart from other inmates. Females committed to the House of the Good Shepherd pursuant to the provisions of the last two sections must be kept separate and apart from the other inmates of said house. § 348. Right to habeas corpus. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit the right of the court to review by habeas corpus the detention of any person committed under the last three sections. ARTICLE 19 * Burnham Industrial Farm Section 360. Institution continued; powers. 361. Objects of corporation. 362. Board of directors. 363. Election of directors. 364. Quorum to do business. 365. Custody of boys, how acquired; notice to corpora tion. 366. Commitments of boys by magistrates to care of corporation; effect of commitments. 367. Truant homes and charitable institutions, transfer of certain boys by. 368. Power of corporation as to boys in its care; corporation to act as guardian and enforce terms of indenture. 369. Statements as to age. 370. Reports. 371. Property exempt from taxation. 372. Powers and liabilities. * Name changed to Berkshire Industrial Farm by court order of August 25. 1896. § 360. Institution continued; powers. The body cor porate known by the name of the "Burnham industrial farm," is hereby continued, and by that name shall have power to take by gift, lease, purchase, devise or bequest real and personal property and hold the same for the proper uses and purposes of said corporation; provided that the annual income from such real estate shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars. § 361. Objects of corporation. The objects of this corporation shall be to receive and take charge of such boys as may legally come into its custody and care, and to provide for their support, education and training. § 362. Board of directors. The property and concerns of the corporation shall be managed by a board of twelve directors, who shall receive no compensation. The term of office of four of such directors shall expire on May first in each year, but The they shall hold office until their successors are elected. present board of directors is continued in office until their successors are chosen. § 363. Election of directors. On the first day of May in each year, four directors shall be elected by the corporation in such manner and place as the by-laws shall direct, but if no election be held on any such day, the election may be held on any subsequent day, and any vacancies occurring otherwise than by the expiration of a regular term may be filled for the balance of such term in accordance with the by-laws of this corporation and by the votes of a majority of the directors then in office. § 364. Quorum to do business. Five members of the board shall be a quorum, and the board may delegate its powers. during the interval between its meetings, to an executive committee of its own members, whose minutes shall be kept as provided by the by-laws, and shall be reported for approval to all stated meetings of the board; but no purchase or conveyance of real estate shall be made unless by the concurrence of a majority of the whole board. § 365. Custody of boys, how acquired; notice to Corporation. The corporation shall be deemed to have ac quired lawful care and custody of any boy between the ages of six and sixteen years who shall have been surrendered to it by his parent or guardian; provided that such surrender is evidenced by a writing executed by such parent or guardian setting forth the name and age of the boy, the date of surrender, and the term for which such surrender is made, and expressly vesting in the corporation all the powers and control over the boy of which such parent or guardian was possessed; provided that no such surrender shall be made except upon five days' previous notice of the intention to make such surrender in writing, by the parent or guardian of the child to the said corporation or its agents. § 366. Commitments of boys by magistrates to care of corporation; effect of commitments. Any jus tice of the peace, police justice, or other committing magistrate or officer, is hereby authorized to commit to said corporation, with its consent, any boys between the ages of six and sixteen years, deserting their homes without good or sufficient cause, or keeping company with dissolute or vicious persons against the lawful commands of their fathers, mothers, guardians or other persons standing in the place of a parent; or any such boys found wandering in the streets or lanes of any city or village, or in the highways of any town without guardianship, and practicing dissolute or vicious habits. Such commitment to said corporation shall be to the custody and control thereof until such boys are discharged therefrom by operation of law or by the said corporation; but such boys shall not in any event be detained by said corporation after they arrive at the age of twenty-one years. § 367. Truant homes and charitable institutions, transfer of certain boys by. The corporate authorities of any truant school, or charitable institution now or hereafter having the lawful custody and care of any boy not less than six years of age, and not awaiting trial nor under sentence for a term of years for crime, may, with the consent of said corporation, transfer and assign such custody and care to this corporation upon such terms as the directors of such institution and said corporation may agree. § 368. Power of corporation as to boys in its care; corporation to act as guardian and enforce terms of indenture. Said corporation shall have the custody and control of all boys surrendered, committed or transferred to it under sections three hundred and sixty-five to three hundred and sixty-seven of this article, and shall have authority by its officers or agents to restrain and direct them, to assign them to suitable employments, to determine their hours of labor, study and rest, to care for their sustenance and health, and to instruct them in useful knowledge; and shall have power to place such boys in suitable homes where they may be adopted into families or taken on trial or for a limited time; or, in its discretion, to return them to their former home or their parents or guardians, and may at its discretion bind out such boys as apprentices or servants during their minority or for any shorter time upon such terms or conditions as now are or hereafter shall be prescribed by law. And said corporation may, with the consent of any other charitable corporation authorized by law to take the custody and control of orphan, vagrant, destitute, abandoned or disorderly boys, transfer to such other corporation the custody and control of any boy whenever such transfer is deemed by said corporation to be necessary and proper for the welfare of such boy or for the discipline or protection of other boys in its charge, provided that there be first obtained from a judge of a court of record in the county where said corporation shall have its principal buildings, an order of approval of such transfer. The corporation shall be and remain the guardian of every boy bound by it to service, shall take care that the contract be fulfilled, and that any grievance be redressed as prescribed by law, and shall require, by the terms of every such indenture, a report from the master to whom such boy is bound, or his assignee, at least once in every six months, upon the occupation, health and conduct of the boy so bound. (As amended by chapter 258 of the Laws of 1909.) § 369. Statements as to age. In all cases under this article where boys shall come under the care, custody or control of said corporation, the age of such boys shall, so far as said corporation is concerned, be prima facie deemed and taken to be correct as stated in the written surrender of the parent or guardian, or the order of commitment by the committing magistrate or officer, or in the transfer by the authorities of any truant school or charitable institution; and in case of any omission to state the age of any boy in any of such cases, the directors of said corporation shall, as soon as may be after such boy shall be received by them, ascertain his age by the best means in their power and cause the same to be entered in a book to be designated by them for the purpose. And the age of such boy thus ascertained shall be prima facie deemed and taken to be the true age of such boy. § 370. Reports. The said corporation shall annually, on or before the fifteenth day of January, report to the legislature the number and names of the boys in its custody or under its guardianship, their age, residence, occupation, state of education, together with the changes in these particulars during the preceding year; the receipts and expenditures, and the financial condition of the corporation, and an account of its general operations. § 371. Property exempt from taxation. So long as the property of said corporation shall be used for charitable purposes only, such property, both real and personal, shall be exempt from taxation. § 372. Powers and liabilities. Said corporation shall possess the general powers and be subject to the general restrictions and liabilities of incorporated charitable institutions. (As amended by chapter 449 of the Laws of 1910.) ARTICLE 20 Shelter for Unprotected Girls Section 380. Authority to receive girls. 381. Commitments to. 382. Warrant of commitment. 383. Refusal to receive girls. 384. Custody of girl surrendered by parent. |