out due inquiry as to the character and reputation of the persons with whom such children are placed, and with the result that such children are subjected to cruel or improper treatment or neglect or immoral surroundings, the said board may issue an order prohibiting such person or corporation from thereafter placing out children. No such order shall be issued unless such person or corporation has had reasonable notice, with a copy of the charge, and an opportunity to be heard before said board, and a full record of the proceedings and decision on such hearings shall be kept by said board. Any such order issued by said board may be revoked by said board.

§ 8. Any person or corporation who may feel aggrieved by the decision of the state board of charities in issuing any order pursuant to the provisions of section seven of this act, may apply to any judge of the supreme court in the judicial district in which such person resides, or in which the chief office of such corporation is situated, for a writ of certiorari, and upon the return of such writ the reasonableness of such decision shall be subject to review by the supreme court of this state.

§ 9. Any person or corporation who shall wilfully violate any of the provisions of this act or shall place out a child in violation of an order issued under the provisions of section seven of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty and of not more than two hundred and fifty dollars.

§ 10. This act shall take effect on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

The purposes of this act can be briefly stated. They are to restrict to reputable and responsible hands the important work of placing in family homes the dependent children of the State, thereby serving to prevent a continuance of the degeneration of such work into a mere traffic through which unfortunate children were quickly disposed of at so much per capita, the resulting revenue enriching the pockets of private individuals, who, under the color of philanthropy, had succeeded in winning to

themselves considerable support; and also to commit to the Board the supervision of all placing-out work carried on in this State with power to prevent its continuance if conducted in an improper manner.

It is the conviction of the Board that the mere passage of this act has had a most beneficent effect in preventing the continuance and growth of wrong methods of work, es pecially such as was carried on for private gain, and of causing a pronounced revival of effort on the part of those who, from philanthropic motives, are interested in securing family homes for dependent children.

This statute neither adds to nor subtracts from the powers hitherto legally enjoyed by charitable and benevolent institutions, societies and associations duly incorporated in this State and empowered to receive dependent children and to place them out by adoption or indenture, but, so far as they are concerned, is merely to be regarded as supplemental to laws already in existence.

THE DISPENSARY BILL.

The efforts unsuccessfully initiated in 1897, by a number of the medical societies, to obtain legislation that would prove effective in restricting medical relief to those unable to pay for such assistance, were renewed with like results in the Legislature of 1898. The following bill, introduced at the instance of the societies, passed the Senate, but was not reported from the committee on public health, to which it was referred in the Assembly:

AN ACT to amend the state charities law, relating to the licensing and regulation of dispensaries by the state board of charities.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. Article one of chapter five hundred and forty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "An act relating to state charities, constituting chapter twenty-six of the general laws," is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following sections:

§ 19. What is a dispensary. For the purposes of this act, a dispensary is declared to be any person, corporation, institution, society, association or agent, whose purpose it is, either independently or in connection with any other purpose, to furnish, at any place or places, to persons non-resident therein, either gratuitously or for a compensation determined without reference to the value of the thing furnished, medical or surgical advice or treatment, medicine or apparatus; provided, however, that the moneys used by and for the purposes of said dispensary, shall be derived wholly, or in part, from trust funds, public moneys, or sources other than the individuals constituting said dispensary and the persons actually engaged in the distribution of charities of said dispensary.

§ 20. Licensing of dispensaries by state board of charities.-A license may be issued by the state board of charities to a dispensary as provided in this section. An application in writing for such license shall be made to such board in the form and manner prescribed by it. There shall be attached to such application, a statement verified by the oath of the applicant, containing such facts as the board may require. If, in the judgment of such board, the statement filed and other evidence submitted in relation to such application, indicate that the operations of such

dispensary will be for the public benefit, a dicense shall be issued to the dispensary applying therefor. The form of such license 'shall be prescribed by the board. A dispensary shall not enter upon the execution, or continue the prosecution of its purpose unless licensed by the state board of charities as provided herein. § 21. Rules and regulations.-The state board of charities may make rules and regulations and alter or amend the same, in accordance with which all dispensaries shall furnish and applicants obtain medical or surgical relief, advice or treatment, medicine or apparatus. But such rules and regulations shall not, in any case, specify the particular school of medicine in accordance with which a dispensary shall manage or conduct its work, or determine the kind of medical or surgical treatment to be provided by any dispensary.

§ 22. Revocation of licenses.-The state board of charities or any of its members may, at any and all times, visit and inspect licensed dispensaries. They may examine all matters in relation to such dispensaries and ascertain how far they are conducted in compliance with this law and the rules and regulations of the board. After due notice to a dispensary and opportunity for it to be heard, the board may, if public interest demands and for just and reasonable cause, revoke a license, by an order signed and attested by the president and secretary of the board. Such order shall state the reason for revoking such license and shall take effect within such time after the service thereof upon the dispensary as the board shall determine.

§ 23. Drug store or tenement house not to be used by dispensary; unlawful display of signs. After the taking effect of this act, no dispensary shall make use of any place commonly known as a drug store, or any place or building defined by law or by an ordinance of a board of health as a tenement house; nor after

such time shall any person, corporation, institution, society, association, or agent thereof, except a duly licensed dispensary, display, or cause to be displayed, a sign or any other thing which could directly, or by suggestion, indicate the existence of the equivalent, in purpose and effect, of a dispensary.

§ 2. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act, or any of the rules and regulations made and published under the authority of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars, and not more than two hundred and fifty dollars.

§ 3. This act shall take effect October first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

The Board reiterates its belief that legislation is required to prevent the abuse of medical charities, now so prevalent in New York city, and also the overgrowth of such charities, and hopes that a statute which will be satisfactory to all who are desirous of rectifying such abuses may be enacted.

The following table shows the number of dispensaries in each county of the State, which reported to the Board for the year ending September 30, 1897, the number of their beneficiaries, and of the prescriptions dispensed during that period.