or in any other way which he or they may suggest as most effectual for the promotion of this object.

35. In any contract which may be entered into with said Indians, for the use or occupancy of any land for school grounds, sites or buildings, care shall be taken to protect the title of the Indians to their lands, and to reserve to the state the right to remove or otherwise dispose of all improvements made at the expense of the state.

§ 36. The Indian children in the state, between the ages of four and twenty-one years, shall be entitled to draw public money the same as white children. The superintendent shall cause an annual enumeration of said Indian children to be made, and shall see that the public money, to which they are ratably entitled, is devoted exclusively to their education.

37. To carry into effect the provisions of this title the legislature shall annually appropriate the sum of six thousand dollars out of the revenues of the common school fund, to be paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, from time to time, to the order of the superintendent of public instruction.

§ 38. The superintendent shall take and file in his office, vouchers and receipts for all the expenditures made under this act, subject to the inspection of the joint committee to examine the accounts of the auditor and treasurer; and shall annually report to the legislature all his doings, by virtue of the authority vested in him; and for this purpose said superintendent may require full and detailed reports in such form as he may prescribe, from those having the immediate supervision of any Indian schools in this state.

39. For the support of the Indian schools, already established and which may be established, the superintendent of public instruction, in his annual general apportionment of the state school moneys appropriated for the support of common schools, shall make an equitable apportionment, as provided by section five of title two of this act; and the moneys which shall be thus apportioned shall be paid out of the treasury upon the warrant of the superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller.

S$ 40-41

Title XV, Article XIV.

ARTICLE XIV.

DEAF AND DUMB AND BLIND INSTITUTIONS.

40. All the institutions for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, and blind, and all other similar institutions, incorporated under the laws of the state, or that may be hereafter incorporated, shall be subject to the visitation of the superintendent of public instruction, and it shall be his duty:

1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures of each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued therein, respectively.

2. To visit and inspect or cause to be visited and inspected, the schools belonging thereto, and the lodgings and accommodations of the pupils.

3. To ascertain by a comparison with other similar institutions, whether any improvements in instruction and discipline can be made; and for that purpose to appoint, from time to time, suitable persons to visit the schools.

4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions and to the legislature such improvements as he shall judge expedient.

5. To make an annual report to the legislature on all the matters before enumerated, and particularly as to the condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment in respect to board and lodging.

§ 41. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this state and upwards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this state for three years immediately preceding the application, or, if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend, shall have been resident in this state for three years immediately preceding the application, shall be eligible to appointment as state pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institu. tutions of this state, authorized by law to receive such pupils: and all blind persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be eligible to appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of New York or in the village of Batavia, as follows: All such as are residents of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Richmond, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the city of New York; those who reside in other counties of the state shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia. All

such appointments with the exception of those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, shall be made by the superintendent of public instruction upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a portion of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some proportionate share of expense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such manner and at such times as the superintendent shall designate, which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he shall deem it expedient to do so.

42. Each pupil so received into either of the institutions aforesaid shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition; and the directors of the institution shall receive for each pupil so provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quarterly payments, to be paid by the treasurer of the state, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institution, on his presenting a bill showing the actual time and number of such pupils attending the institution, and which bill shall be signed by the president and secretary of the institution, and verified by their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such pupils shall be five years; but the superintendent of public instruction may, in his discretion, extend the term of any pupil for a period not exceeding three years. The pupils provided for in this and the preceding section of this title shall be designated state pupils; and all the existing provisions of law applicable to state pupils now in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided for.

43. The superintendent of public instruction may make such regulations and give such directions to parents and guardians, in relation to the admission of pupils into either of the above-named institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the same at irregular periods.

ARTICLE XV.

ARBOR DAY.

§ 44. The Friday following the first day of May in each year shall be known throughout the state as arbor day.

§ 45. It shall be the duty of the authorities of every public school in this state to assemble the scholars in their charge on that day in the school building, or elsewhere, as they may deem proper, and to provide for and conduct, under the general super.

vision of the city superintendent or the school commissioner, or other chief officers having the general oversight of the public schools in each city or district, such exercises as shall tend to encourage the planting, protection and preservation of trees and shrubs, and an acquaintance with the best methods to be adopted to accomplish such results.

§ 46. The state superintendent of public instruction shall have power to prescribe from time to time a course of exercises and instruction in the subjects hereinbefore mentioned, which shall be adopted and observed by the public school authorities on arbor day, and upon receipt of copies of such course sufficient in number to supply all the schools under their supervision, the school commissioner or city superintendent aforesaid shall promptly provide each of the schools under his or their charge with a copy, and cause it to be observed.

47. The legislature shall annually make an appropriation for carrying out the provisions of this act, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of public instruction.

ARTICLE XVI.

MISCELLANEOUS.

48. The superintendent of public instruction, so soon as may be after the passage of this act, shall cause to be prepared under his supervision and to be printed, an edition of this statute, with brief annotations embodying such of the decisions of the courts of the state, and of the superintendents of public instruction as are applicable thereto, and such comments, explanations and instructions as he shall deem necessary or expedient, and to furnish to each of the school districts of the state one copy thereof, and the same shall be deposited with the trustee or trustees, and kept by him or them for the use of the inhabitants, as provided in article three of this title.

49. All provisions of law repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, saving always all rights of action vested under such prior provisions, and proceedings commenced for the assertion thereof; but nothing herein contained, unless it be so expressed, shall be construed, unless by inevitable implication, to revive any act or portion of an act heretofore repealed; nor to impair or in any manner affect or

change any special law touching the schools or school system of any city or incorporated village of the state, unless the same is so stated in this act.

50. Laws repealed. Of the laws enumerated in the schedule hereto annexed, that portion specified in the last column is repealed. Such repeal shall not revive a law repealed by any law hereby repealed, but shall include all laws amendatory of the laws hereby repealed.

51. Each school commissioner in respect to the territory within his district shall have the power, with the approval of the state superintendent of public instruction, to set off by itself any neighborhood adjoining any other state of the union, where it shall be found most convenient for the inhabitants to send their children to a school in such adjoining state, and to deliver to the town clerk of the town in which it lies, in whole or in part, a description of each such separate neighborhood. He shall also prepare a notice, describing such neighborhood, and appointing a time and place for the first neighborhood meeting, and deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of such neighborhood. It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify every other inhabitant of the neighborhood, qualified to vote at the meeting, by reading the notice in his hearing, or, in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the time, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his abode, at least six days before the time of the meeting. In case such meeting shall not be held, and in the opinion of the commissioner it shall be necessary to hold such meeting before the time herein fixed for the first annual meeting, he shall deliver another such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the neighborhood, who shall serve it as herein before provided. (As amended by chap. 293 of 1897, 1.)

52. The annual meeting of each neighborhood shall be held on the first Tuesday of August in each year, at the hour and place fixed by the last previous neighborhood meeting; or, if such hour and place has not been so fixed, then at the hour and place of such last meeting; or, if such place be no longer accessible, then at such other place as the trustee, or, if there be no trustee, the clerk, shall in the notices designate. The proceedings of no neighborhood meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it shall appear that the omission to give such notice was wilful and