of election, in the several wards of said borough, to meet at the office of the Wyoming House, in said borough, on the day next succeeding the day of said election, and to count up the votes polled in the several wards for the respective candidates for the office of director of the poor aforesaid; and such candidate as shall have received the highest number of legal votes in his ward shall be declared elected, and the said judges shall thereupon certify his election accordingly, as well to him as to the board of directors of the poor of said boroughs and township; and in case of a tie vote between the candidates for the said office, in either of the said wards, the burgess shall put the names of the candidates thus having received an equal number of votes for the said office, respectively, into a suitable box or drawer, and after having fairly shaken them together shall draw therefrom the paper containing the name of one of the said candidates, and such person, whose name has been thus drawn, shall be declared elected to the office aforesaid; and the said judge, in whose presence the said drawing shall always take place, shall certify, together with the burgess, the election of said director, as well to himself as to the board of directors of the poor of said boroughs and township; the said Edward Spencer holding over until the usual spring election for borough officers in the borough of Dunmore, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven; at which time the qualified electors of the borough of Dunmore shall elect one person to serve as director of the poor for said boroughs and township for the term or period of three years; and in case of a tie vote between any candidates for the said office, the same proceedings shall be had as provided herein relative to such an occurrence in the borough of Scranton; and in case of a vacancy occurring in the board of directors of the poor of said boroughs and township, by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the judges of the court of quarter sessions of the county of Luzerne to appoint a suitable person to fill such vacancy, for the unexpired term of the director causing the same; and at the usual annual March election, every three years after the election in March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, the qualified electors of the township of Providence shall elect one person to serve as director of the poor of said boroughs and township for the term or period of three years next ensuing, and the same shall be the case with the borough of Scranton and the borough of Dunmore, every three years after the usual spring elections for borough officers in said boroughs, in the years one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, respectively: Provided, That the person appointed to fill any vacancy shall reside in the borough or township for which said vacancy shall be filled: And provided further, That the judges of the court of quarter sessions of Luzerne county shall have power to remove any director for gross neglect of duty or other misconduct, upon the petition of twenty or more of the electors of the said boroughs or township, respectively, on hearing of the complaint, after reasonable notice to the director complained of.

"Section 4. That the said directors shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, respectively be duly sworn or affirmed to faithfully discharge the duties of said office; and the persons herein appointed directors shall, as soon as they shall think proper after

the passing of this act, appoint a treasurer, steward, or superintendent, collector of poor taxes, and such other assistants as they shall deem necessary, who shall serve until successors are appointed; and in the month of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in the month of January in each year thereafter, the said directors shall appoint a treasurer, collector, steward or superintendent, physician, and such other assistants as they may deem necessary, to serve for one year, and until successors are appointed and qualified; the said treasurer and collectors to give bonds, with sufficient security, to be approved by the president judge of the court of common pleas of said county, and filed in the office of the prothonotary of said court, conditioned for the faithful performance of their respective duties, in such sum as the directors shall require; any of said officers or assistants may be removed by said: directors for neglect of duty, or for improper conduct in office, and the vacancies, as well as all vacancies which shall otherwise occur, shall be filled by them.

"Section 5. That the said directors, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, shall have power, annually, as soon after the returns of the annual assessments, in said county, as is practicable, to lay a rate of assessments upon all real and personal estate, trades and occupations, and all other matters and things made taxable under existing laws for State and county purposes, in the boroughs and township aforesaid, for defraying the expenses of purchasing the real estate as referred to in the first section of this act, erecting said buildings, and of stocking and fitting up the property of the corporation for the proper comfort and employment of the poor of said boroughs and township, which shall be the same rate per centum in said boroughs and township, and shall be levied upon the basis of the last adjusted valuation made for regulating county rates and levies; and having caused fair duplicates of such rate or assessment, by them laid, to be made, which shall be signed by them, shall issue their warrant to the collector of such tax, therein authorizing and requiring him to demand, receive, and collect from every person therein named the sum wherewith such person stands charged, in the manner and by the same process as poor taxes are now by law collectable; and the said directors shall, from the time of providing by them of suitable buildings for the accommodating of said poor, exercise and perform all the powers and duties which overseers of the poor may and are now required by law to exercise and perform within said boroughs and township, except so far as such acts, duties, and powers as are herein expressly prescribed or limited.

"Section 6. That the said directors shall keep, or cause to be kept, a book or books, in which shall be entered the name or names, the age and sex, and place of nativity of all and every poor person coming from either of the boroughs or township aforesaid, to whom they shall give relief in the poorhouse aforesaid; and they shall ... keep, or cause to be kept, a just and true account of the cost and expense of maintaining the poor admitted into the said poorhouse, or relieved by the said directors, from each of the said boroughs and the said township, respectively; and the said directors, or a majority of them, shall have power, annually, as soon after the returns of the annual assessments in said county as is practicable, to lay a rate

or assessment upon the real and personal estate, trades and occupations, and all other matters and things made taxable under existing laws for State and county purposes, within the boroughs respectively, aforesaid, and within the township aforesaid, for defraying the expenses of maintaining the poor coming from the boroughs respectively, as aforesaid, and from the township aforesaid, which rate shall be levied upon the basis of the last adjusted valuation made for regulating county rates and levies, and shall not, together with the rate for which provision has been made in the preceding section of this act, exceed one cent on the dollar at one time; and having caused fair duplicates of such rate or assessment, by them laid on the property aforesaid, in each of the said boroughs and townships, to be made, which shall be signed by them, shall issue their warrant to the collector of such tax, therein authorizing and requiring him to demand, receive, and collect from every person therein named the sum wherewith such person stands charged, in the manner and by the same process as poor taxes are by existing laws collectable; the true intent and meaning of this section being that the borough of Dunmore, and the borough of Scranton, and the township of Providence, shall each pay the expenses of maintaining the poor at the poorhouse aforesaid, who are received and maintained there from each of the said districts, respectively; and a rate or assessment shall be levied as herein provided for that purpose, upon each of the said districts in the proportion accordingly.

"Section 7. That the said directors shall have the exclusive power to grant exonerations for taxes levied in pursuance of this act.

"Section 8. That the said directors shall keep, or cause to be kept, a book or books showing the amount of the taxes levied in each of said boroughs and in the said township, the amount exonerated and collected in each, and the amount expended in maintaining the poor from each of the said boroughs and the said township, which book or books shall, at all times, be open to the inspection of any of the electors in the said boroughs and township. "Section 9. That the said directors shall, as soon as they shall have provided suitable buildings for the accommodation of the poor of said boroughs and township, file in the office of the clerk of the court of quarter sessions of Luzerne County, a certificate setting forth that such buildings are ready for the reception and accommodation of said poor, which certificate shall also contain a statement of the real estate purchased, with a brief description of the buildings thereon, the cost of procuring and fitting up the same; together with the cost of stocking and fitting up the property of the corporation; and they shall also thereupon give notice to the overseers of the poor of said boroughs and township of their readiness to receive and accommodate the poor thereof, which said overseers are required. forthwith to furnish said directors with a list of the names of the persons then a charge upon said boroughs and township, respectively, or receiving relief therefrom, with the place of residence of each; and the said directors shall thereupon cause such poor persons, or such of them as they shall think it expedient, to be removed to said house so provided, and thereafter to be kept, lodged, and main

tained therein, so long as such persons shall continue a charge upon said borough or township; and no person who shall refuse to go to said poorhouse, or to be maintained therein, shall be entitled to relief or support from said directors, or from said boroughs or township, during the time of such refusal: Provided, however, That said directors may, if they think proper, furnish assistance and afford relief to any poor persons, without requiring them to be removed to and kept at said poorhouse.

"Section 10. That the said directors are hereby authorized to provide work and employment for such poor persons as may be able to perform any labor or pursue any employment; and if any poor person, unless by reason of age, infancy, disease, infirmity, or other disability, shall refuse to perform such reasonable labor or service as shall be allotted to or required of him or her by said directors, such person or persons shall not be entitled to or receive any relief or assistance during such refusal, and shall immediately, upon such refusal, be discharged from said poorhouse.

"Section 11. That the overseers of the poor, and other persons having charge of the poor of the boroughs and township aforesaid, shall as soon as notified by the directors in the manner provided for in a preceding section of this act, cease to act as overseers of the poor in said boroughs and township, except so far as may be required to settle, adjust, and close their accounts as overseers with said boroughs and township, or with persons with whom they have transacted business; and they shall, upon demand, deliver to the said directors transcripts of all poor taxes remaining unpaid on duplicates in their hands, together with all books, orders, papers, and documents pertaining to their office as overseers, and shall also pay to the said directors, or to the treasurer appointed by them, all the moneys unexpended in their hands, belonging to the said boroughs or township; and the said directors shall forthwith issue their warrant to the collector for the collection of all such unpaid poor taxes, which shall be collected in the same manner as is provided for the collection of taxes assessed by said directors.

"Section 12. That if, upon a final settlement by said overseers of the boroughs and township aforesaid of their account as overseers, any balance shall be found due them, or either of them, the said balance shall be certified by the auditors making such settlement, and thereupon the said directors are required to issue their order upon the treasurer, in favor of such overseer or overseers, for the amount or amounts so certified to be due.

"Section 13. That the said directors are hereby required, yearly, on the first Monday of January in each year, to make and prepare a statement, or to cause the same to be done, showing the income of said real estate for the preceding year, as nearly as the same can be done; also the excess of the expenditures over and above said income during the said preceding year, the amount and kind of personal property then on hand, including grain, stock, and all farming implements and conveniences, the number of persons admitted from each of the boroughs and township aforesaid, and also the number discharged and belonging to the said boroughs and township, respectively, and the number belonging to each then therein, the length of time each of the said persons remained, and the age, sex, and nativity of each,

a just and correct account of the receipts and disbursements for each of the said boroughs and township during the preceding year; which statement the said directors shall annually, in the month of January in each year, publish in any weekly newspaper published in either of the said boroughs, in three successive issues of the same, together with a statement of the aggregate amount of the receipts, disbursements, and expenditures of said corporation during the preceding year, from any source whatever, or for any cause or purpose whatsoever.

"Section 14. The judges of the court of common pleas of the county of Lackawanna are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint, on the first Monday of January, three competent persons, residents and taxpayers of the Scranton poor district, to constitute a board of auditors, one to serve for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, to settle the accounts of said district; and on the first meeting of said auditors they shall determine by lot which shall serve for one year, which for two years, and which for three years; and the judges of Lackawanna county shall appoint one auditor annually thereafter, for a term of three years; and the said board of auditors shall meet to settle the accounts of the directors on the second Monday of January in each year, and shall receive for their service, each, two dollars per day for each day necessarily employed, to be paid out of the funds belonging to said district, and that said report of such auditors shall be sworn to by them before any alderman, justice of the peace, or notary public within said poor district: Provided, That one of the said auditors shall at all times be a resident and taxpayer of the old borough of Providence, and one of the borough of Dunmore.

"Section 15. That all orders issued for the relief of any poor person or persons within said boroughs or township, after the filing of the certificates mentioned in a preceding section of this act, shall be directed to the directors of the poor of Providence, and upon the receipt of such orders said directors, or any of them, shall immediately proceed to inquire into the circumstances, and if the person or persons therein named are found to be entitled to relief, he or they shall furnish such relief, or cause such person or persons to be removed or taken to said poorhouse, and there kept and maintained until legally discharged; but no person shall be discharged from said poorhouse unless at his or her own request, except by the direction of at least two of the said directors, though any one of the said directors shall have authority to direct a poor person to be admitted into the said poorhouse.

"Section 16. That the said directors are hereby authorized to bind out poor children under their care, whose parents are dead or unable to support them, as apprentices, in the same manner and under the same restrictions as the overseers of the poor may now, by law, put out such children; and the said directors shall exercise the same power and authority over all real and personal estate of any poor person under their care as is now by law vested in the overseers of the poor.

"Section 17. That the compensation of the treasurer, collector, steward, or superintendent, matron, physician, and other officers or assistants, shall be fixed by the directors, and the compensation of the directors shall be fixed by the board of auditors at each yearly