them to

count of themselves, to commit them to said asylum; and And send in case they belong to any other town in this State, or the towns do not belong to the State, the said overseer or overseers where of the poor are hereby fully empowered to send such they beperson or persons to the town where they belong, as hath heretofore been customary according to law.

long.

lowed.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in case the over- Appeal alseers of the poor of any town to which such person or persons shall be removed, shall think themselves aggrieved at the determination and order of the said overseer or overseers of the poor of the town of Newport, shall have the same liberty of appealing as they now have from the determination of the town-council.

the asy

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said town of Commis Newport be authorized to appoint nine commissioners sioners of to govern and superintend the said asylum for the poor, lum to be established on Coasters'-harbor island; the places of chosen. which commissioners shall be vacated and filled, three of them in succession, each year; and said commissioners Their may be empowered by the town to prescribe and adopt power. all necessary regulations for the government and management of the asylum, and of the people received into it; and to employ a keeper or superintendant of the asylum under them, and such other agents or officers as the concerns of the establishment may be found to require: the said commissioners shall act as a body, and organize themselves by appointing a chairman and secretary, by whom their doings shall be certified; and all regulations and appointments and contracts made by them, shall be made at a meeting duly notified, and at which five members shall be necessary to form a quorum; and no such measure shall be repealed, altered or interfered with, except at similar meetings: at all other meetings of said commissioners three members shall be sufficient to form a quorum: but all the commissioners, not at the time absent from the town, shall be personally notified of every special meeting by the chairman or secretary.

cease, in

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the overseer or Overseers, overseers of the poor in said town shall cease to exercise power to all such powers and duties as are or may be transferred case. by the town to said commissioners; and in all things appertaining to the government of and management of the asylum, such overseer or overseers shall be under the direction of said commissioners: and should said town think fit hereafter to appoint no more than one overseer of the

By-laws

the asy

lum.

poor therein, said overseer may perform all the same acts as the law requires to be performed by two or more such

Overseers.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That said town shall relative to have power to pass by-laws regulating the intercourse and communication with the asylum and the people therein, and with Coasters'-harbor island on which it stands; and prescribe penalties, not exceeding twenty dollars for any one offence, for a breach of said by-laws, which penalties may be recovered by the town-treasurer by action of debt and said town may also prescribe a penalty on any inhabitant of the town who, having been duly appointed, shall refuse to perform the duties of a commissioner of the asylum; such penalty not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, and to be recovered in manner aforesaid; but no person shall be obliged to serve more than one term in said office of commissioner.

Commis

sioners

Towncouncil to

retain

ers, &c.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the appointconfirmed, ment of commissioners made by said town, on the sixteenth day of March, A. D. 1820, and the powers then granted to said commissioners, be and they are hereby confirmed. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere with any of the powtheir powers by law vested in the town-council of said town, nor as limiting the power of said town at any time to discontinue the government of said asylum by commissioners as aforesaid; and to prescribe and adopt any other mode of governing and regulating the same which they Proviso may think proper, and not inconsistent with the laws of the State; provided that all contracts made by the commissioners, under the authority of the town, shall be strictly complied with; and that no proposition or subject relative to the government or management of said asylum or of the poor shall be acted upon in any townmeeting, unless the same shall have been specifically stated in the warrant for calling such town-meeting, and also notified by the town-clerk in the newspapers published in said town.

122.

An act to provide for the Repairing of the Streets and High- 1819 '20 ways in the town of Newport.

sioners to

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by Street the authority thereof it is enacted, That there shall be an-commisnually appointed, at the annual election of town-officers, be apthree commissioners, to be called the street commission- pointed. ers; that the said commissioners shall receive all moneys into their hands that have been or hereafter may be appropriated by the town, for repairing the streets and highways, and shall account to the town-council annually on the first Monday in May therefor; that the said com- Their missioners shall cause the same to be laid out in repair- power. ing such streets and highways, in such manner as they may think proper, and likewise to receive any donation or donations that may be made for the same, for which they shall give credit to the town; and whenever the said commissioners shall cause any street or part of any street to be paved, or order the repair of any or part of any one already paved, the owners of, as well as the lands owners of fronting on said street, shall be charged with putting and lots liable for repairs, keeping in repair the sides of such streets, in front of such &c. lands, of such materials and in such manner as the commissioners may direct, provided that such side-ways Proviso. shall not exceed one fifth part of the width of such street on each side; nor be required to be laid with materials more expensive than what is commonly used for flag or curb stones, well laid in gravel; and in all streets not paved, the side-ways, at the discretion of the commissioners, shall be made and kept in repair by the owners of lands fronting on the same as aforesaid, with gravel only, whenever the commissioners shall so direct; and in case of neglect on How to be the part of the owners of lands aforesaid, the same shall repaired, be put out on contract at auction to the lowest bidder, by the commissioners, who are authorized to act as auctioneers for that purpose, after advertising the place or places to be contracted for, three weeks, stating the time when such auction will be held near the premises, which may be adjourned from time to time, by the commissioners, if they think proper; and the commissioners shall pay for all such contracts, and take a bill from the contractor of the same; which bill or bills shall be given to the assessors of taxes, by the commissioners, after adding five per cent. for their trouble and also the expence of advertising; and the assessors shall forthwith assess the

if owners

neglect.

458

STREETS, NEWPORT.

same, with the addition of their commissions for assessing, and five per cent. for collecting; and give the said tax bill or bills to the collector of taxes, who shall collect the same in the same manner as the State and town taxes are or may hereafter be collected, and pay over the same to the said commissioners in three months from the time of such assessment, who shall give the town credit acAppeal al-cordingly; any person so taxed to have the right of appeal therefrom to the next court of general sessions of the peace.

lowed.

What

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That no property whatproperty soever shall be exempted from the said tax, unless it beexempt. longs to the State.

ing up

streets.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any person Penalty for break- shall break up any street for the repairing or laying any drains or other purposes, without the consent of one of the street commissioners, he, she or they shall forfeit and pay a fine of twenty dollars, to be recovered by the said commissioners before any court competent to try the same, to be appropriated to the repairs of the said streets and highways: and all persons who have or may hereaf ter do any injury to any street or highway, other than by usual and ordinary wear, the commissioners shall cause the same to be put in order at the expence of such person or persons, in the same manner as is provided in case of sideways.

Commissioners

may re

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall have power at their discretion, to remove all move all obstructions, such as steps, posts and cellar-doors, having a reasonable regard to individual convenience.

obstruc

tions.

intend

gravel in

public docks.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said comTo super-missioners shall have the superintendence of the gravel in the public docks and shores belonging to the town, except the town beach; that none, under any pretence whatever, shall be permitted to take or use any of said gravel for any purposes, without permission of said commissioners, under the penalty of five dollars for every such load so taken; to be levied and collected by a warrant of distress from any justice of the peace, by plaint or information of any freeman; and the said fine or fines shall, when collected, be paid into the town-treasury, to and Voluntary for the use of the town: that if at any time money shall tion for be raised by voluntary subscription, for the purpose of repairs. repairing any street or streets so named in said subscrip

subscrip

tion, equal in amount to one third of the whole cost of

such repairs, then in that case the said commissioners, if in their opinion expedient and necessary, are hereby authorized and directed to cause such street or streets to be repaired, provided the money so raised by voluntary subscription be first collected and paid to one of the said

commissioners.

may cause

lots to be

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the street com-Commismissioners shall have power to cause the wall or walls sioners against any lot or lots fronting on any street or streets in front of the town of Newport, to be built up to against the street, filled up whenever the front of such lots are now or hereafter may be below the level of the street; as likewise to provide fence or railing for the security of passengers, if in their opinion the same be necessary; and that the said commissioners have the same remedy, out of the property so repaired against, as is provided in case of laying out side

ways.

street.

ŠEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said street Broadcommissioners shall have the same powers to cause the side-walks of the street called broad-street, in said town, to be made and repaired in the same manner, and of the same materials, as they now by law possess in cases of paved streets.

by-laws

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That said town be em- Town powered to enact all such by-laws as they may find neces- may enact sary to preserve the streets and side-walks in said town to prevent from injury, with power to impose fines for the breaches damage. thereof, not exceeding ten dollars for any one offence.

An act to prevent the Pavement in Queen-street, in Newport, from the State-house to the east side of Thames-street, from being damaged by loaded Carts or Trucks..

1752.

not to be

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority Loaded thereof it is enacted, That every person who shall drive a carts, &c. loaded cart or trucks upon any part of the pavement late- driven on ly laid in queen-street, in Newport, from the state-house the paveto the east side of thames-street, shall forfeit and pay a fine of two dollars for every offence, to be recovered by the town-treasurer before any two justices of the peace of said town, for the use of the town.

ment.