Chapter XVI (6)

The New York law is very careful and elaborate. There are local boards of health in towns, incorporated villages, and cities. In the town the board consists of the clerk and the justices of the peace, together with a "citizen" appointed by them; in the incorporated villages, of from three to seven members nominated by the village trustees. The village and town boards each hold office for one year, and each is authorized to appoint a "competent physician" to serve as "health officer," who, in the case of the village, may not be a member of the board. The city board is composed of six members, at least one of whom shall be a physician, all appointed by the common council. The board thus constituted is authorized to choose a president and to select a competent physician as health officer. The six members hold office for one, two, and three years, respectively, by pairs. It is made the duty of each of these local boards "to supervise and make complete the registration of all births, marriages, and deaths occurring within the limits of its jurisdiction in accordance with the methods and forms prescribed by the state board of health, and to secure the prompt forwarding of the certificates of birth, marriage, and death to the state bureau of vital statistics after local registration." To attain completeness in such registration, "it shall be the duty of the parents or custodians of every child, and the groom at every marriage, or the clergyman or magistrate performing the ceremony, to secure the return of the record of such birth or marriage to the board of health or person designated by them within thirty days from the date" of the same, "and each record shall be duly attested by the physician or midwife (if any) in attendance at such birth, or the clergyman officiating at such marriage." If in any place the state board of health ascertains that the registration is "not completely and well made," it may notify the delinquent local board that within one month such "defects and neglects in the records must be amended and prevented." If the abuses are not remedied within the period named, the state board is required to take control of the records, and to "enforce the rules and regulations" so as to make them complete.

The bureau of vital statistics has general charge of the state system of registration, under direction of the state board of health. The latter body consists of three "state commissioners of health," appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, and six other members, three nominated by the governor, and three serving _ex officio_. It appoints a secretary who is "superintendent of registration of vital statistics;" and it makes an annual report to the governor regarding "vital statistics and the sanitary condition and prospects of the state."[1527]

[Footnote 1527: _Cf._ the act for registration of births,
marriages, and deaths: _Laws_ (1847), chap. 152, repealed by
_Laws_ (1885), chap. 270; _Laws_ (1880), chap. 322; and _Rev.
Stat._ (1889), II, 1205, 1207, 1209, 1195-98 (state board), IV,
2610, 2611 (clauses relating to New York city).

In general, to trace the history of the topics treated in this
subsec. _c_), consult the last note in subsec. _b_).]

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Transcriber's note:

Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.

Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.

In the Table of Contents: III. The Evils of the Spiritual Jurisdiction 351-359"--350 was changed to 351.

The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.