19. It shall be the duty of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to see that all water and gas mains, service pipes and sewer connections are laid upon any street or avenue proposed to be paved or otherwise improved before any such pavement or other permanent works are put down. 20. And the Washington Gas-Light Company, under the direction of said Commissioners, shall at its own expense take up, lay, and replace all gas mains on any street or avenue to be paved, at such time and place as said Commissioners shall direct. 21. The President of the United States may detail from the Engineer Corps of the army not more than two officers, of rank subordinate to that of the engineer officer belonging to the Board of Commissioners of said District, to act as assistants to said Engineer Commissioner in the discharge of the special duties imposed upon him by the provisions of this act. SECTION VI. 1. That from and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, the Board of Metropolitan Police and the Board of School Trustees shall be abolished, and all the powers and duties now exercised by them shall be transferred to the said Commissioners of the District of Columbia, who shall have authority to employ such officers and agents and to adopt such provisions as may be necessary to carry into execution the powers and duties devolved upon them by this act. 2. And the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall from time to time appoint nineteen persons, actual residents of said District of Columbia, to constitute the trustees of public schools of said District, who shall serve without compensation and for such term as said Commissioners shall fix. Said trustees shall have the powers and perform the duties in relation to the care and management of the public schools which are now authorized by law. SECTION VII. That the offices of sinking fund commissioners are hereby abolished; and all duties and powers possessed by said commissioners are transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Treasurer of the United States, who shall perform the same in accordance with the provisions of existing laws. SECTION VIII. That in lieu of the Board of Health, now authorized by law, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall appoint a physician as Health Officer, whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the said Commissioners, to execute and enforce all laws and regulations relating to the public health and vital statistics, and to perform all such duties as may be assigned to him by said Commissioners; and the Board of Health now existing shall, from the date of the appointment of said Health Officer, be abolished. SECTION IX. 1. That there may be appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, on the recommendation of the Health Officer, a reasonable number of sanitary inspectors for said District, not exceeding six to hold such appointment at any one time, of whom two may be physicians and one shall be a person skilled in the matters of drainage and ventilation; and said Commissioners may remove any of the subordinates, and from time to time may prescribe the duties of each. 2. And said inspectors shall be respectively required to make, at least once in two weeks, a report to said Health Officer, in writing, of their inspections, which shall be preserved on file. 3. And said Health Officer shall report in writing annually to said Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and so much oftener as they shall require. SECTION X. That the Commissioners may appoint, on the like recommendation of the Health Officer, a reasonable number of clerks, but no greater number shall be appointed, and no more persons shall be employed under said Health Officer than the public interests demand and the appropriation shall justify. SECTION XI. 1. That the salary of the Health Officer shall be three thousand dollars per annum. 2. And the salary of the sanitary inspectors shall not exceed the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum each. 3. And the salary of the clerks and other assistants of the Health Officer shall not exceed in the aggregate the amount of seven thousand dollars, to be apportioned as the Commissioners of the District of Columbia may deem best. SECTION XII. 1. That it shall be the duty of the said Commissioners to report to Congress at the next session succeeding their appointment a draft of such additional laws or amendments to existing laws as in their opinion are necessary for the harmonious working of the system hereby adopted and for the effectual and proper government of the District of Columbia. 2. And said Commissioners shall annually report their official doings in detail to Congress, on or before the first Monday of December. SECTION XIII. 1. That there shall be no increase of the present amount of the total indebtedness of the District of Columbia. 2. And any officer or person who shall knowingly increase, or aid or abet in increasing, such total indebtedness, except to the amount of the two hundred thousand dollars, as authorized by this act, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars. SECTION XIV. 1. That the term "school-houses" in the act of June seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, chapter thirty, was intended to embrace all collegiate establishments actually used for educational purposes, and not for private gain. 2. And that all taxes heretofore imposed upon such establishments in the District of Columbia since the date of said act are hereby remitted, and where the same or any part thereof has been paid the sum so paid shall be refunded. 3. But if any portion of any said building, house or grounds, in terms excepted, is used to secure a rent or income, or for any business purpose, such portion of the same, or a sum equal in value to such portion, shall be taxed. SECTION XV. That all laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed. Approved, June 11, 1878. |