614.0979 съ

STATE OF CONNECTICUT,

OFFICE OF THE

SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH,

HARTFORD, December, 1878.

To His Excellency R. D. Hubbard, Governor of Connecticut:

SIR,-In compliance with the laws of this State, I have the honor to present to you the accompanying report for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1878.

Very respectfully,

C. W. CHAMBERLAIN,

Secretary of the State Board of Health.

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, JANUARY SESSION, A. D. 1878.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

SECTION 1. That the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint six persons, three of whom shall always be physicians, and one lawyer, who, together with a secretary to be elected by them, shall constitute the State Board of Health. Of the six persons first appointed, two shall serve for two years, two for four years, and two for six years, from the first day of July next following their confirmation, and the governor shall hereafter biennially appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, two members of said State Board of Health, to hold their offices for six years from the first day of July next following their confirmation. If a vacancy occur in said board during a recess of the legislature it shall be filled by the governor until the next regular session of the same.

SEC. 2. That the State Board of Health shall meet at least once in every three months, and as much oftener as they may deem proper. Four members shall always constitute a quorum for business. No member of the board shall receive any compensation except the secretary, but the actual traveling and other expenses of the members while engaged in the duties of the board shall be allowed and paid out of the appropriation made for its support. They shall select annually one member of the board as president, and shall appoint a suitable person, who shall be a physician, to be their permanent secretary and executive officer, who shall hold his office so long as he shall faithfully discharge the duties thereof, but who may be removed for cause at any meeting of the board, a majority of the members voting therefor. If a member of the board be elected as secretary the vacancy thus caused shall be filled by the governor, as provided in section first.

SEC. 3. That the secretary shall keep a record of the acts and proceedings of the board, perform and superintend the work prescribed in this act, and such other duties as the board may order under their general direction, and shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars, which shall be paid him in the same manner as the salaries of other State officers are paid, and such necessary expenses as the comptroller of the treasury shall audit, on the presentation of an itemized account, with vouchers annexed and the certificate of the board, shall be allowed him.

SEC. 4. That the said State Board of Health shall take cognizance of the interests of health and life among the people of this State; they shall make sanitary investigations and inquiries respecting the causes of disease, and

especially of epidemics, the sources of mortality, and the effects of localities, employments, conditions, ingesta, habits, and other circumstances upon the public health; and they shall collect such information in respect of these matters as may be useful in the discharge of their duties, and contribute to the promotion of health and the security of life in this State; they shall cause to be made by their secretary or by a committee of the board, inspections at such times as they may deem best, and whenever directed by the governor or the legislature, of all public hospitals, prisons, asylums, or other public institutions, in regard to the location, drainage, water supply, disposal of excreta, heating and ventilation, and other circumstances in any way affecting the health of their inmates, and shall also suggest such remedies as they may consider suitable for the removal of all conditions detrimental to health in the said institutions, in writing, to the officers thereof.

SEC. 5. That the said board shall cause all proper sanitary information in its possession to be promptly forwarded to the local health authorities of any city, village, town, or county in this State, which may request the same, adding thereto such useful suggestions as the experience of said board may supply. And it is also hereby made the duty of said local health authorities to supply the like information and suggestions to said State Board of Health, together with a copy of all their reports and other publications. And said board of health is authorized to require reports and information (at such times and of such facts, and generally of such nature and extent, relating to the safety of life and promotion of health, as its by-laws or rules may provide) from all public dispensaries, hospitals, asylums, infirmaries, prisons, and schools, and from the managers, principals, and officers thereof; and from all other public institutions, their officers and managers, and from the proprietors, managers, lessees, and occupants of all places of public resort in the State; but such reports and information shall only be required concerning matters or particulars in respect of which it may in its opinion need information for the proper discharge of its duties. Said board shall, when requested by public authorities, or when they deem it best, advise officers of the state, county, or local government in regard to sanitary drainage, and the location, drainage, ventilation, and sanitary provisions of any public institution, building, or public place.

SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of the state board to give all information that may be reasonably requested, concerning any threatened danger to the public health, to the local health officers, and all other sanitary authorities in the State, who shall give the like information to said board; and said board and said officers, and said sanitary authorities shall, so far as legal and practicable, co-operate together to prevent the spread of disease, and for the protection of life and the promotion of health, within the sphere of their respective duties.

SEC. 7. That said board may, from time to time, engage suitable persons to render sanitary service and to make or supervise practical and scientific investigations and examinations requiring expert skill, and to prepare plans and reports relative thereto. And it is hereby made the duty of all boards and agents, having the control, charge, or custody of

any public structure, work, ground, or erection, or any plan, description, outlines, drawings, or charts thereof, or relating thereto, made, kept, or controlled under any public authority, to permit and facilitate the examination and inspection, and the making of copies of the same by any officer or person by said board authorized; and the members of said board, and such other officer or person as may at any time be by said board authorized, may, without fee or hindrance, enter, examine, and survey all such grounds, erections, vehicles, structures, apartments, buildings, and places.

SEC. 8. That it shall be the duty of the State Board of Health to have the general supervision of the State system of registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Said board shall prepare the necessary methods and forms for obtaining and preserving such records, and to insure the faithful registration of the same in the several counties, and in the central bureau of vital statistics at the capital of the State. The said board of health shall recommend such forms and amendments of law as shall be deemed to be necessary for the thorough organization and efficiency of the registration of vital statistics throughout the State. The secretary of said board of health shall be the superintendent of registration of vital statistics. As supervised by the said board, the clerical duties and safe keeping of the bureau of vital statistics thus created shall be provided for by the Comptroller of the State, who shall also provide and furnish such apartments and stationery as said board shall require in the discharge of its duties.

SEC. 9. That the said board, on or before the first day of December in each year, shall make a report in writing to the governor, upon the vital statistics and the sanitary condition and prospects of the State, which report shall also set forth the action of said board, and its officers and agents, and the names thereof for the past year, and shall contain a full statement of their acts, investigations, and discoveries, with such suggestions for further legislative action or other precautions as they may deem proper for the better protection of life and health. This report shall also contain a detailed statement of the moneys expended by said board, and the manner of their expenditure the year for which it is made; but the total amount paid for the expenses of this board, including the salary and expenses of the secretary, shall not exceed three thousand dollars, which amount is hereby annually appropriated for this purpose, to be paid by the treasurer, on the comptroller's warrant, in such sums as the certificate of the board, with proper vouchers annexed, may certify from time to time.

SEC. 10. That this act shall take effect from the date of its passage; and that all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

GENERAL REPORT.

The requirement of a report in December renders this first report necessarily incomplete, as the returns from the registrars of vital statistics are not made until the last of January of the ensuing year, and the report on vital statistics cannot be made until our second annual report, from the nature of the subject. This report therefore covers but the brief period of five months, and notwithstanding the little time we have had in which to work, it is hoped that this first report even may be of interest and value to the people of the State, in whose behalf we labor. The following statement explains our plans and methods thus far:

The work entered upon during the first few months, must, in the nature of things, be, to a great extent, of a preliminary or preparatory character. Before entertaining any very comprehensive plans, a survey of the field, and exact knowledge of the sanitary condition and requirements of the State was needed, to secure a solid basis of fact, preparatory to action. The work of organizing the board and bringing it into communication with the people, was obviously among the first to be undertaken. To awaken intelligent interest in sanitary science, and demonstrate its practical utility not only in preventing disease and prolonging the average duration of life, but also in securing healthy and efficient lives would excuse the devotion of a much greater period of time to the sole endeavor to develop a public sentiment that shall regard a neglect of plain sanitary principles as criminally careless.

In the systematic effort to bring clearly before the people of this State the value of sanitary science, and to show what it has accomplished, and can accomplish for families, communities, and states, the following plan has been followed for the most part: 1st, To assign to each member of the Board some special field for work and investigation, the results as they take shape to be printed in our reports. 2d, By publications, short and concise, explaining in general terms the nature and scope of public hygiene, and our