Chapter XLVI. to incorporate the Columbian Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind
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Chap. XLVI.— An Act to incorporate the Columbian Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind. Feb. 16, 1857.1858, ch. 59.*Post*, p. 253. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That Byron Sunderland, J. C.Names. McGuire, David A. Hall, and George W. Riggs, of Washington city, William Edes, and Judson Mitchell, of Georgetown, and Amos Kendall and William Stickney, of the county of Washington, and such persons as may hereafter be associated with them, by contributions for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind, are hereby created a body politic and corporate under the name of the “Columbia Institution for the InstructionTitle. of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind,” to have perpetual succession and be capable to take, hold and enjoy lands, tenements, hereditamentsGeneral power. and personal property, to use a common seal, and the same to alter at pleasure: *Provided*, That no real or personal property shall be held by said corporation, except such as may be necessary to the maintenance and efficient management, of said institution.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That the Institution shall be managedElection of officers. as provided for in its present Constitution, and such additional regulations as may from time to time be found necessary; but as soon as sufficient contributions shall have been paid in to authorize an election according to the provisions of said Constitution, the provisional officers therein named shall give notice of a general meeting to the contributors for the election of officers, and the officers elected at such general meeting shall hold their offices for one year and until their successors shall be elected as in said Constitution provided: *Provided*, That said Constitution may be altered in the manner therein provided, but pot in such manner as to162THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 46, 50. 1857. violate the Constitution or any law of the United States or of the District of Columbia. Sec. 3. Report of persons deaf and dumb in the District.*And be it further enacted*, That it shall be the duty of the Justices of the Peace in the several wards of the cities of Washington and Georgetown and of the county of Washington, to ascertain the names and residences of all Deaf and Dumb and Blind persons within their respective wards and districts; who of them are of a teachable age, and also who of them are in indigent circumstances, and report the same to the President of the Institution hereby incorporated.
Sec. 4. United States to pay for maintenance and tuition of deaf and dumb residents of the District.*And be it further enacted*, That whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall be satisfied by evidence produced by the President of the Institution hereby incorporated, that any Deaf and Dumb or Blind person of teachable age properly belonging to this District, is in indigent circumstances and cannot command the means to secure an education, it shall be his duty to authorize the said person to enter the said Institution for instruction, and to pay for his maintenance and tuition therein at the rate of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum, for such Deaf and Dumb pupil, and at the rate of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum for such Blind pupil, papable quarterly out of the Treasury of the United States.
Sec. 5. Persons not resident may be received and instructed.*And be it further enacted*, That it shall be lawful for said Institution to receive and instruct Deaf and Dumb and Blind persons from any of the States and Territories of the United States on such terms as may be agreed upon by themselves, their parents, guardians, or trustees, and the proper authorities of said Institution. Sec. 6. Annual report.*And be it further enacted*, That it shall be the duty of the President and directors of said Institution to report to the Secretary of the Interior the condition of said Institution on the first day of July in each year, embracing in said report the number of pupils of each description received and discharged during the preceding year, and the number remaining in the Institution; also the branches of knowledge and industry taught and the progress made therein; also a statement showing the receipts of the Institution and from what sources, and its disbursements and for what objects.
Approved, February 16, 1857.