Section 1

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the first Monday in March next, a board of health shall be established, in the manner hereinafter directed, which shall be, and hereby is, erected into a body corporate in deed and in law, by the name, style and title of "The Board of Health;" who shall have perpetual succession, and enjoy all and every the rights, liberties and privileges, powers, authorities and immunities, incident or belonging to a corporation or body politic; and by that name, may take and hold all the estate, real and personal, now vested in the present board of health, and shall moreover have and exercise the powers and authorities hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, The members of the board of health shall be eleven, who shall serve without compensation or emolument, and shall be appointed in the manner following, to wit: The Select and Common Councils of the city of Philadelphia, in a joint meeting, to be held on the afternoon of the second Monday in March annually, between the hours of two and six oclock, shall elect by ballot, six citizens, who shall be taxable inhabitants of the said city; and the commissioners of the incorporated part of the Northern Liberties, shall annually on the same day, and between the same hours, elect by ballot, two citizens, who shall be taxable inhabitants of the said district; and the commissioners of Penn township, shall annually on the same day, and between the same hours, elect by ballot, one citizen, who shall be a taxable inhabitant of the said district; and the commissioners of the district of Southwark, shall annually on the same day, and between the same hours, elect by ballot, one citizen, who shall be a taxable inhabitant of the said district; and the commissioners of Moyamensing, shall annually on the same day, and between the same hours, elect by ballot, one citizen, who shall be a taxable inhabitant of the said township; who shall constitute the board of health, of which a majority shall be a quorum. And in case the appointments hereby directed, should not take place on the day specified, they may be made on any other subsequent day prior to the third Monday in March, between the same hours. And the number of years for which any individual may be eligible as a member of the board of health, shall not be limited; and in case of the removal, death, sickness, resignation, inability or refusal to serve, of any of the said board, their places shall be supplied by other appointments, to be made by the same authority which appointed the individuals by whose delinquency the vacancies shall be occasioned. And the said board out of their own body shall choose a president, who shall preside at the meetings of the board, and whose place shall be supplied in his absence by the appointment of a chairman for the time; a secretary, whose duty it shall be to keep fair minutes of all the proceedings, rules and regulations of the board, and a treasurer, who shall give bond with sureties, as is required of the county treasurer, who shall receive all monies belonging to the corporation, and pay and disburse the same upon the order of the board, signed by the president and attested by the secretary, who shall keep fair and just accounts of his receipts and expenditures, and make extracts thereof whenever the board shall require the same, and shall once in every year, his accounts having been allowed by the board, publish the same in one or more newspapers of the city of Philadelphia. And the said board shall sit upon their own adjournment as they shall find necessary, but shall meet at least once in every day between the first day of June and the first day of October, in every year, and also when the board shall be specially convened by order of the president or any two of the members. And the said board shall have, and hereby is vested with full power and authority, to make general rules, orders and regulations, for the government and management of the Lazaretto, and the vessels, cargoes and persons there detained or under quarantine, and of the health office and public hospitals, and for the mode of visiting and examining vessels, persons, goods and houses, and shall also have power to appoint such officers and servants as may be necessary, to attend the health office, the Lazaretto, and the city hospital, and convey communications and supplies to the said Lazaretto and hospital; and such other officers and servants as may be necessary for the preservation of the health of the district, together with all temporary officers and servants that may be rendered necessary, by the existence of any dangerous contagious disease in the city of Philadelphia, or in any other place within the United States: Provided, That such officers and servants shall not hold any offices of profit or trust under the United States, and to remove any of the officers or servants by them appointed, and to appoint others in their places, and to allow and pay the said officers and servants so appointed, such compensation for their respective services, as the said board shall deem just and proper. And the governor is hereby authorised and required to appoint one physician, who shall reside at the Lazaretto, and be denominated the Lazaretto physician, and one physician, who shall reside in the city of Philadelphia, and shall be denominated the Port physician, one health officer, and one quarantine master, all of whom shall be under the direction and control of the board of health, and shall be removed from office by the governor, at the request of the majority of the members of the board of health; and the said Lazaretto physician shall be entitled to occupy the house hitherto occupied by the resident physician, and shall also be provided by the board of health with ground for a garden, within the bounds of the Lazaretto, of such extent as the board may think proper; and the quarantine master shall be entitled to occupy the house hitherto occupied by the quarantine master, and shall also be provided by the board of health with ground for a garden, within the bounds of the Lazaretto, of such extent as the board shall think proper.