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APPENDIX A.

LEGISLATION ENACTED SINCE 1899, CONCERNING THE BLIND.

I.
Acts of 1899, Chapter 13.

RESOLVE RELATIVE TO THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND.

Resolved, That the state board of education is hereby directed to inquire into the feasibility of instructing the adult blind at their homes; and to report the result of its investigations, with such recommendations as it may deem proper, to the next general court. (Approved March 1, 1899.

II.
Acts of 1900, Chapter 430.

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES BY THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Section 1. There shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, to be expended by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes; but no expenditures shall be made under this act until the plans for such instruction have received the approval of the state board of education. It shall be the duty of the institution aforesaid to make a report to the state board of education of its doings under this act.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved July 5, 1900.

III.
Acts of 1901, Chapter 98.

RESOLVE TO PROVIDE FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES BY THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth a sum not exceeding thirty-six hundred dollars, in addition to the unexpended balance of the appropriation authorized by chapter four hundred and thirty of the acts of the year nineteen hundred to be expended by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes. It shall be the duty of the said institution to make a detailed report to the state board of education of the expenditures under this resolve. (Approved June 10, 1901.

IV.
Acts of 1902, Chapter 297.

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES AT THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

There shall annually be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, to be expended by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes. It shall be the duty of the said institution to make a detailed report each year to the state board of education of the expenditures under this act. (Approved April 11, 1903.

V.
Acts of 1903, Chapter 27.

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES BY THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. The sum of five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth from the ordinary revenue, to provide for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and three.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved January 31, 1903.

VI.
Acts of 1903, Chapter 74.

RESOLVE TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE CONDITION OF THE ADULT BLIND.

Resolved, That the governor, with the advice of the council, is hereby authorized and requested to appoint a commission consisting of three persons, one of whom he shall designate as chairman, which commission shall investigate the condition of the adult blind within this commonwealth, shall inquire into the means and methods whereby their condition may be ameliorated, shall consider the expediency of the establishment by the commonwealth of an industrial training school or other institution for the adult blind, and may recommend legislation. The commission shall serve without compensation, but may employ such assistance as may be necessary, and its necessary expenses including travelling expenses, so far as the same are approved by the governor and council, shall be paid from time to time from the treasury of the commonwealth. The commission shall report the result of its investigations to the general court on or before the fifteenth day of January in the year nineteen hundred and four. If the commission shall recommend legislation it shall accompany its report with drafts of such bills as may be necessary to carry its recommendations into effect. (Approved May 9, 1903.

VII.
Acts of 1904, Chapter 20.

AN ACT MASSING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES BY THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. The sum of five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth from the ordinary revenue, to provide for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and four.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved January 30, 1904.

VIII.
Acts of 1904, Chapter 87.

RESOLVE RELATIVE TO THE ADULT BLIND.

Resolved, That the governor, with the advice of the council, is hereby authorized and requested to appoint a commission consisting of three persons, one of whom he shall designate as chairman, which commission shall prepare a complete register of the adult blind in the commonwealth between the ages of twenty and sixty years, containing a description of their condition, the muse of their blindness, and their capacity for industrial training. Adult blind persons between the ages of twenty and sixty years who desire to receive industrial training in schools for the blind in other states than Massachusetts may, on the recommendation of the commission and with the approval of the governor and council, be sent to such schools, and their expenses while receiving such training may be paid in whole or in part from the treasury of the commonwealth, with the approval of the governor and council. The commission shall also investigate and report as to the advisability and feasibility of ameliorating the condition of the adult blind by industrial training, the establishment of industrial schools, or by any other means. The commission shall serve without compensation, but it may employ such assistance as may be necessary, and its necessary expenses, including travelling expenses, so far as the same are approved by the governor and council, shall be paid from the treasury of the commonwealth. The commission shall report the result of its investigations to the general court on or before the fifteenth day of January in the year nineteen hundred and five, with such recommendations as it may deem advisable, and shall include in its report the register of the adult blind to be prepared under the provisions of this resolve, a list of the names and ages of all adult blind persons placed in schools for the blind in other states under the authority of this resolve, a statement of the expense to the commonwealth incurred thereby, and, no far as is practicable, of the progress made by every such person in any such school. If the commission shall recommend legislation it shall ac-company its report with the drafts of such bills as may be necessary to carry its recommendations into effect. The total expenditures authorized by this resolve shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars. (Approved May 23, 1904.

IX.
Acts of 1905, Chapter 26.

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE ADULT BLIND AT THEIR HOMES BY THE PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. The sum of five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to be paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth from the ordinary revenue, to provide for the instruction of the adult blind at their homes by the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and five.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved February 2, 1905.

X.
Acts of 1905, Chapter 251.

AN ACT RELATIVE TO CERTAIN DISEASES OF THE EYES OF INFANTS.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. Section forty-nine of chapter seventy-five of the Revised Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word "contagion," in the ninth line, the words: -- Should one or both eyes of an infant become inflamed, swollen and red, and show an unnatural discharge at any time within two weeks after its birth, it shall be the duty of the nurse, relative or other attendant having charge of such infant to report in writing within six hours thereafter, to the board of health of the city or town in which the parents of the infant reside, the fact that such inflammation, swelling and redness of the eyes and unnatural discharge exist. On receipt of such report, or of notice of the same symptoms given by a physician as provided by the following section, the board of health shall take such immediate action as it may deem necessary in order that blindness may be prevented, -- so as to read as follows: -- Section 49. A householder who knows that a person in his family or house is sick of smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever or any other infectious disease dangerous to the public health shall forth-with give notice thereof to the board of health of the city or town in which he dwells. Upon the death, recovery or removal of such person, the householder shall disinfect to the satisfaction of the board such rooms of his house and articles therein, as, in the opinion of the board, have been exposed to infection or contagion. Should one or both eyes of an infant become inflamed, swollen and red, and show an unnatural discharge at any time within two weeks after its birth, it shall be the duty of the nurse, relative or other attendant having charge of such infant to report in writing within six hours thereafter, to the board of health of the city or town in which the parents of the infant reside, the fact that such inflammation, swelling and redness of the eyes and unnatural discharge exist. On receipt of such report, or of notice of the same symptoms given by a physician as provided by the following section, the board of health shall take such immediate action as it may deem necessary in order that blindness may be prevented. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

SECTION 2. Section fifty of chapter seventy-five of the Revised Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word "health," in the third line, the words: -- or if one or both eyes of an infant whom or whose mother he is called to visit become inflamed, swollen and red, and show an un-natural discharge within two weeks after the birth of such infant, -- so as to read as follows: -- Section 50. If a physician knows that a person whom he is called to visit is infected with smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever or any other disease dangerous to the public health, or if one or both, eyes of an infant whom or whose mother he is called to visit become inflamed, swollen and red, and show an unnatural discharge within two weeks after the birth of such infant, ho shall immediately give notice thereof in writing over his own signature to the selectmen or board of health of the town; and if he refuses or neglects to give such notice, he shall forfeit not less than fifty or more than two hundred dollars for each offence. (Approved March 31, 1905.

XI.
Acts of 1905, Chapter 1.

RESOLVE TO EXTEND THE TIME WITHIN WHICH REPORT SHALL BE MADE BY THE COMMISSION APPOINTED TO PREPARE A REGISTER OP THE ADULT BLIND AND TO INVESTIGATE AND REPORT AS TO THEIR INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.

Resolved, That the time within which the commission appointed to prepare a complete register of the adult blind and for other purposes, which was constituted by chapter eighty-seven of the resolves of the year nineteen hundred and four, is required to report to the general court is hereby extended until the fifteenth day of January in the year nineteen hundred and six; and the chief of the bureau of labor statistics is hereby empowered and instructed to aid the commission in its preparation of a register of the adult blind by furnishing it, upon its request, with the names, addresses and such other facts concerning the adult blind as may be recorded by the enumerators in taking the decennial census in the year nineteen hundred and five. (Approved January 16, 1905.

XII.
Acts of 1906, Chapter 383.

AN ACT RELATIVE TO COMPULSORY EDUCATION.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Section one of chapter forty-four of the Revised Laws, as amended by section one of chapter three hundred and twenty of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "dollars," in the thirty-third line, the words: -- provided, however, that no physical or mental condition which is capable of correction, or which renders the child a fit subject for special instruction at public charge in institutions other than the public day schools, shall avail as a defence under the provisions of this section unless it shall be made to appear that the defendant has employed all reasonable measures for the correction of the condition, or the suitable instruction of the child, -- so as to read as follows: -- Section 1. Every child between seven and fourteen years of age, and every child under sixteen years of age who cannot read at sight and write legibly simple sentences in the English language, shall attend some public day school in the city or town in which he resides during the entire time the public day schools are in session, subject to such exceptions as to children, places of attendance and schools as are provided for in section three of chapter forty-two and sections three, five and six of this chapter. The superintendent of schools or, if there is no superintendent of schools, the school committee, or teachers acting under authority of said superintendent or committee, may excuse cases of necessary absence. The attendance of a child upon a public day school shall not be required if he has attended for a like period of time a private day school approved by the school committee of such city or town in accordance with the provisions of the following section, or if he has been otherwise instructed for a like period of time in the branches of learning required by law to be taught in the public schools, or if he has already acquired such branches of learning, or if his physical or mental condition is such as to render such attendance inexpedient or impracticable. Every person having under his control a child as described in this section shall cause him to attend school as herein required; and if he fails for five day sessions or ten half day sessions within any period of six months while under such control to cause such child, whose physical or mental condition is not such as to render his attendance at school harmful or impracticable, so to attend school, he shall, upon complaint by a truant officer and conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars: provided, however, that no physical or mental condition which is capable of correction, or which renders the child a fit subject for special instruction at public charge in institutions other than the public day schools, shall avail as a defence under the provisions of this section unless it shall be made to appear that the defendant has employed all reasonable measures for the correction of the condition, or the suitable instruction of the child. Whoever induces or attempts to induce a child to absent himself unlawfully from school, or employs or harbors a child who, while school is in session, is absent unlawfully from school shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, (Approved May 11, 1908.

XIII.
Acts of 1906, Chapter 385.

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. There shall be a state board, to be known as the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, consisting of five persons, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, within sixty days after the passage of this act, one member of which shall be appointed for a term of five years, one for a term of four years, one for a term of three years, one for a term of two years and one for a term of one year. At the expiration of the term of any member of the commission, a member for the term of five years shall be appointed. Any member of the commission may be removed by the governor, with the consent of the council for such cause as he shall deem sufficient and shall assign in the order of removal.

SECTION 2. The commission shall be authorised to prepare and maintain a register of the blind in Massachusetts, which shall describe their condition, cause of blindness and capacity for education and industrial training. The chief of the bureau of statistics of labor is hereby directed to aid the commission by furnishing it from time to time, upon its request, with the names, addresses and such other facts concerning the blind as may be recorded by the enumerators in taking any decennial census.

SECTION 3. The commission shall act as a bureau of information and industrial aid, the object of which shall be to aid the blind in finding employment and to develop home industries for them. For this purpose the commission may furnish materials and tools to any blind person, and may assist such blind persons as are engaged in home industries in marketing their products.

SECTION 4. The commission may, with the approval of the governor and council, establish, equip and maintain one or more schools for industrial training, and workshops for the employment of blind persons, may pay to employees suitable wages, and may devise means for the sale and distribution of the products of such schools and workshops.

SECTION 5. The commission may receive in the schools established by it pupils from other states, upon the payment of such fees as the commission shall determine, and may at its discretion contribute to the support of pupils from Massachusetts receiving instruction in institutions outside' he commonwealth.

SECTION 6. The commission, in furtherance of the purposes of this act, may provide or pay for temporary lodgings and temporary support for workmen or pupils received at any industrial school or workshop established by it, and may ameliorate the condition of the blind by devising means to facilitate the circulation of books, by promoting visits among the aged or helpless blind in their homes, and by ouch other methods as it may deem expedient: provided, that the commission shall not undertake the permanent support or maintenance of any blind person. SECTION 7. The commission, with the approval of the governor and council, may appoint such officers and agents as may be necessary, and fix their compensation within the limits of the annual appropriation; but no person employed by the board shall be a member thereof. It shall make its own by-laws, and shall annually, on or before the third Wednesday in January, make a report to the governor and council of its doings up to and including the thirtieth day of November preceding, embodying therein a properly classified and tabulated statement of its estimates for the year ensuing, with its opinion as to the necessity or expediency of appropriations in accordance with such estimates. The annual report shall also present a concise review of the work of the commission for the preceding year, with such suggestions and recommendations as to improving the condition of the blind as it may deem expedient. The members of the board shall receive no compensation for their services, but their travelling and other expenses necessary for the proper performance of their duties shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth.

SECTION 8. There may be expended during the present year a sum not exceeding twenty thousand dollars in carrying out the provisions of this act.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved May 11, 1906.

XIV.
Acts of 1907, Chapter 173.

AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter three hundred and eighty-five of the sets of the year nineteen hundred and six is hereby amended by adding after section eight the following new sections: -- Section 9. There may be advanced to the chairman of said commission out of the treasury of the commonwealth annually, from the amount appropriated for the maintenance of its industries, such sum as may be necessary, not exceeding five thousand dollars at any one time, to be used as a working capital for said industries. Said sum when drawn from the treasury of the commonwealth shall be deposited in a national bank or trust company to the credit of the chair-man of the commission as such, who shall give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as the governor and council may approve -- Section 10. The commission shall keep separate books of account for its industries, and may use all moneys received from the sale of any products made at its workshops or from the sale of products made under its supervision to which it has title, for the purpose of carrying on its said industries. The auditor of accounts shall at least once in each year, and oftener if he deems it advisable, examine the books, accounts and vouchers of the commission.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved March 6, 1907.

XV.
Acts of 1907. Chapter 174.

AN ACT MAILING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND.

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

SECTION 1. The sums hereinafter mentioned are appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth from the ordinary revenue, for the salaries and expenses of the Massachusetts commission for the blind, for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth day of November, nineteen hundred and seven, to wit: -- For the maintenance of industries under the control of said commission, a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars. For general administration, for information, industrial and educational aid, and such other expenses as may be found necessary by the commission to carry out the provisions of the act establishing the commission, a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. (Approved March 6, 1907.