Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/484

 466 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

vacate all buildings that are themselves unfit or which make adjacent buildings unfit for human habitation; 1 to prescribe and enforce rules relating to the sanitation of lodging houses, shops, or dwellings ; to deal with all sources of infection or disease ; to remove dead bodies from the streets or from houses ; and to abate any public nuisance.

The sanitary superintendent. Aside from the Bureau of Records, which collects and tabulates all the vital statistics of the city, the most important work of the department is that carried on under the Sanitary Bureau. This includes all the sanitary and medical inspection of various kinds, as well as the hospital service, and the work of the chemical and bacteriologi- cal laboratories.

At the head of the Sanitary Bureau is the sanitary superin- tendent. He is appointed by the board, at an annual salary of $5,000, and at the time of his appointment must have been at least ten years a practicing physician and for three years a resident of the city. Under him are five assistant superin- tendents, who serve at an annual salary of $3, 500, and direct the work of the Bureau in each of the several boroughs of the Greater city. 2 It is the duty of the sanitary superintendent and his assistants to make weekly, quarterly, and annual reports to the board so that the president may keep in close touch with

other important sanitary work. At the same time the framers of the amendment wisely permitted the Board of Health to retain all its original powers to be exercised by it at any time in case of emergency.

'Sec. 1299 of the present charter gives the department full power to vacate any building or part of a building which is " infected with contagious disease, or by reason of want of repair has become dangerous to life, or is unfit for human habita- tion because of defects in drainage, plumbing, ventilation, or the construction of the same, or because of the existence of a nuisance on the premises which is likely to cause sickness among the occupants." Sec. 1300 also gives it the power to condemn and remove all such buildings where necessary, and prescribes the proceedings for condemnation. This sweeping principle was derived from British law " Houses of the Working Classes Act," 1890, 53, 54 Viet., chap. 70 but has never been sustained by the American courts. Hence in this country a building may be vacated in the interests of the public health, but not actually condemned and removed. Cf. Dassiro vs. the Health Department, Appellate Division Reports, Vol. XXI, p. 348, October, 1897.

3 Both the sanitary superintendent and the assistant sanitary superintendent hold office during the pleasure of the board.