The record-union., 1897-09-30

eidcu All Acl 10 pFONlQe LOT the SON-
ernment and mana agement of the Cal
ifornia Home for the Care and Train
ing of Feeble Minded Children ap-
proved March 9, 1897; that in the
month of July, 1897, respondent dis
charged from said institution said min
or and refuses to further receive and
retain her therein.
The only question which is raised by
the pleadings in this proceeding is
whether or not the respondent had au-
thority to discharge said minor from
the institution of which he is Super
intendent. I have no doubt that such
a power is vested in the Board of Trus-
tees Of this Home, both by the Act Of
1887 and the Act Of 1897. The Act of
1887 was intended to provide for the
care by the State of any imbecile or
feeble-minded person between the
ages Of 5 and p years incapable of re-
ceiving instruction in the common
schools, and also provided that the Su-
perior Court or Judge, in making the
order committing such person to this
Home, shall inquire into the financial
condition of the parent or guardian or
person charged with the support of
such child, and, if such person is found
able, in whole or in part, to pay the
expenses of such child at said Home,
such Court or Judge shall make
further order requiring such parent or
guardian or person charged with the
support of such child to pay to the
Home, at stated periods, such sums as
in the opinion of the Court or Judge is
proper during such time as the child
might remain in said Home.
Section of said Act, among other
things, provides as follows:
q" But the board may return
to its parents or guardian any child
who has been an inmate of said Home
for the period of two months" The
Legislature Of 1897 passed an Act en-
titled AN Act to authorize, empower
and direct the California Home for the
Care and Training of Feeble Minded
/ Children, to admit idiots, epileptics and
mentally enfeebled paralytics into said
institution; to provide for the support
1 Of all inmates therein, and to repeal
all Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with
] the provisions of this Act" Section l
of this Act provides that for each Of
/ the persons above mentioned who may
be committed to the said Home
/ = the Judge of the Superior Court.
who officiates, shall make such order
or orders as are requisite and proper to
secure the payment, by the county from
which the applicant is committed, to
the State Treasurer, of the sum Of $40
monthly for and during each and every
month or part of month the said ap-
/ plicant so committed remains an in
mate of said institution" Section )
of the Act of 1897, among other things
provides Said Board OF
Trustees are hereby further authorized
to discharge, at their discretion, on or
after July 1, 1897, any case whose sup
port, etc, is unprovided for under the
terms Of this Act
The purpose of this aforementioned
Act was evidently TO not only enlarge
the scope and sphere of usefulness of
the institution. but also to provide
means other than those provided for
by the law of 1887 for the care and
maintenance of those committed there
| to. There is nothing, however, in the
| Act of 1891 in my opinion, which re-
peals the provision of the Act of 1887
authorizing and empowering the Board
/ of Trustees to return to its parent or
guardian any child who has been an
/ inmate of said Home for the period of
| two months
And it seems TO me that the discharge
Of the minor, for whose retention in
said institution the peremptory writ OF
mandate is herein prayed for against
| the Superintendent thereof, is express
| ly given by the statute. 1t was ar
gued by the petitioner that the min
or, having been committed by Super
| ior Judge before the passage of the
Act Of 1897, could not be discharged for
/ the purposes mentioned in said last
mentioned Act; that is to say, that the
discharge of the minor should not be
for the purpose of having her recon-
mitted so that the Judge could make
an order requiring the county to pay
| to the State Treasurer the sum of $40
monthly for her support during her
/ Incarceration in said institution.
But I apprehend it makes no differ
ence what purpose the Board of Trus-
tees may have had in view in diseharg-
ing the minor It is a power whichfs
clearly vested in it and which it may
exercise, with or without a reason, af-
! ter the minor has been in the said in
stitution for a period of two months or
at any time after the month of July,
1897. There can be no question but
that the Legislature has the power to
establish such rules and regulations as
its wisdom may suggest for the govern
ment and management of this or any
kindred institution.
1t certainly has the right to invest the
officers of the institution with the dis
cretionary power of deciding how long
a person committed to the institution
shall remain there. Or, the statute
itself may fix a determinate time dur
ing which such person may remain in
such an institution.
/ do not consider this proper pro-
ceeding in which TO determine the pow
er of the Legislature to require the
county to contribute SO month to-
ward the support of every person who
may be committed under the provisions
of the Acts in question. This question
can be determined more conveniently
when a commitment is made to that in
stitution under the provisions of this
Act and the court fails to make the
order providing for the payment of the
so a month provided by the Act of
1897 and the officers of the institution
refuse to receive the person thus COM
mitted into said Home
nave, however. no hesitancy in ex-
pressing a serious doubt as to the right
OF the Legislature to impose upon