The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-01-15
HEAL Til OFFICERS
MEAN BUSINESS
Proposed Legislative Bills
Sweeping in Their.
Nature.
First to Be Submitted to the
Industrial Council for
Endorsement.
Some of the Provisions Will NIX
the Position of Health Official
No Sinecure.

Inability to carry out the methods it
thought best for the proper sanitary con-
ditions has long been a thorn in the side
of the Beard of Health of this City and
County. This theme has been favorite
morsel and on the 18th. inst. crystallized
in the form of three bills for submission
to the Legislature.
Next Saturday afternoon these pro-
posed bills will be placed before the
Council of Associated Industries of Cali
fornia with the expectation of their being
Endorsed. They will then be sent to Sac
ramento and their adoption urged upon
the mbers OF the Legislature.
An idea OF their sweeping nature and
the i'm portance that will be vested in the
position of the Board of Health in case
these bills become laws may be CLEANED
from brief summary of them.
The longest and most important of the
measure proposed is entitled, Gan act to
promote the public health and to prohibit
asas preiudicial thereto"
Section provides that no person. firm, cor
poration, etc, shall do anything prejudicial to
the public health, or fail to do anything in the
way OF mitigating known danger
Section 2 empowers the Board of Health to
define what is dangerous to the public health
and what constitutes an omission of duty.
Section provides that no keeper of a hotel,
lodging house, or any place at which food is
sold, shall offer as food anything unwhole-
some.
Section states that no article of food shall
be offered as such labeled under false name,
or represented to be of a quality which it Is
not
section 5 provides that no teacher. manager,
board or anybody connected with public or
private school. or any public or private build
ing where human beings may assemble, shall
do anything or make any omission which may
endanger the lives of those so assem- bled.
section 6 provides that no owner, keeper
or tenant OF any building shall allow nything
to remain or anything TO happen dangerous
to the life OF human being.
Section is strong provision. 1t is moth
ing more or less than that no water shall be
drunk from any well except under and pur-
suant to the conditions OF permit in writing
as obtained from the Board OF Health OF such
city.
Section provides that a sanitary code
shall be formulated by the adoption of certain
rules by the Board OF Health OF a city of over
%, 600 inhabitants within ninety days OF the
passage OF the proposed act.
Section provides Tor the publication of the
code, and that violation of any of its pro-
visions or amendments shall constitute mis-
demeanor for each days offense.
The next act is entitled, IAN act to con-
fer powers upon the Boards OF Health of
municipalities and counties in the State"
Its provisions, which follow, are short but
devisive:
Section provides that the Board of Health
of every municipality or county shall have
power to compel the attendance of witnesses
to testify on infractions of sanitary laws.
Section regulates the manner of issuing
subpcnas
section provides that if any person, when
subpenaed, fails to attend or refuses to an
swer any questions, he shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor, and each refusal shall con-
sLitute q separate ofense.
The last proposed act is entitled, Gan
act to confer further powers upon the
Boards of Health of the municipalities
and counties of this State" 1t is almost
without limitation.
Section 1 provides that the Board OF Health
of county municipality shall have the
same powers in legislating upon sanitary mat
tiers as the Board of Supervisors or Common
Council to declare certain acts crimes and to
prescribe the punishment therefor.
Section provides how these acts shall be
passed
The third and last section states that in
case any conflict shall arise exist between
ordinances adopted by the Common Council or