ODEN BOWIE, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR. 709

take into said House all such colored children as shall be taken up and committed as street beggars or vagrants, or shall be convicted of criminal offences, or as hereinafter provided for, in the case of application of parents or guardians.	Who received.
Sec. 16. And be it enacted, That they shall have power to place the children committed to their care, during the minority of such children, at such employments, and cause them to be instructed in such branches of useful knowledge as may be suited to their years and capacities.	Suitable em- ployment.
Sec. 17. And be it enacted, That the Managers of the House of Reformation and Instruction shall have power to bind out the children committed to their care, with the consent of such children, as apprentices, during their minority, that is to say,
males until the age of twenty-one years, and the females until the age of eighteen years, to such persons and places, whether in or out of this State, and to learn such proper trades or employments, as in the judgment of the said Managers will be most conducive to the reformation and the future benefit and advantage of such children; and the indentures by which such children shall be bound	How old.
shall contain the covenants and shall be recorded as prescribed by Article sixth of the Code, and all the provisions of the said Article in relation to white apprentices shall apply to apprentices bound under this section.	Terms.
Sec. 18. And be it enacted, That the manner of receiving inmates into the House of Reformation and Instruction shall be in either of the following modes, namely: First, colored minors may be committed by a Justice of the Peace for any of the counties, or the city of Baltimore, on complaint and due proof made to him by the parent, guar- dian or next friend of such minor, that by reason of incorrigible or vicious conduct such minor has rendered his or her control beyond the power of such parent, guardian or next friend, and made it manifestly requisite, that from regard to the morals and future welfare of such minor, and the peace	How received.
and order of society, he or she should be placed under the guardianship of the House of Reforma- tion and Instruction; second, colored minors may be committed by the authority aforesaid, when	Conditions.