ROBERT WRIGHT, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR. NOVEMBER

1807.

CHAP. CX.

An ACT to incorporate the contributors to the Baltimore General
Dispensary.

Passed 20th of
January, 1808.

WHEREAS a Dispensary has been established in the city of Baltimore for the purpose of af-
fording medical aid to the indigent poor of that city, and its precincts, which has been sup-
ported for several years past by the voluntary contributions of a number of charitable persons, and
has been extensively beneficial in its effects, in relieving the poor from sickness and preserving the
health of the city, under the direction of managers appointed by the contributors to the said insti-
tution: And whereas this general assembly are desirous to encourage and give permanence to an
institution of such public utility,

Preamble.

II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the contributors to the Baltimore
General Dispensary, as well as those who shall hereafter become contributors, shall be and they are
hereby created and made a corporation and body politic for ever hereafter, by the name, style and
title, of The President and Managers of the Baltimore General Dispensary, and by that name shall
have succession, and be capable in law of purchasing, holding, selling, leasing and conveying, lands,
tenements, goods, chattels, and other property, real, personal and mixed, provided that the value,
of the property held at any one time shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars, and to sue and be
sued, plead and be impleaded, and to make, have and use, a common seal, and the same to break,
alter and renew, at pleasure, and generally to do all acts and things which may be necessary to
carry into effect the provisions of this charter.

Contributors
incorporated,
&c.

III. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the present managers, to wit: the reverend Joseph G. J. Bend,
president, the reverend Francis Beeston, the reverend James Inglis, doctor John Crawford, William
Wilson, Baltzer Schaeffer, Philip E. Thomas, Isaac Burneston, Andrew Ellicott, George Warner,
James Ramsay and William Gwynn, are hereby declared to be the president and managers of the
said institution under this charter, and as such, shall have a right to act until an election shall take
place in the manner herein after directed.

J G J. Bend,
&, c. declared
president, &c.

IV. AND BE IT ENACTED, That any person who hath at any one time contributed, or shall here-
after contribute, to the use of the said institution, the sum of fifty dollars, shall be considered, and
is hereby declared to be, during life, a contributor, and as such entitled to vote at all annual elec-
tions for managers and attending physicians to the said General Dispensary, to recommend indigent
poor to the care of the institution, and to enjoy all other rights and privileges to which contributors
are or shall be entitled under this act, and under, such by-laws as the managers shall from time to
time to make and establish; and every person who hath contributed, or shall contribute, to the use
of the said institution, the sum of five dollars, shall be deemed a contributor within the meaning
of this charter, for the term of one year next after the time of paying such contribution, and en-
titled to all rights and privileges as such during the said term.

Persons de
clared contri-
butors, &c.

V. AMD BE IT ENACTED, That the contributors to the Baltimore General Dispensary shall an-
nually, at such time and place, and in such manner, as the president and managers shall by their
by-laws direct and appoint, elect twelve of the contributors to act as managers of the General Dis-
pensary, and the persons, so elected, shall be entitled to hold their office until a new election shall
take place; the managers for the time being shall have power to fill all vacancies in their own
body occasioned by the death, resignation, refusal to serve, or removal from the city and its pre-
cincts, of any manager; to appoint their own president, and all other officers of the institution, ex-
cept attending physicians, who shall be annually, elected by the contributors in such manner as the
by-laws may provide; to fix the salary of the apothecary ami attending physicians, and proscribe
their duties; to remove or displace, any of the officers of the said institution whom they may adjudge
to be guilty of misconduct or neglect of duty, and appoint a person to fill the vacancy thereby occa-
sioned until the next annual election; to regulate the expenses and manage the funds of the institu-
tion; to make such rules and by-laws as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this
charter in the most full and beneficial manner, or as they may think necessary for the promotion,
regulation, government or convenience, of the said General Dispensary, the same not being con-
trary to the laws and constitution of this state or of the United States; and generally to do all acts
and things which may appertain to do.

Twelve mana-
gers to be elect-
ed annually, &c.

VI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the said president and managers may call a meeting of the con-
tributors at any time when they think the interest of the institution, may require, and any six of the

A meeting may
be called, &c.