Section 1000. Interpretation of chapter

1. The provisions of this chapter
  shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes hereof, and  the
  enumeration  of  specific  powers  in  this chapter shall not operate to
  detract from the meaning of any general grant of power contained in this
  chapter or to exclude other powers comprehended in such general grant of
  power.
    2. The provisions of this chapter in so far as they are  substantially
  the  same as the existing law on December thirty-first, nineteen hundred
  fifty, shall be construed as a continuation of  the  provisions  of  the
  former county law and not as new enactments.
    3. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this chapter
  shall  be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
  such judgment shall not  affect,  impair  or  invalidate  the  remainder
  thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence,
  paragraph, section, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy
  in which such judgment shall have been rendered.