326

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

Authority to
borrow money
and issue
bonds.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That if the decision by said elec-
tion shall be for the issuing of electric light bonds, the Mayor
and Council of Pocomoke City are hereby authorized and
directed to borrow, on the credit of Pocomoke City, an
amount not exceeding eight thousand dollars, and to issue
coupon bonds therefor in sums of not less than five hundred
dollars each, to be signed by the Mayor of said city, and to
be countersigned by the clerk and treasurer of the corpora-
tion, with the corporate seal attached, and to be registered by
said clerk and treasurer in a book kept for that purpose; said
bonds shall bear interest at the rate of not more than six per
cent, per annum, payable semi-annually on the first days of
January and July in each and every year, until the said bonds
shall be forever exempt from taxation except for State pur-
poses, and shall have printed on them a reference to this
Act.

Disposal of
bonds, etc.

SEC. 4. And be it enacted, That said bonds shall be redeem-
able in twenty-five years from the date of their issue, and
said bonds shall be sold at public or private sale, in the dis-
cretion of the Mayor and Council, provided that none of said
bonds shall be sold at less than par.

Manner of
redeeming
said bonds.

SEC. 5. And be it enacted, That for the purpose of redeem-
ing said bonds at their maturity, and for securing the prompt
payment of interest thereon, the said Mayor and Council are
hereby empowered and directed to apply all net income arising
from electric rents after deducting the outlay for betterments,
proper repairs and necessary expenses, firstly, to the payment
of the interest on said bonds; secondly as to the remainder, if
any there be, it shall be invested in a sinking fund for the
payment of said bonds at maturity. The coupons of interest
on said bonds shall be receivable in payment of taxes due to
said city, in event the next electric light rents shall not be
sufficient in amount to pay the interest on said bonds and the
principal thereof as it shall become due. The said Mayor
and Council shall, for the purpose, annually levy on the taxa-
ble property of said city such sums of money, not exceeding
ten cents on the hundred dollars, as shall in their discretion
be necessary for the prompt payment of the interest on said
bonds, and the principal thereof, when the same may become
due; and any surplus on hand at any time arising from such
levy shall be by the said Mayor and Council invested in good
and safe securities as a sinking fund, which shall not at any
time, nor under any circumstances whatever, be diverted to
any other purpose.