JAS. BLACK GROOME, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR. 663

complated, which said time shall not be more than
twelve months from the date of awarding the con-
tract as herein provided; and said advertisement
shall name the day and hour at which proposals for
said work will be opened ; at which time the said
commissioners or a majority of them shall open the
proposals for the completion of the work mentioned
in this section, in the presence of any persons who
may desire to attend ; and they shall award the con-	Shall award the contract.
tract therefor to the lowest competent and responsi-
ble bidder, who shall within ten days' from that time
give bond to the county commissioners of Baltimore
county in double the amount of the contract price of
said work, with at least two good sureties conditioned
for the faithful performance and completion of the
work within the time designated ; and in case their
is no bid for said work, or in case the party to whom
the contract was awarded, shall fail, neglect, or re-
fuse to give bond within ten days', the county commis- sioners may in their discretion advertise again for pro-
posals for said work, in the manner above-mentioned ;	Retain
and the county commissioners shall retain at least
twenty-five per cent., or more if they deem it advisa-
ble, of the amount claimed, from time to time, for
work done by the contractor as a further security
for the faithful performance and completion of said
work.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said con-	Return plate
traptor shall return plats of the survey or surveys,
location or locations of the above-mentioned work,
with proper explanation, to said commissioners of
Baltimore county, within thirty days after the com-
pletion of the same, and of such part thereof as he
may be required and directed to do, from time to
time, by said commissioners, and whenever and as
often as they shall think proper and desirable, to be
by them filed and recorded in a book kept for that
purpose, and preserved as other records of their
office; provided, however, before the report and re-	Proviso.
turn of said contractor, or any part thereof, shall be
ratified and confirmed by said commissioners, and
before any street, avenue or alley, located and re-
turned by him, or any grade by him established,
shall be ratified, confirmed and established by said
commissioners, and before any such street, avenue
or alley shall be recorded as a street, avenue or al-