988 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [Ch. 656]

be collected in the same manner by the same officers as the State
and county taxs are collected. The said assessments shall be
due and payable on the first Monday in January each year,
and if the same shall not be paid in full by the thirty-first
day of April following, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or
tax collector to sell the land or lands so delinquent. The sale
of lands for failure to pay such assessments shall be made at
the courthouse door of the county in which the lands are sit-
uated, between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and
four o'clock in the afternoon. The existing law as to the col-
lection of State and county taxes shall have application to the
collection of drainage assessments under this act. It shall be
the duty of the sheriff or tax collector to pay over to the county
treasurer promptly the moneys so collected by him upon said
tax assessments, to the end that the said treasurer may have
funds in hand to meet the payments of interest and principal
due upon the outstanding bonds as they mature. It shall be the
duty of the county treasurer, and without any previous order
from the board of drainage commissioners, to provide and pay
the instalments of interest at the time and place as evidenced
by the coupons attached to said bonds, and also to pay the
annual instalments of the principal due on said bonds at the
time and place as evidenced by the said bonds, and the said
county treasurer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject
upon conviction to a fine and imprisonment, in the discretion
of the Court, if he shall wilfully fail to make prompt payments
of the said interest and principal upon said bonds, and shall
likewise be liable in a civil action for all damages which may
accrue either to the Board of Draipage Commissioners or the
holder of said bonds, to either or both of which a right of
action is hereby given. Should the total estimated cost of the
proposed improvements to be made under this act, be less than
an average of 25c per acre for the total area, then, and in that
case, bonds shall not be issued but the assessment shall be col-
lected in cash from the land owners.

SEC. 17. Be it enacted, That should the viewers when mak-
ing their examination and surveys, find that the drainage
scheme when carried out will benefit any public highway or
any railroad or other public property, then and in that case
the viewers shall in their return assess the State, county or
corporation an amount which they consider just for the benefits
which will be derived through the formation of the drainage
district.

SEC. 18. Be it enacted, That if any lands which will not be
affected or benefited by the drainage project shall be located