LOCAL LEGISLATION. 153

of this Act. The term " geographical sub-division " herein used shall be
taken to mean the City of Baltimore or any of the Counties of this State.

Sec. 5. Amendments to any charter adopted by the City of Baltimore or
by any County of this State under the provisions of this Article may be
proposed by a resolution of the Mayor of Baltimore and the City Council
of said the City of Baltimore, or the Council of said County, or by a
petition signed by not less than 20% of the registered voters of said City
or County, provided, however, that in any case 10,000 signatures shall be
sufficient to complete a petition, and filed with the Mayor of Baltimore or
the President of the County Council, and when so proposed shall be sub-
mitted to the voters of said City or County at the next general or congres-
sional election occurring after the passage of said resolution, or the filing
of said petition; and if at said election the majority of the votes cast for
and against said amendment shall be in favor thereof, said amendment
shall be adopted and become a part of the charter of said City.or County
from and after the thirtieth day after said election. Said amendments
shall be published by said Mayor of Baltimore or President of the County
Council once a week for five successive weeks prior to said election in at
least one newspaper published in said City or County.

Sec. 6. The power heretofore conferred upon the General Assembly to
prescribe the number, compensation, powers and duties of the County Com-
missioners in each County, and the power to make changes in Sections
1 to 6 inclusive, Article XI of this Constitution, when expressly granted
as hereinbefore provided, are hereby transferred to the voters of each
County and the voters of City of Baltimore, respectively, provided that
said powers so transferred shall be exercised only by the adoption or amend-
ment of a charter as hereinbefore provided; and provided further that this
Article shall not be construed to authorize the exercise of any powers in
excess of those conferred by the Legislature upon said Counties or City as
this Article sets forth.

Art. 11A of the Constitution does not confer upon the city of Baltimore the
power to exempt merchandise held for sale and to partially exempt buildings from
taxation. See notes to art. 15 of the Declaration of Rights. Jones v. Broening,
135 Md. 239.

See notes to sec. 1.

Sec: 7. The word " Petition " as used in this Article means one or more
sheets written or printed, or partly written and partly printed; " Signa-
ture'' means the signature of a registered voter written by himself in his
own handwriting (and not by his mark), together with the ward or district
and precinct in which he is registered. The authenticity of such signatures
and the fact that the persons so signing are registered voters shall be evi-
denced by the affidavit of one or more registered voters of the City or
County in which said voters so signing are registered, and one affidavit
may apply to or cover any number of signatures to such petition. The false
signing of any name, or the signing of any fictitious name to said petition
shall be forgery, and the making of any false affidavit in connection with
said petition shall be perjury.