OLD AGE PENSIONS. 895

Any applicant or pensioner deeming himself or herself to be aggrieved
by any decision of the Local Board or the Department of Welfare of Balti-
more City in the exercise of its duties under this Section or any other
Section of this Article, or by any decision of the Administrator of Pen-
sions and Relief under this Article, may within thirty days after the
announcement of such decision appeal therefrom to the Board of Old Age
Pensions and Relief. Such Board shall cause an investigation to be made
and shall set a date for the hearing of said appeal, reasonable notice of
which shall be given to the said applicant or pensioner and to the Local
Board of the County in which the applicant or pensioner resides, or the
Department of Welfare of Baltimore City, if he resides therein. The said
Board shall take testimony and proceed in an orderly manner but may

consider the reports of local investigators and of its investigators and shall
not be limited by any of the common law rules of evidence. It shall have
the same powers to secure the attendance of witnesses and to compel the
production of documents as the State Industrial Accident Commission.
The County Commissioners of the County in which the applicant or pen-
sioner resides, if said Commissioners shall not at that time be and con-
stitute the Local Board, or the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, if
the applicant or pensioner resides in Baltimore City, shall have the right
to appear and become a party to said case. The decision of the Board of
Old Age Pensions and Relief shall be final and not subject to further
appeal, provided that the said Board may at any time thereafter review
. and reopen said case.

It shall be unlawful for any person to make any charge or receive any
fee for representation of an applicant or pensioner in any proceeding
hereunder, or with respect to any application, whether such fee or charge
be paid by the applicant or pensioner or by any other person or persons.

If it appears than an applicant has been during the preceding ten years
a resident of a county or counties other than that in which he resides at
the time of application, the Local Board to which his application is made,
shall file a statement to that effect with the Board of Old Age Pensions
and Relief, which shall investigate the residence of the applicant and
shall, after notice to the Local Boards of all interested counties, conduct a
hearing upon the apportionment of the cost of said pension, and shall
divide one-third of the total annual pension between said counties in pro-
portion to the time of residence of the applicant in each county during the
ten years preceding the application. The decision of the said Board shall
be final, and it shall transmit its conclusions to the respective Local Boards.
The pension, if due, shall be granted and administered exclusively by the
Local Board of the county in which the applicant resides at the time of
application, and said county shall have a claim against any other county
or counties for quarterly reimbursement in accordance with the findings of
the Board of Old Age Pensions and Relief, which claim shall be enforcible
by legal proceedings.

If it appears that any applicant has moved into the county in which he
applies within one year prior to application for the purpose of applying