12 COMPTROLLER. [ART. 19.

ARTICLE XIX.

COMPTROLLER.

37, Authorized to settle claims of the State against certain officials which
accrued prior to and including 1904. Approval of Governor and
Treasurer of compromises necessary. Cost and fees.

1906, ch. 351.

87. The comptroller is authorized and empowered to adjust
and settle the claims of the State against all collectors, sheriffs,
clerks of courts, registers of wills and other collectors or
receivers of public moneys and their sureties, and against cor-
porations and individuals who may be indebted to the State in
all cases where said claims accrued prior to and including the
year 1904, and whether said claims be in the form of judgment
or otherwise; and for the purpose of closing all such cases the
comptroller is fully authorized to compromise the same by
abating the interest that has accrued, or any portion thereof,
or any part of the principal debt, in his discretion, so as to
best subserve the interest of the State, and shall grant dis-
charge to said parties and their sureties upon the payment into
the treasury of the amount required by him to be paid in
settlement as aforesaid; the comptroller shall be satisfied,
after thorough examinations into the claims, that the same
could not be collected by the State by legal process; and
further, the governor and treasurer for the time being shall
each approve, in writing, any such abatement before the same
shall be effected; and no discharge or acquittance under this
section shall be effective unless the party or parties to be
benefited shall first pay the attorneys who shall have the case
in hand the legal fees and all fees of clerks and sheriffs.

Approved April 3, 1906.