994 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 384

part or parts of the Almshouse and Asylum farm and proper-
ties, and to give a good and sufficient deed for said farm or
properties or any part or parts thereof so sold, to the purchaser
or purchasers thereof, the authority and power conferred by
this section to be exercised in the discretion of the said County
Commissioners, or a majority of them, if the said County Com-
missioners sell all or any part or parts of said farm or proper-
ties the proceeds from said sale or sales shall be paid over to
the County Treasurer of said county as a part of the general
funds of the county.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take
effect June 1, 1924.

Approved April 9, 1924.

CHAPTER 384.

AN ACT to add a new section to Article 19 of the Code of Public
Local Laws of Maryland, title "St. Mary's County, " sub-
title '' Circuit Court, '' said new section to be known as Sec-
tion 23-A and to follow immediately after Section 23 of said
Article, providing for speedy judgments in certain cases.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That a new section be and it is hereby added to Article 19
of the Code of Public Local Laws of Maryland, title "St. Mary's
County, " sub-title "Circuit Court, " said new section to be
known as Section 23-A. to follow immediately after Section 23
of said Article and to read as follows:

23-A. In any action hereafter brought in the Circuit Court
of St. Mary's County arising ex contractu, if the plaintiff or his
agent shall file at the time of bringing his action an affidavit
setting out distinctly his cause of action and the sum he claims
to be due, exclusive of all set-offs and just grounds of defense,
and shall serve the defendant with copies of his declaration and
of said affidavit, he shall be entitled to a judgment for the
amount so claimed, with interest and cost, forty days after such,
service unless the defendant shall file a plea which if in bar is
accompanied by an affidavit of defense denying the right of the
plaintiff as to the whole or some specified part of his claim spe-
cially stating also, in precise and distinct terms, the ground of
his defense, which must be such, as would, if true, be sufficient
to defeat the plaintiff's claim in whole or in part; and where the
defendant shall have acknowledged in his affidavit of defense