ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR.                    81

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
Maryland, That Section 1 of Chapter 191 of the Acts of the
General Assembly of Maryland, Session of 1927, entitled "An
Act to provide for the payment by the County Commissioners
of Montgomery County, Maryland, so long as said fire com-
panies remain incorporated bodies and active fire-fighting or-
ganizations, the sum of five hundred dollars ($500. 00) an-
nually for each piece of fire-fighting apparatus having a pump
or chemical tank, said money to be used for maintenance and
equipment of the several said departments, and to levy said
necessary amount on the assessable property of said county,
and to provide for the date on which said payment shall be
made, " be and the same is hereby repealed and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

1. The County Commissioners of Montgomery County are
hereby authorized, empowered and directed to pay the sum of
five hundred dollars ($500. 00) annually to the several volun-
tary fire companies operating in Montgomery County for each
piece of fire-fighting apparatus it maintains in efficient oper-
ating condition, said sum of money to be used by the respective
fire companies for the purchase, repair and maintenance of
fire-fighting equipment. Provided that the said County Com-
missioners shall make no payment to any fire companies organ-
ized after the effective date of this Act unless such fire com-
pany shall apply to said County Commissioners and receive
the approval of said County Commissioners for its organiza-
tion. And provided further that no such payment shall be
made unless the fire-fighting apparatus upon which said pay-
ment is based shall be equipped with a pump or with chemical
tanks, and provided further that no fire-fighting company in
Montgomery County shall be entitled to any such payment or
to any benefits under this Act unless it has in its possession
more than one thousand (1, 000) feet of standard hose in
effective condition.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That nothing herein
contained shall affect the rights of any voluntary fire company
in Montgomery County organized prior to the passage hereof.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take
effect June 1, 1931,

Approved April 6, 1931.