WM. PRESTON LANE, JR., GOVERNOR. 185

When the Mayor shall have announced that the signa-
tures on the amendment petition are authentic, the Council
shall then provide within sixty days for the submission of
the said amendment, without change and as stated in the
original petition, at a special election before the next suc-
ceeding general election or at the next succeeding general
election. The Council shall not have power, on its own
motion, to propose an amendment on the subject matter
covered by an amendment petition after such petition has
been filed with the Mayor, until such time as the Mayor
shall have refused to authenticate the signatures on the
petition, or the voters shall have accepted or rejected the
petition amendment.

108. The Council shall authorize, at City expense, an
advertisement of any charter amendment or new charter,
to be published in at least one Hagerstown newspaper of
general distribution at least once a week for four weeks
immediately preceding an election at which such amend-
ment or new charter is to be voted upon; this advertise-
ment shall contain the date of the election, and a true copy
of the proposed amendment or new charter, or a true and
unbiased description of the subject matter concerned; such
advertisement shall be made for all amendments, whether
proposed by the Council, by a petition of voters, or by a
charter commission.

109. A Charter amendment, however proposed, shall
become a part of this Charter when approved by a majority
of the voters voting thereon; such amendment, when ap-
proved, shall have the force of law, subject to the Consti-
tution and General Laws of the State of Maryland.

110. The Council may by ordinance authorize and di-
rect the Mayor to appoint a Charter Commission to revise
or amend this Charter or to propose a new Charter. The
Mayor may also be authorized and directed to appoint a
Charter Commission by a petition signed by a number of
qualified voters of Hagerstown equal to ten per cent of
those voting for candidates for the office of Mayor at the
last preceding regular City election; provided; however,
that the Mayor shall have thirty days in which to authen-
ticate the signatures on the petition, which shall contain
the street address of each signer, and an additional thirty
days in which to appoint the Charter Commission.

Any Charter amendment, Charter revision, or new Char-
ter proposed by a duly constituted Charter Commission,
shall be submitted by the Council, without change or modi-