142 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 71

Council, and the vacancy thus occasioned shall be filled as
hereinbefore provided; before any action shall be taken
against the Mayor or any member of the Town Council
upon charges of dereliction of duty, the Town Council shall
first cause to be served upon the said Mayor or Council-
man a written statement of the charges against him, and
a day shall be set by said Mayor and Councilmen at which
such charges shall be heard, the same to be prosecuted by
the Town Solicitor, with the right to the accused to be
represented by Counsel, and if the charges are sustained
and an order of dismissal passed by a three-fifths vote as
aforesaid, the said Mayor or Councilman so dismissed may,
within ten days thereafter, take an appeal to the Circuit
Court for Allegany County, which is hereby given juris-
diction of the same, and the said Court shall thereupon,
hear the said charges de novo, and pass such order in the
premises as the said Court may deem proper, and the action
of the said Court shall be final. The Commissioner named
as the head of each department shall audit all claims or
accounts against it, unless he be absent or fail or refuse
to do so, in which event the Mayor shall appoint another
Councilman to act in his stead during his absence, or to
audit such claims and accounts as the said Commissioner
shall fail or refuse to act upon, but before payment, all ac-
counts shall be acted upon and approved by a majority of
those present at a meeting of said Mayor and Councilmen.
Said council shall require a statement to be published in
January, April, July and October of each year in two news-
papers of general circulation in Allegany County, Mary-
land, showing a full, clear and complete statement of all
taxes and other revenue collected and expended during the
preceding quarter, indicating the respective sources from
which moneys are derived, and also indicating the disposi-
tion thereof, and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner
of every department to make a report in writing at the
first meeting of the Mayor and Councilmen in each and
every month of the conditions in his department during
the preceding month.

401. That they may from time to time [cause an assess-
ment to be made of all the property, real and personal, in
the town by three persons appointed by them and may]
levy a tax [thereon] on all property in the town, for gen-
eral purposes not exceeding in any one year [Sixty Cents]
One Dollar on each One Hundred Dollars ($100. 00) of as-
sessable property.