840 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 441

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the Mayor
and Council of Carrollton is hereby authorized and empow-
ered to settle in its discretion, claims and suits, either at
law or in equity, or whether such claim may be based upon
a suit already instituted or note, whenever the cause of
action or claim arises out of the negligence or wrongful
act, whether of commission or omission, of any officer or
employee of the Mayor and Council, for whose negligence
or acts the Mayor and Council, if a private individual,
would be prima facie liable to respond to damages,
irrespective of whether such negligence occurred or such
acts were done in the performance of a municipal or a
governmental function of the said Mayor and Council;
provided, that in the settlement of any claim under the
provisions of this section, the Mayor and Council shall not
pay to any claimant an amount in excess of Five Hundred
($500) Dollars, and any settlement so authorized may be
paid out of any money which the Mayor and Council may
have in its general funds; provided further, however, that
nothing herein contained shall be construed as depriving
the Mayor and Council of any defense it may have to any
suit whether at law or in equity, which may be instituted
against it or to give any person, corporation, partnership
or association, any right to institute any suit against said
Mayor and Council which did not exist prior to June 1,
1953; and provided further, that no action taken by the
Mayor and Council in an effort to effectuate a settlement
of any claim or suit authorized to be settled by the provi-
sions of this section, shall be taken as an admission of
liability on the part of the Mayor and Council, or otherwise
used against the said Mayor and Council respecting its
liability or asserted to be any liability of the Mayor and
Council in any suit instituted by a claimant to enforce his
claim.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That in all cases
where any municipal work is to be done within the cor-
porate limits of Carrollton, the estimated cost of which
shall exceed the sum of One Thousand ($1, 000) Dollars,
the Mayor and Council shall publicly invite proposals or
bids for said work, to be received at a time and place to
be made public at least five days before the date set, and
shall in all cases award the contract for such work to the
lowest bidder therefor, reserving at all times the right to
reject any and all bids received, and wherever a bid is
accepted, the Mayor and Council may require the success-
ful bidder to furnish a bond at the expense of the success-
ful bidder in a good and sufficient amount conditioned as
may be required by the said Mayor and Council to insure