T. WATKINS LIGON, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR.

17

said election or appointment to have been null and void
from the beginning and the office to be vacant.

SEC. 5. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty
of the State's Attorneys, for the several counties of
this State and for the city of Baltimore whenever it
shall come to their knowledge by information given to
them that any one has been commissioned in their re-
spective counties or city, as the case may be, who was
at the time of his election or appointment to office in de-
fault to the Treasury of the State, for not accounting for
and paying over to the Treasury any moneys which he
ought to have accounted for and paid into the Treasury,
to cause inquiry to be made of the Comptroller of the
State, for a statement of the accounts of the party so
commissioned, and if it shall appear from the certificate
of the Comptroller, that said person is in default to cause
the proceeding to be had which is authorised by the
fourth section of this act, and in case of his failure so to
do, such failure shall be deemed a wilful neglect of duty
and sufficient to justify his removal from office.

Duty of
State's At-
torney.

SEC. 6. And be it enacted, That to remove all doubts
as to the legal office generally of the writ of quo war-
ranto in the cases contemplated in this act, such writ
shall be deemed and taken as all sufficient for the insti-
tution, prosecution and decision of the inquiry herein
authorised and commanded.

To remove
all doubts.

SEC. 7. And be it enacted, That nothing contained
in this act, shall be taken to invalidate any act done by
any officer within the scope of his authority so long as
his commission shall be unannulled as hereinbefore pro-
vided, but on the contrary shall have the same force and
effect as if he had not been improvidently commis-
sioned.

Not to in-
validate.

SEC. 8. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty
of the Comptroller of the Treasury to furnish to each
officer of this State, whose accounts are in arrears at
least sixty clays prior to a general election, a full state-
ment of his accounts, and in default of his accounting
for such deficiencies within thirty days, then it shall be
the duty of the Comptroller to have published weekly
for one month in one or more newspapers in the several
counties of this State, and the city of Baltimore, the
names and titles of such officers, with the amount of
such deficiencies.

Duty of
the Comp-
troller.

SEC. 9. And be it enacted, That the committees on
elections of the two branches of the Legislature shall at
every session thereof ascertain from an examination of
the books of the Treasurer, whether any member elect

Duty of

the com-
mittees on
elections.