620                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 181

ner the build and marks of such flatboat or vessel and the name of such
person and place of his abode, copies of which advertisement the said
party shall, within ten days after the date thereof, cause to be set
up in the most public places of the county, and within thirty days after
such date procure the same to be inserted in some daily newspaper
published in the City of Baltimore.

§ 10. Proof of ownership.

Upon proof of property by the oath of the owner of such flatboat or
other vessel, or otherwise, before a [justice of the peace] court, and
upon payment of reasonable costs and charges for the same, the per-
son so taking up and securing the same shall deliver the said flatboat
or other vessel to the owner thereof.

§ 11. Penalty for noncompliance.

If any person shall take and secure any flatboat or other vessel
driven from any place of mooring, landing or harbor, or from any
other vessel, and shall fail to comply with the provisions of §§ 9 and
10, he shall forfeit [to the owner thereof] the sum of ten dollars, to be
recovered as small debts before a [justice of the peace] court of com-
petent jurisdiction of the county where the party charged may reside.
If the forfeiture is imposed by a circuit court for any county or the
Criminal Court of Baltimore, it shall be recovered by the owner of the
flatboat or other vessel.

Section 35. And be it further enacted, That Sections 1, 4, 13C, 19,
20A, 35, 54, 55, 77, 78, 79, 80(a), and 80A of Article 35 of the An-
notated Code of Maryland (1971 Replacement Volume and 1971 Sup-
plement), title "Evidence," subtitles "Competency of Witness,"
"Attendance and Pay of Witnesses," "Commissions to Take Evidence
From Other States," and "Proof of Accounts," and "Public Statutes,
Office Copies and Official Certificates," be and they are hereby re-
pealed and reenacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

§ 1. Competency of parties; not incapacitated for conviction of
crime or interest in controversy; exception as to perjury;
husbands and wives generally.

No person offered as a witness shall hereafter be excluded, by rea-
son of incapacity from crime or interest, from giving evidence, either
in person or by deposition, according to the practice of the courts,
in the trial of any issue joined or hereafter to be joined, or of any
matter or question, or on any inquiry arising in any suit, action or
proceeding, civil or criminal, in any court, or before any judge,
jury, [justice of the peace] or other person having, by law or by con-
sent of parties, authority to hear, receive and examine evidence;
but every person so offered may and shall be admitted to give evi-
dence, notwithstanding that such person may or shall have an in-
terest in the matter in question, or, in the event of the trial of any
issue, matter, question or inquiry, or of the suit, action or proceeding
in which he is offered as a witness, and notwithstanding that such
person offered as a witness may have been previously convicted of any
crime or offense; but no person who has been convicted of the crime
of perjury shall be admitted to testify in any case or proceeding what-
ever; and the parties litigant and all persons in whose behalf any
suit, action or other proceeding may be brought or defended, them-