82 Md. 150 | Md. | 1895
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question presented by this appeal is whether the Commissioners of Garrett County are liable to be sued upon the contract which is set out in the plaintiff’s declaration. This contract is evidenced by an order passed by the defendants, by which it appears that the plaintiff was authorized and directed to trace up and compile a book of abstracts of title for the use of the County Commissioners’ office, of all unassessed lands in said county. It was provided by this order that upon the adoption of the plaintiffs report he should be allowed a fair and reasonable compensation for his said work. The first count in the declaration was struck out on motion of the plaintiff, and the defendant demurred to the declaration as thus amended. The second count is based upon the theory that the plaintiff performed his part of the contract, and that although the defendants examined, ratified, approved and adopted his work and reports, they refused to compensate him therefor. The third count alleges that the defendants received and examined the work of the plaintiff, but fraudulently refused to adopt it.
It must be conceded, we think, that if the defendants, as
The names of the owners and the extent of their respective holdings had to be ascertained before assessment could be properly and fairly made. Indeed, the assessment could not be legally made at all until the names of the owners had been ascertained, for section 2 of Art. 8i of the Code requires all property to be valued to the owner thereof, and section 23 of the same article makes it the duty of the County Commissioners to make an accurate and fair account of all property of every sort within their county and the valuation thereof, and an alphabetical list of the owners thereof, &c. The order contemplated searches of the Land Records of Garrett County, and the preparation of abstracts of titles. Giving to this expression “abstracts of title” as used in said order its ordinary legal meaning, it would be the duty of the plaintiff under his alleged contract to ascertain the names of the owners “ and to give an epitome or short statement of the successive title deeds or other evidences of ownership.”
It follows from what we have said that the defendants had power to make the contract in question, and that the demurrer should have been overruled.
Judgment reversed.