BALTIMORE CITY. 1015

then an injunction to prevent its execution may issue at the instance of any tax-
payer.

Where a special power is conferred upon officers of a municipal corporation to
make a contract, and the terms and conditions upon which the authority is to be
exercised are prescribed, there must be at least a substantial compliance with such
terms and conditions, or the contract will be invalid.

Baltimore v. Keyser, 72 Md. 109.

Same. When an Ultra Vires Contract of Municipal Corporation may become
valid. When a contract by a municipal corporation is ultra vires it becomes valid
when subsequently confirmed by the Legislature, if the contract is one which the
Legislature might have originally authorized. An injunction will be granted to
protect and secure rights acquired under a lawful municipal ordinance.
C. & P. Telephone Co. v. Baltimore, 89 Md. 688.

Same. Not an Impairment of a Contract. A municipal corporation cannot make
a contract which deprives subsequent municipal authorities of their legislative
power. The ultra vires contract of a municipal corporation is not within the pro-
vision of the Federal Constitution forbidding the impairment of contracts, because
where no valid contract exists there can be no impairment of its obligation.
Westminster Water Co. v. Westminster, 98 Md. 551.

ESTOPPEL.

Application of the Doctrine to a Municipal Corporation. The doctrine of estoppel
applied against the city in a case where the act done was strictly within the powers
of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, but the corporation failed to comply
with some formality or regulation which it should not have neglected.
Rose v. Mayor, 51 Md. 256.

FRANCHISES.

Franchises granted by the Legislature cannot be annulled by ordinance of the
Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Lake Roland Elv. R. R. Co. v. Baltimore, 77 Md. 352.

IMPROVEMENTS.

Abandonment of same by City. A municipal corporation has the right to abandon
any contemplated Improvement and repeal at its pleasure any ordinance providing
for the same, and after such abandonment property owners cannot compel the
corporation to take and pay for property condemned for such purposes; nor does
any action lie for an abandonment merely. But where the owner of property
suffered loss or damage by the acts or delay of the corporation in any such case, he
Is entitled to redress for the same.

Mayor v. Musgrave, 48 Md. 272. Lake Roland Elv. R. R. Co. v. Baltimore, 77
Md. 352.

LEGISLATURE.

Power to make Valid Defective Municipal Proceedings. The Legislature in an
act conferring powers upon a municipal corporation, may make valid previous
defective proceedings.

M. & C. C. of Baltimore v. Reitz, 50 Md. 574.

Power to make Valid Ultra Vires Contract. The principle that the Legislature
may render valid a contract made by a municipal corporation, though ultra vires
at the time It was made if the contract is one which the Legislature might originally
have authorized, applies with peculiar force to the case of a contract relating to
work in which the public is interested and which is for the public benefit after it
has been executed.

O'Brien v. Baltimore County, 51 Md. 15.

LICENSES.

Power to Impose License Fees. A municipal corporation is not authorized to
impose license fees or taxes upon particular trades or Industries, unless the power
to do so has been conferred upon the municipality by the State.
Cambridge v. Water Co.. 99 Md. 503.