Eldridge, J.,
delivered the opinion of the Court. Murphy, C. J., and Smith and Digges, JJ., dissent. Murphy, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion at page 352 infra, in which Smith and Digges, JJ., concur in part. Smith, J., filed a dissenting opinion at page 364 infra, in which Digges, J., concurs. Digges, J., filed a dissenting opinion at page 368 infra.
The issues in this case arise because of a possible conflict between a licensing ordinance of a chartered county and a prohibition on the licensed activity by two incorporated municipalities within the county.1 The threshold question is whether the county and the municipal ordinances are in direct conflict. If they are, we must decide how the conflict is to be resolved in light of the provisions of the Maryland Constitution and Maryland Code relating to chartered counties and to incorporated municipalities.
The plaintiffs Bessie Frank and Delors Ristick applied for and were granted licenses from Prince George’s County to practice fortunetelling at specified locations within the county, pursuant to Subtitle 5, Division 5, of the Prince [334]*334George’s County Code. The license issued to Ristick specifies a location within the corporate limits of the City of Mount Rainier; the location contained in the license issued to Bessie Frank is within the Town of Forest Heights.2 Both Forest Heights and Mount Rainier had enacted ordinances prohibiting fortunetelling within their respective municipal limits prior to plaintiffs’ commencing business at the specified locations.3 The bill of complaint filed by Bessie Frank, Tillie Frank and Delors Ristick in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, requested a judgment declaring that the Forest Heights and Mount Rainier ordinances prohibiting fortunetelling are in direct conflict with Prince George’s County law and are, therefore, void. Subsequently, Prince George’s County was made a party to the action pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act, Maryland Code [335]*335(1974,1980 Repl. Vol.), § 3-405(b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.
The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County determined that Forest Heights and Mount Rainier had the power and authority under their respective charters and the federal and state constitutions to enact legislation prohibiting foretunetelling within municipal boundaries. The court, however, held that the municipal ordinances prohibiting foretunetelling were in direct conflict with the Prince George’s County law under which the plaintiffs were licensed to tell fortunes at specific locations within the limits of the two municipalities. The court thus declared §§ 4.1 and 4.2 of the Forest Heights Ordinance Code, and § 10-120 of the Code of Ordinances of Mount Rainier, to be void. The two municipalities appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, and this Court granted their petition for certiorari prior to any action by the intermediate appellate court.
In challenging the declaratory judgment, Forest Heights and Mount Rainier make three arguments. First, they contend that there is no direct conflict between the licensing provisions of Subtitle 5, Division 5, of the Prince George’s County Code and the two municipal ordinances. This position is based upon the premise that the county scheme is entirely restrictive and that the municipal legislation merely represents a permissible extension of this purpose. The second argument of the municipalities is that, even if there would otherwise be a conflict between the county law and the municipal ordinances, the county law has no application within the two municipalities. They contend that, under Art. XI-A, § 3, of the Maryland Constitution, legislation of a chartered county has no effect whatsoever within municipal limits if the county legislation concerns a matter on which the municipality has authority to legislate. Third, the municipalities argue that, if there is a direct conflict, and if both the county and the municipalities have power to enact legislation that is effective within the municipal limits, then the municipal ordinances should prevail.
The plaintiffs, on the other hand, insist that there is a direct conflict between the county law, pursuant to which [336]*336they obtained their licenses to engage in fortunetelling in Forest Heights and Mount Rainer, respectively, and the municipal ordinances which completely prohibit them from fortunetelling at the locations specified in the county licenses. They further argue that the county legislation applies throughout the entire county and that the authority of a chartered county supersedes that of a municipality, thereby rendering ineffective the prohibitory ordinances of Forest Heights and Mount Rainier.4
In keeping with this Court’s established policy of not deciding constitutional questions unless necessary, Simms v. State, 288 Md. 712, 725, 421 A.2d 957 (1980), and cases there cited, we shall first consider whether the county law and the municipal ordinances are in conflict, irrespective of the reach of county law or which law should be given effect in the event of conflict.
I
In arguing that the county licensing statute does not conflict with the municipal ordinances, the municipalities claim that their ordinances merely represent a higher degree of regulation, i.e., prohibition, than the already restrictive county law. In support of their interpretation of the county law as restrictive, rather than permissive, the municipalities point to the many requirements in the county law (e.g., fingerprints, photographs, provision of criminal records) and the quantitative limits contained therein (e.g., no more than one license per eighty thousand residents, with the total number of licenses issued not to exceed eight, and not more than two licenses per family). The municipalities conclude that their ordinances, completely prohibiting fortunetelling within municipal boundaries, are "clearly consistent” with the "limiting and restricting nature” of the county’s licensing [337]*337statute, and simply "carry the idea to the next logical limitation.”
Wherever reasonably possible, courts will construe enactments so that there is no conflict. This principle avoids the need to invalidate one law or the other. See Annapolis v. Annap. Waterfront Co., 284 Md. 383, 391, 396 A.2d 1080 (1979); Wilson v. Bd. of Sup. of Elections, 273 Md. 296, 301, 328 A.2d 305 (1974); Acting Dir., Dept of F. & P. v. Walker, 271 Md. 711, 718-719, 319 A.2d 806 (1974). We have also recognized that a local governmental unit may be justified in going., further than the policy in effect throughout the broader governmental unit. In City of Baltimore v. Sitnick & Firey, 254 Md. 303, 255 A.2d 376 (1969), the Court considered whether there was a conflict between a Baltimore City ordinance establishing a minimum wage of $1.25, applicable to taverns, and a State law setting the minimum rate at $1.00, but specifically exempting taverns. This Court held that the Baltimore City law was harmonious with the State law, and that the provisions of the local law lent themselves to the "characterization of supplementation of the State law, rather than irreconcilable differences.... In none of the provisions of the listed conflicting regulations of the City law does it authorize a minimum wage which is lower than that provided by the State law, nor does it exempt any employees included under the State law; we think that is the crucial norm which must be used to measure the City law regarding any conflict with the statute.” Id. at 324-325.
Turning to the present case, the municipalities’ argument that the municipal ordinances merely supplement the restrictions provided in the County Code, does not withstand scrutiny. Neither the text of the county law, nor the practices employed by the county in issuing licenses, support an interpretation that the law is merely restrictive and not an affirmative authorization. Section 5-155(e) of the Prince George’s County Code defines the "license” required by the county as "[a] certificate issued by the Director or his designee to a person . . . enabling such person to engage in the business of fortunetelling and similar practices ....” (Emphasis supplied.) Section 5-157 (b) (2) requires that an [338]*338application for a fortunetelling license contain a "legal description or address of the specific location used or proposed to be used in the operation or business of fortunetelling and similar practices . . . Thus, the County Code indicates that a license would, if issued, "enable” a licensee to practice fortunetelling at the "specific location” listed in the application. This is precisely the practice employed by Prince George’s County. Pursuant to applications filed with the county, Bessie Frank and Delors Ristick were issued licenses, each of which "authorized [her] to practice fortunetelling” at a particular street address. The address specified in Bessie Frank’s license is within the municipal limits of Forest Heights; the license issued to Ristick specifies a location within Mount Rainier. In light of the language of the county licensing statute, which "enables” one to practice fortunetelling, and the licenses actually issued, which "authorize” one to tell fortunes at a particular location, we cannot view the county law as merely providing restrictions on the practice of fortunetelling or as being neutral with respect to the practice. Instead, the language of the County Code indicates that a county license provides affirmative authorization to tell fortunes. It is in direct conflict with the prohibition on fortunetelling contained in the municipal ordinances at issue here.
This view is consistent with the holding in City of Baltimore v. Sitnick and Firey, supra, 254 Md. 303. As previously discussed, this Court in Sitnick acknowledged the authority of localities to enact laws in certain areas that supplemented the higher law. Nevertheless, the Sitnick court reiterated the rule that "a political subdivision may not prohibit what the State by general public law has permitted ____” Id. at 317. See also Annapolis v. Annap. Waterfront Co., supra, 284 Md. at 291, in which we recently pointed out that a conflict exists where a municipal law " 'prohibits something permitted by the legislature.’ ” In the instant case, the language of the County Code, and the licenses issued pursuant to its provisions, expressly permit each licensee to, engage in the practice of fortunetelling at a specified location. There is simply no way that the municipal [339]*339ordinances prohibiting the practice of fortunetelling can be considered "supplemental” to the county’s authorization to engage in the fortunetelling business.
Accordingly, we must consider the State constitutional questions raised by the municipalities.
II
Forest Heights and Mount Rainier contend that, regardless of any apparent inconsistency between the county law and the municipal ordinances, such inconsistency is meaningless because an enactment by a home rule county has no effect within an incorporated municipality in the county, if the subject of the county law is a matter which the municipality is authorized to regulate. The legal basis for this argument is Art. XI-A, § 3, of the Maryland Constitution. Article XI-A, which provides the authority and mechanism for the creation and organization of home rule counties such as Prince George’s, limits the powers given to such counties as follows (§ 3, emphasis added):
"[P]rovided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or empower the County Council of any County in this State to enact laws or regulations for any incorporated town, village, or municipality in said County, on any matter covered by the powers granted to said town, village or municipality . .. .”
No party is challenging the circuit court’s holding that, in the absence of county action, the municipalities had the authority under their charters to prohibit fortunetelling. Thus Forest Heights and Mount Rainier argue that the above-quoted constitutional language renders Prince George’s County’s licensing ordinance ineffective within all of the county’s incorporated towns, villages and municipalities having authority, under their charters, to prohibit fortunetelling. This Court has not heretofore [340]*340addressed the issue of a county council’s power to enact laws effective within the incorporated municipalities of that county.5
The argument of the municipalities that the county law has no effect within municipal boundaries is based entirely upon the language of Art. XI-A, § 3, that the county council [341]*341shall not legislate "for any incorporated town, village or municipality.” This language, however, does not require the construction urged by the municipalities. The quoted language of § 3 can be construed a second way, namely that a county cannot enact laws effective only for or within a particular municipality and not effective elsewhere in the county. The use of the phrase "for any ... municipality,” suggests that this second construction is the correct one. Moreover, in light of the purpose of Art. XI-A and the potential effects of a contrary result, we believe that the second construction represents the better reasoned approach.
Article XI-A of the Maryland Constitution was proposed by Ch. 416 of the Laws of Maryland of 1914 and ratified by the voters of this State in November 1915. As this Court has stated many times, the purpose behind this article was the transfer of local lawmaking powers from the State legislature to the county governments. Ritchmount Partnership v. Board, 283 Md. 48, 388 A.2d 523 (1978); County Council v. Investors Funding, 270 Md. 403, 413, 312 A.2d 225 (1973); Mont. Citizens League v. Greenhalgh, 253 Md. 151, 160, 252 A.2d 242 (1969); Scull v. Montgomery Citizens, 249 Md. 271, 274, 239 A.2d 92 (1968); State v. Stewart, 152 Md. 419, 422, 137 A. 39 (1927). Article XI-A, § 3, gives the county council "full” legislative power to enact local laws on all matters covered by the grant of express powers under Art. XI-A, § 2. Cheeks v. Cedlair Corp., 287 Md. 595, 608-609, 415 A.2d 255 (1980); Mont. Citizens League v. Greenhalgh, supra, 253 Md. at 160. Subsequent to a county’s organization under Art. XI-A, the General Assembly no longer has the constitutional authority to enact public local laws for the county on any subject covered by the express powers granted to home rule counties. Md. Const. Art. XI-A, § 4. Rather, as this Court stated in Mont. Citizens League v. Greenhalgh, supra, 253 Md. at 160:
"The purpose and intent of the legislature in supplying the implementation called for by Art. XI-A by the passage of the express powers act was [342]*342to take from the legislature and give to the County the exclusive power to enact local laws, and the reasons for this delegation of power, commonly called home rule, were first to reduce as far as possible the log jam of unacted on measures in the late days of the legislative session in Annapolis which had caused passage of laws that had not received careful scrutiny or due consideration and, second, 'to permit local legislation to be enacted solely by those directly affected by it without interference from representatives of other sections of the State.’ ” (emphasis added.)
Thus, subsequent to a county’s organization as an Art. XI-A home rule county, only the county council is authorized to enact public local laws effective throughout that county.
The powers of incorporated municipalities are provided for in Art. XI-E of the Maryland Constitution and Art. 23A of the Maryland Code. Under §§ 1 and 6 of Art. XI-E, and § 2 of Art. 23A, a municipality’s lawmaking powers are subject to all applicable laws enacted by the General Assembly, including a public local law applicable throughout one county. Since the purpose of Art. XI-A was to transfer the General Assembly’s power to enact county public local laws to the councils of Art. XI-A home rule counties, it logically follows that those counties should generally have the same relationship vis-a-vis municipalities within their borders as the General Assembly would have in enacting public local laws in the county in the absence of county home rule government. If the interpretation of Art. XI-A, § 3, urged by the municipalities were adopted by the Court, this would result in the incongruous situation whereby a municipality located in an Art. XI-A home rule county would have greater powers than a municipality in a county not organized under Art. XI-A. Neither the wording nor the history of Art. XI-A indicate that such a result was intended.
In addition, the legislative history associated with the adoption of Art. XI-E suggests an understanding that home rule county licensing ordinances, such as the one here [343]*343involved, were and would continue to be effective in municipalities unless the Legislature enacted further restrictions upon county law-making power. Art. XI-E of the Maryland Constitution was proposed by the Commission on Administrative Organization of the State, known as the "Sobeloff Commission” after its first chairman. The proposed Art. XI-E was enacted by the Legislature and ratified by the voters in 1954. In addition to proposing what became Art. XI-E of the Constitution, the Sobeloff Commission made several other proposals with respect to local government in Maryland. Included were recommendations for changes in Art. XI-A that would have, in effect, made all counties "home rule” counties. See the Second Interim Report of the Sobeloff Commission (June 1952), pp. 5-7, 42-49.6 In addition, the Sobeloff Commission specifically recommended legislation whereby "[c]ounty authorization to license should apply only to areas outside incorporated municipalities, which would have the power to set their own fees.” Third Interim Report of the Sobeloff Commission (August 1952), p. 23 (emphasis added). This recommendation was based on the premise that, absent further legislative restrictions, home rule county licensing ordinances could be applicable in municipalities. The General Assembly, although adopting most other recommendations of the Sobeloff Commission concerning the authority of municipalities, did not adopt this proposed restriction upon county legislative authority in municipalities.7
There is another indication of the Sobeloff Commission’s view, apparently accepted by the Legislature, that county legislation would be applicable in municipalities under the new Art. XI-E. The Commission proposed that, before any area in a county could incorporate as a municipality, it would need the approval of the county government. The Legislature adopted this recommendation, which appears in [344]*344Code (1957,1981 Repl. Vol.), Art. 23A, § 21, providing: "No municipal corporation shall be created under the provisions of this subtitle without the specific approval of the board of county commissioners or of the county council of the county in which the proposed municipal corporation is located.” (emphasis supplied.) In explaining the reasons for this provision, the Sobeloff Commission stated (Second Interim Report, supra, p. 36, emphasis supplied):
"The authority to veto incorporations would be given to the county since it has a very definite stake in the incorporation of a new town. The creation of a new taxing unit may affect its tax collections; a town may duplicate county services and then attempt to get a lower county tax rate in the town in return for withdrawal of the county service; jurisdictional disputes may arise ”
The idea that county services can be furnished within a municipality and that jurisdictional disputes may arise, indicates an understanding that county laws could be applicable in municipalities on matters which would also fall within the authority of the municipalities.
Construing the prohibition in Art. XI-A, § 3, to mean that a home rule county may not enact legislation just for one particular municipality, but that its countywide legislation may operate equally in all municipalities throughout the county, is consistent with Art. XI-A’s purpose of transferring local lawmaking power from the State Legislature to the appropriate county council. This result is analogous to the limitation of Art. XI-E, § 1, which prohibits the General Assembly from enacting legislation effective in a particular municipality unless it applies to all municipalities within a class.8 These restrictions reflect a desire to avoid legislation aimed at only certain specific municipalities.
[345]*345The construction of Art. XI-A, § 3, urged by the municipalities in the instant case, could have drastic consequences. Many of the municipalities in this State are small governmental units that are able to provide very few services to their residents. If county legislation may not constitutionally apply within these towns and villages, they would be forced to provide many governmental services now provided by the county or do without the services. Some of the services involved are necessary, but the small municipalities simply are not in a position to provide them.* ***9 Forest Heights and Mount Rainier in argument before us acknowledged this problem, but urged that such towns could by agreement permit a county to exercise authority within the municipal boundaries. This answer is constitutionally unsound. If, as Forest Heights and Mount Rainier contend, the restriction on county power contained in Art. XI-A, § 3, means that county legislation may not apply within municipalities, nothing that a municipality might say or do could confer upon a county authority which the State Constitution specifically denies.
[346]*346We hold, therefore, that the restriction in Art. XI-A, § 3, that a county may not enact laws "for” a municipality on any matter within the municipality’s powers, does not mean that a county’s general legislation is not effective in municipalities. Rather, this restriction reflects an intent that an Art. XI-A home rule county may not enact a law solely for, and limited to, a particular municipality or particular municipalities if the municipality had power to legislate regarding the matter.
Ill
As the Prince George’s County licensing ordinance is applicable in Forest Heights and Mount Rainier, and as it conflicts with the ordinances enacted by the two municipalities, the final issue in the case is whether the county or the municipal ordinances prevail.
There is no provision in either Art. XI-A or Art. XI-E of the Constitution which directly relates to the matter of a conflict between a county-wide ordinance enacted by a county council and an ordinance of a municipality located within the county. This absence is perhaps understandable, as Art. XI-A, § 2, and Art. XI-E, §§ 1 and 6, give the General Assembly broad authority to determine the powers of chartered counties and municipalities, as long as enactments relating to chartered counties are public general laws and as long as enactments relating specifically to municipalities apply alike to all municipalities of the same class.10 Consequently, by delineating the powers of chartered counties and municipalities, the General Assembly has full authority by statute to resolve conflicts, either in specific areas or generally.
[347]*347In certain areas, the General Assembly has minimized the possibility of conflict, specifically delineating the authority of counties and municipalities with respect to each other.11 Moreover, in other areas, matters that may be popularly viewed as "local” are actually controlled by public general laws enacted by the General Assembly, and thus the issue of a conflict between county and municipal ordinances is unlikely to arise. Many "local” licenses fall within this category.12
Although the General Assembly by legislation in certain areas has reduced the likelihood of conflict between ordinances of a chartered county and municipality, nevertheless, with respect to matters falling outside of these areas, the Legislature has not expressly set forth a general rule as to which shall prevail in the event of conflict.13
[348]*348The only statutory provision generally relating to conflicts between "county” and municipal legislation is Code (1957, 1981 Repl. Vol.), Art. 23A, § 2, which provides in pertinent part (emphasis supplied):
"The legislative body of every incorporated municipality in this State, except Baltimore City, by whatever name known, shall have general power to pass such ordinances not contrary to the public general or public local laws and the Constitution of Maryland as they may deem necessary ....” 14
The plaintiffs and Prince George’s County argue that the phrase "public local laws” in the above-quoted statutory provision includes enactments by the legislative body of a home rule county and that, therefore, the General Assembly has provided that an ordinance of a chartered county prevails over a conflicting ordinance of a municipality located within the county. Forest Heights and Mount Rainier, on the other hand, contend that the phrase "public local laws” in the statute refers only to those public local laws enacted by the General Assembly itself.
In light of the purpose of Art. XI-A of the Constitution, which was to transfer the General Assembly’s power to enact public local laws for a chartered county to the county council, and in light of the mandate in Art. XI-A, § 4, that "no public local law shall be enacted by the General Assembly for said ... County,” this Court has consistently viewed the enactments of an Art. XI-A county as the "public local laws” [349]*349or "local laws” of that county.15 See, e.g., Ritchmount Partnership v. Board, supra, 283 Md. at 54-58; Steimel v. Board, 278 Md. 1, 6-8, 357 A.2d 386 (1976); Anne Arundel Co. v. McDonough, 277 Md. 271, 287, 354 A.2d 788 (1976); State’s Atty v. City of Balto., 274 Md. 597, 603-605, 337 A.2d 92 (1975); County Council v. Investors Funding, supra, 270 Md. at 413; Mont. Citizens League v. Greenhalgh, supra, 253 Md. at 160; Scull v. Montgomery Citizens, supra, 249 Md. at 277; Co. Com’rs v. Supervisors Of Elec., 192 Md. 196, 204-206, 63 A.2d 735 (1949). This was true long before 1947 when Art. 23A, § 2, of the Code was first enacted by the General Assembly. See State v. Stewart, 152 Md. 419, 422-424, 137 A. 39 (1927).
Moreover, with regard to other state statutes using without qualification the phrase "public local law,” this Court has construed the phrase to include an ordinance enacted by the legislative body of an Art. XI-A subdivision as well as an enactment by the General Assembly. Herman v. M. & C. C. Of Baltimore, 189 Md. 191, 195-196, 55 A.2d 491 (1947) (holding that an ordinance enacted by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, which is an Art. XI-A home rule jurisdiction and not a municipality under Art. XI-E, was a "public local law” within the meaning of Art. 1, § 13, of the Maryland Code). This construction is consistent with the usage of the phrase by the framers of the Maryland Constitution. In addition to the language of Art. XI-A, the [350]*350phrase "public local law” used elsewhere in the Constitution clearly includes a local ordinance enacted by a home rule jurisdiction. See Art. XI-F, §§ 3, 6 and 7 (relating to code counties, and providing, inter alia, that "a code county may enact, amend or repeal a public local law of that county” (§§ 3 and 6)). On the other hand, when the framers of constitutional provisions intended that the term "public local law” be limited to enactments of the General Assembly, they have clearly so qualified the language. See, e.g., Art. XI-F, § 8 (stating in part that "Public local laws enacted by the General Assembly under this section prevail Over any public local laws enacted by the code county ...”); Art. XVI, § 3 (a) (referring to "any Public Local Law for any one County or the City of Baltimore” which was "passed by the General Assembly”). And when the intent of the Constitution was to exclude enactments of Art. XI-A counties from the meaning of "public local law,” it has been expressly so stated. See Art. XI-F, § 1.
Therefore, when the phrase "public local law” is used by the Legislature without qualification, and when neither the context nor other indicia of legislative intent suggest a different meaning, the phrase should be construed to include the enactments of home rule counties under Art. XI-A. This result is compelled by our cases and by the usage in the Constitution.
Consequently, we agree with the plaintiffs and Prince George’s County that an authorized county-wide ordinance by a chartered county is a "public local law” within the meaning of Art. 23A, § 2. Moreover, as no other public general laws have a bearing upon the particular conflict here, we hold that under Art. 23A, § 2, the Prince George’s County fortunetelling licensing ordinance prevails over the prohibitory ordinances of the two municipalities.
It should be emphasized, however, that our holding is limited to the type of conflict presented in this case. With regard to other types of claimed conflict, a different result may obtain. As previously pointed out, in some areas the General Assembly has delineated the authority of counties [351]*351and municipalities in relation to each other. In addition, under circumstances different from those involved in this case, to give effect to chartered county legislation over conflicting municipal ordinances might be contrary to the intent embodied in other general enactments by the Legislature. For example, if a chartered county ordinance were designed to prohibit a municipality in the county from exercising the express enumerated powers granted to municipalities by the General Assembly in Art. 23A, § 2 (1)-(31), or in other public general laws, an entirely different case would be presented.16
The county ordinance in the present case, however, is a typical licensing regulation applicable throughout the entire county; the object of the legislation is a particular type of private business. It is like the public local laws enacted by the General Assembly for certain non-chartered counties, providing for the licensing of fortunetellers at an identical or greater fee. Code (1957, 1979 Repl. Vol.), Art. 56, § 134A (Cecil County — $250.00 annual fee), § 134B (Charles County — $250.00 annual fee), § 134C (Calvert County — $1,000.00 fee for a three month period). Concededly, in light of Art. 23A, § 2, the municipalities in Cecil, Charles and Calvert counties could not countermand the county licensing authority under these three public local laws enacted by the General Assembly. Our decision in the instant case merely gives equal effect to the similar public local licensing law enacted by the Prince George’s County Council.
Judgment afñrmed.
Petitioners to pay costs.