Section 73. The superintendent or keeper of any institution named in section fifty-one may sue or be sued upon any contract of purchase or sale made by him under sections fifty-one to seventy, inclusive. No suit shall abate by reason of a vacancy in any such office, but the successor of any such officer may, and upon motion of the adverse party shall, prosecute or defend it. The superintendent or keeper may submit a controversy relative to such contract or an action thereon to the final determination of arbitrators or referees, who shall, if the claim or suit is made or brought by or against the superintendent of a correctional institution of the commonwealth, be approved by the governor, or, if made or brought by or against the superintendent or keeper of a jail, a house of correction, or any other penal or reformatory institution, be approved by the county commissioners.