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as a member of the General Assembly
voted to create, or whose salary you voted
to increase.
If you can get elected to it, so be it.
Turning now to section 3.10, Immunity
of Legislators, this section is different both
from the present Constitution and from
the Constitutional Commission draft. It
reads: "Words used by a member of the
General Assembly during any of its pro-
ceedings, including the proceedings of any
committees and subcommittees, shall be
absolutely privileged, and a member shall
not be liable therefor in any civil action or
criminal prosecution."
We tried to enlarge this protection, both
civilly and criminally, to cover a legislator
who would be working throughout the year
during times when the regular sessions
were not in effect in committees and sub-
committees. Consequently you will find that
the language is somewhat expanded to try
to take care of every conceivable situation
in which a legislator could be discharging
his duties and in which he ought to be af-
forded the protection which prompts him
to be fearless and bold, as the case may be,
in speaking in his capacity as a member of
the General Assembly.
I would like to recognize Delegate Gullet.
(Second Vice-President William James,
assumed the Chair.)
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding) : Dele-
gate Gullet.
DELEGATE GULLET: Mr. Chairman,
I rise to a point of personal privilege.
I would like to recognize the presence in
both galleries of a great many Maryland
mayors and councilmen. They have been
attending the annual Convention of the
Maryland Municipal League in Baltimore
and bused down to watch the workings of
the Convention. I would appreciate giving
this group a nice hand.
(Applause.)
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding) : I
would like to include President Purdie, the
president.
Delegate Boileau.
DELEGATE BOILEAU: I rise to a
point of personal privilege.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding) : You
may proceed.
DELEGATE BOILEAU: Also present is
the distinguished senator from the first dis-
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trict of Prince George's County, benator
Edward T. Conroy.
He is behind the President's rostrum.
(First Vice-President James Clark, as-
surged the Chair.)
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
We would like to welcome him.
(Applause.)
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Section
3.13 pertains to the organization of the
General Assembly and has within it a fair
number of components. Many of them are
contained in the present Constitution and
some are new. The provision providing that
each house shall be the judge of the quali-
fication and selection of its members is
continued; each house shall elect its own
officers and provide for its own rules, that
is also continued.
The new section that I would call to your
attention is:
"Each house by the affirmative vote of
the majority of all of its members pres-
ent and voting, a quorum being present,
may compel the attendance and testimony
of witnesses and the production of rec-
ords and papers either before the house
as a whole or before any of its commit-
tees, provided that the rights and the
records and papers of all witnesses in
such cases shall have been protected by
law."
This section contains a number of new
features not contained in the prior Consti-
tution.
First of all, in requiring the vote, we
have departed from the traditional Mary-
land use of the so-called constitutional ma-
jority in determining what majorities shall
be. The constitutional majority heretofore
and presently is a majority of all members
elected to the House. We have departed
from that in three places in this particular
report, and there will be a minority report
which challenges this departure.
I point out first that each house shall
elect its own officers and set its own rules
of procedure; and the second point, for the
first time in the constitution the legislature
is given the power to compel the presence
and testimony of witnesses, and also the
submission of documents and records.
Now, this power existed in a limited
fashion or exists in a limited fashion in
the present Maryland Constitution, as it
pertains to grand inquests. However, there
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