NEWS CONFERENCE 141

want to find out exactly what he's done on that before I comment
further, but that office is being put together, and I am channeling
much information and inquiries from the subdivisions that relate to
Federal programs to him for answer.

Q. Governor, you mentioned not having talked with Mr. Bresler.
Some weeks back you did not have a chance to talk to all of your
major department agency heads. Have you now managed to make the
rounds to talk with them all?

A. I am afraid I haven't. I launched immediately after the session
into the visits to the subdivisions. We have another visit this week,
one to Baltimore County and one to Baltimore City. We had two
earlier in the week to the counties, I indicated, Cecil and Harford.
And I'm picking up meetings with the agency heads in between
these. I haven't met with them all yet. But my program executives are
meeting with them on a day-to-day basis and they are keeping me
advised of any critical problems in the agency area.

Q. Governor, are you concerned about the current lack of interest
in the slates of delegates for the Constitutional Convention?

A. I am to a degree concerned that there seems to be an effort to
restrict candidacies for the Constitutional Convention to the formal
political party. And while I'm not trying to shoot clown Mr. Ander-
son's plan in Baltimore County, which would be to have the two
central committees agree on a joint slate of candidates, I have some
fears about it in that it may very well restrict people who are not
known to their formal party organizations or people who haven't been
exactly interested in partisan politics from being considered for these
posts. I think there are many people who have been active in organi-
zations who would never think of running for a political office or
doing anything that might render them very active politically: people
in the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Citizens' Planning and
Housing Organization, people in certain civic groups such as the
American Legion and other groups, people in labor organizations,
and people in the National Association of Manufacturers. These
people would make good candidates to the convention. But these
people may not be known and may not have a bond of communication
to the central committees of the counties or the city. And I don't
want to see these people frozen out if they are interested in becoming
candidates. I don't want them to feel that should the central com-
mittees select a slate of nominees they are absolutely precluded from
a chance at being elected to serve at this Constitutional Convention.