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the law differently than the Court of Appeals did. And, as I just in-
dicated, Judge Cardin construed it differently. Obviously, this is a
matter of the Constitution as it relates to financial provisions and it
should be closely looked at by the coming Constitutional Convention
so that the law is clear and explicit and not subject to this type of
misinterpretation.
Q. Governor, you're on record as saying if it had come to a point
where Maryland's call for a national constitutional convention would
have made the difference, you might have called a special session. Now,
circumstances are such that you have got to have a special session.
Why not go ahead and put that bill through?
A. I don't know any reason why, if that bill would go through very
quickly, we couldn't do it. But as the House leadership and the Senate
leadership indicated this morning, this would probably begin a long
debate on this subject. This session will hopefully be a very quick one.
I would like to see it be a one-day session. Moreover, I'm. not at all
certain of the exact status of the Federal constitutional convention
question at the moment. I did talk with Senator Tydings this morning
and he has some fears about action being taken in some states that
would bring about the call to a Federal constitutional convention. I
told him that I would be in touch with the Republican governors
throughout the country within the next two weeks, and I would try
to make a check to see how things looked in their states. But I don't
think anyone really has a very firm indication of how this question
stands. There is a great amount of speculation about it, but nothing
firm.
Q. Well, then, you're not going to push this session?
A. I'm not going to push it. I think this special session is strictly for
the purpose of rectifying this inadvertent mistake that was made in
the preparation of the appropriations legislation. I would like to see
it restricted to that purpose.
Q. Do you think that they can get through in one day?
A. I just don't know how to answer that. That depends entirely upon
the leadership, and the session cannot be closed to other matters as
you very well know, so I'd be very ambitious if I predicted anything
of that sort. But generally, the leadership seems to feel that they can
handle this thing fairly quickly.
Q. Governor, does the court action obviate any referendum attempts?
A. We feel that the referendum situation is not changed by the
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