CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 459

headed public works board lacking unequivocal line responsibility
to the Governor.

The Draft Constitution, relying upon the constitutional truism that
omission produces as significant an impact as inclusion, eliminates
these existing checks WITHIN the executive branch by not referring
to the elective offices of Comptroller and Attorney General and not
mentioning the Board of Public Works. Through omission, elective
positions within the executive branch are confined to a Governor
and Lieutenant Governor, an innovation I thoroughly endorse.

The post-audit review responsibility serves as a vital check upon
the executive branch and functions as an essential safeguard to the
public. Therefore, it should be transferred from the Comptroller of
the Treasury, an adjunct of the executive branch, to the State Treas-
urer, an adjunct of the legislative branch. The Comptroller, divested
of post-audit responsibility, should continue to administer equally im-
portant internal auditing duties with the executive branch; and serve,
as all administrative department heads, as an appointee of the Gover-
nor.

While I favor an Attorney General appointed by the Governor, I
recognize that there are sound arguments both ways. However, I be-
lieve that the premise which guides the Federal government and pri-
vate corporate management can wisely be extended to apply to
Maryland State government. This thesis, asserting that the Chief
Executive is best capable of choosing his own principal legal advisor,
is predicated upon the assumption that the Chief Executive alone can
name that person in whose professional competence he can place un-
limited confidence. For professional competence, and not political
appeal, should be the primary requisite to the office; and while the
incumbent Attorney General is entirely competent and has cooperated
fully with my administration, it is obvious that it could have been
otherwise. Were the incumbent a man determined to use his office as
a springboard to further political ambitions, justice could be ob-
structed not only at the expense of the administration, but at the
sacrifice of the Maryland public.

In my opinion, the Board of Public Works should be continued
but reconstituted. Its authority should stem from statutory rather than
constitutional stipulation. The Board provides a forum for public
scrutiny and presents an opportunity for the expression of legislative
views on significant decisions. I personally believe that the State Treas-
urer should continue as the most appropriate representative of the