536 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

of problems which now face the State and which undoubtedly will in-
crease in the years ahead.

The Constitution now being put together is more important than
any present office or officeholder. It should be a viable document that
will function far beyond the lifetimes of those who drafted it and
those who now hold the major State offices.

It had seemed that the Convention was well on the way toward
achieving this objective when it approved proposals strengthening the
legislative and judicial branches. In one of these steps the post-audit
function of the Comptroller's office was transferred to the General As-
sembly, where in my opinion it properly belongs. This leaves the
Comptroller's office with strictly administrative duties within the ex-
ecutive branch, duties that properly should be performed under direct
supervision of the Governor.

I would earnestly hope at this point that delegates would evaluate
what they have done thus far in the light of the original aims and
objectives of the Convention.

It was the recommendation of the commission which submitted the
carefully researched draft instrument to this Convention that the of-
fice of Comptroller be appointive under the Governor. A similar con-
clusion was arrived at by the Committee on the executive branch
which heard further expert testimony.

Delegates who lose sight of the validity of these recommendations
because of individual personalities presently incumbent in these of-
fices do a disservice to the State and to future generations. This is par-
ticularly true in the light of the already accomplished transfer to the
Legislature of the Comptroller's one function justifying his inde-
pendent existence — that of post-audit review.

NEWS RELEASE AND STATEMENT ON HIGHWAY SAFETY

November 29, 1967

Governor Spiro T. Agnew today called on Maryland law enforce-
ment officers and the judiciary to redouble their efforts "to halt the
senseless slaughter on our highways and streets. "

In a telegram to the Maryland Association of Police Chiefs, meeting
at Gaithersburg, the Governor noted that "Maryland is well on its
way to setting a new, tragic record of traffic fatalities. "