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which is to be adopted by the Federal Constitution, or the

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laws pursuant to it.

S

We already have found that a fixed percentage is at

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variance with the holdings of the Supreme Court of the United

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States which has determined simply that Congressional

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districts need to be substantially equal in population.

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Substan tially equal is a far more flexible term than a

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fixed ten percent, because if und er the proposed section

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we varied as much as a fraction of one percent over, pur

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districting would be out, and in these days of mobility of

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population, rapidly growing areas in some sections, static

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ones in others, I find it very difficult to believe that it

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is desirable to freeze a fixed percentage.

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I see no reason why the standards of the Supreme

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Court of the United States in a field which has been

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preempted by the Federal Government should not be entirely

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acceptable to the people of Maryland.

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There is neither a need for nor a desirability

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for the inclusion of this in the Constitution of Maryland,

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and I strongly recommend that you adopt the amendment, strike

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the provision.