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DELEGATE JAMES: Mr. Chairman and Fellow Delegates,
I would like to say a word in favor of this proposal. I
would like to talk about it as a matter of government theory.
I certainly don't agree that the level of debate has
degenerated. I think we can still talk about this as a matter
of governmental theory. Historically, the Comptroller of
Maryland had a pre-audit function, and that exclusively. It
was not considered by the original drafters of the Consti-
tution of 1867 that the Comptroller would have a greater
function than pre-audit function. His job was to that of a
person who would see that the money flowed into the channels
designated by the law, and he had that function for many
years. In the late 1950 *s, because of certain developments,
the Office of Comptroller was utilized for the purpose of
injecting into it tax collection functions. This is an
improper function for a Comptroller and because of original
errors, it has been magnified by adding more and more tax
collection functions and other functions to this job, and
deviating from the historical concept of the Office of
Comptroller.
This compromise gives us an opportunity to place