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modern age. Save them, we pray you, from
getting bogged down in the trivial and for-
getting the vital. Grant this State through
them a blessing, the blessing of a new Con-
stitution that shall be a joy of life to the
people and a pattern of excellence to other
States. This our prayer we pray in the
name of Your Son, Our Lord.
Amen.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Roll call.
(Whereupon, the roll was called.)
THE PRESIDENT: Did every delegate
answer roll call?
(There was no response.)
The Clerk will record the roll call.
The Chair recognizes Delegate Powers.
DELEGATE POWERS: I move the
adoption of today's calendar.
THE PRESIDENT: Is there a second?
(Whereupon, the motion was duly sec-
onded.)
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any dis-
cussion?
(There was no response.)
All those in favor, signify by saying
Aye; contrary, No. The Ayes have it. It is
so ordered.
Are there any reports of any other
committees?
CHIEF CLERK: There are no reports.
THE PRESIDENT: Are there any pro-
posals or resolutions?
(There was no response.)
THE PRESIDENT: Before recognizing
the Chairman of the Committee on Calen-
dar and Agenda to move that the Conven-
tion resolve itself into a Committee of the
Whole, I want to point out several things
to you as to our progress.
We spent some seven and a half hours
yesterday in debate and considered four
sections and 14 amendments. I understand
that there are as many as 40 or 50 addi-
tional amendments prepared for this ar-
ticle. Because of this situation, serious con-
sideration was given to recommending to
the Convention that it not take a long
holiday over this weekend, but we thought
it best not to do this at the present time,
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inasmuch as this is only the second long
weekend since the Convention began its
sessions in September and since the plans
for this long weekend had been announced
for more than a month, and many of you
have made commitments.
In addition, however, it is perfectly ob-
vious from the backlog of committee rec-
ommendations and minority reports that
there is a tremendous amount of study and
reading to be done by the delegates before
we can proceed to meaningful consideration
of these other committee recommendations.
Accordingly, the plan is still to adjourn
at the usual time, late Wednesday after-
noon, until Monday. Also, the plan is still
to have a session Monday afternoon and
Monday evening, rather than Monday
morning. However, as you know from pre-
vious announcements, the Convention will
move into a six-day a week schedule begin-
ning next week. There is not the slightest
doubt that we will necessarily be obliged
to sit on Saturday, December 2, and every
Saturday after that.
I think it is also rather clear that the
Convention, beginning next week, will prob-
ably have to have additional night sessions.
This decision is very reluctantly arrived at,
because after seven hours or more of de-
bate, it has been the feeling of the officers
of the Convention that evening sessions
would not be fruitful.
We do have a deadline which we must
meet. We have a tremendous amount of
work to do, and there seems to be no
other way to do it, except to keep our noses
to the grindstone and keep moving along
steadily. However, I suggest to you that
after the Committee of the Whole has had
full debate on basic amendments and has
made its views known by a decided vote,
it is not in the best interests of the Con-
vention to persist in offering the same
amendments or slightly different amend-
ments which, in effect, involve a reconsid-
eration of the same question.
There is no disposition to shut off the
debate when I suggest to you that once a
question has been decided by the Committee
of the Whole decisively no good purpose is
served by renewing consideration of it.
Delegates who have prepared numerous
amendments to other parts of this article
will, sometime during the morning, review
the amendments which he or she has caused
to be prepared, and if they are not amend-
ments which need still be presented in view
of actions taken by the Committee of the
Whole yesterday, that they be withdrawn.
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