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his private counsel. In Maryland, all gov-
ernors have had their private counsel, in-
cluding the present governor. They do not
carry him on the pay roll because of an
apparent constitutional prohibition; but all
governors have what they call an informal
counsel.
Now, in New York they have an elected
attorney general and the governor has
private counsel; but the duties of the
private counsel are restricted. He only
acts in personal matters for the governor.
He does not represent the State in any
cases in court. He acts about fifteen per-
cent of the time in legal matters dealing
with extradition, writing speeches for the
governor, and giving him informal advice
on his legislative program; but he does not
go into court under any circumstances.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Della.
;DEI^<JATE DELLA: Could he give ad-
vice to the other departments of the ex-
ecutive department?
DELEGATE MASON: No. The only ad-
vice he can give would be the informal
advice he would give to the governor, but
the attorney general would be the official
lawyer for the State. He would give advice
to all other departments.
THE CHAIRMAN: Any other questions
of the minority spokesman?
Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Delegate
Mason, to follow up some of the questions
which Delegate Sickles was asking, do you
not think an attorney general who was ap-
pointed by the governor, who found himself
in a position that would compromise his
professional ethics, would not resign in
such a situation?
DELEGATE MASON: Well, he should,
yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Is a governor
not entitled to legal assistance of his own
choosing in developing his program, and
seeing that his program is implemented in
a proper and legal way?
DELEGATE MASON: The governor is
entitled to legal assistance, but not neces-
sarily of his own choosing, to develop his
programs. I think that is the job and func-
tion of the person elected by the electorate
of the State as the official lawyer for the
State.
Now, the governor's private counsel can
advise him with respect to his legislative
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program, but this advice is not binding on
state government.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: I am not a law-
yer, Delegate Mason, and it just perplexes
me as to why I should vote for a man for
governor who comes before the people and
describes the program that he wants to
establish, and then possibly by chance or
design, however the case might be, end up
with an attorney general who is opposed
to his program, and he is left without an
attorney who is an integral part of the
government. Why should that attorney be
elected rather than appointed? I am afraid
I just do not understand that.
DELEGATE MASON: I thought I indi-
cated that by being elected he would have
that degree of independence that he would
not have if he were under the influence of
the governor in matters which were against
his own conscience and against the law;
so that he could act freely and give im-
partial advice.
You are suggesting that an attorney
general, because he is elected, would not
cooperate with the governor; but every
witness who appeared before our Commit-
tee, and the governor himself, said they re-
ceived the maximum cooperation from the
attorney general.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Then why do
you tell us that every governor has had
his own private counsel? Why in the world
does the governor need a private counsel if
there is an attorney general? Why can we
not organize the government in such a way
that the governor and the attorney general
can be expected to work together?
Why should we amend the constitution
to create a second lawyer?
DELEGATE MASON: It is not a ques-
tion of the governor having an additional
lawyer. This additional lawyer is 85 per-
cent a political adviser. He handles things
like extradition hearings, clemency hear-
ings; he writes speeches for the governor,
and he advises the governor as far as his
legislative program is concerned. The gov-
ernor needs somebody. Maybe he has a
lawyer-client relationship with him. He
does not have that relationship with the
attorney general, who is elected by the
people.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: What about the
relationship in terms of legal regulations,
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