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tion proceedings in the Court of Appeals,
Court of Special Appeals, and in the fed-
eral court; but the other 50 attorneys gen-
eral are engaged in civil work.
I do not believe that it makes a great
deal of difference in either the caliber of
the attorney general or his fidelity to his
client or conforming to the code of ethics
of his profession whether he is appointed
or elected, and the proof of that is that of
the last five attorneys general, three were
appointed for their initial term.
Attorney General Finan was first ap-
pointed by Governor Tawes; Attorney Gen-
eral Rollins was appointed by Governor
McKeldin; and Attorney General Curran
was appointed. I do not think that anybody
would argue that when Attorney General
Finari served as an appointive attorney
general he was any better than when he
served as an elected attorney general.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your time has ex-
pired.
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: I hope we
will get to the point of knowing what the
attorney general is to do and what his re-
lationship is to be with his various depart-
ments and then we can intelligently debate
whether he should be elected or appointed.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: I will yield three
minutes to Delegate Cardin.
DELEGATE CARDIN: Mr. Chairman
and ladies and gentlemen of this Conven-
tion : If I am to assume that Delegate Bam-
berger speaks for the majority in that this
is a constitutional matter, I would suggest
that we end debate now and take a vote,
because it is obvious the minority agrees,
and if the majority concedes to that, we
can save some time. However, I am not at
all certain that all feel that way.
I would like to speak, not as a venerated
jurist, not as a renowned attorney, not even
as an educator, but as a housewife and
voter for the past 20 years.
When I voted for the attorney general —
and I voted in each election when he ran
for office — I voted for an independent
attorney general and independent chief le-
gal officer of this State. There was no
confusion in my mind then as to what his
responsibilities were. I considered him the
chief legal adviser to the state government,
irrespective of the branch which sought his
advice and opinion. I felt that this was
vital, because in the executive we have
very few who speak for the people, and I
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felt that this officer was an officer who
spoke for me, the average voter. I feel
that it is vital to us to recall an admoni-
tion that was given to housewives many
years ago, women being anxious to house-
clean and to institute efficiency in their
homes, and I may say you can use effi-
ciency in housecleaning now. We were ad-
vised, wisely, to be careful not to throw
out the baby with the bath water.
I suggest we remember this admonition
now. There is housecleaning to do in the
executive branch, but not in the office of
the attorney general. He is not part of the
executive branch. He has never been part
of the executive branch. He has always
been an independent officer, not in competi-
tion with, but an adjunct to all branches
of the state government, and I think that
this is the departure that the minority has
from the majority. That Delegate Bam-
berger has difficulty assessing the responsi-
bilities of the attorney general, I agree.
I do not have that difficulty. I wish him
to remain a constitutionally designated, in-
dependently elected official, owing his re-
sponsibilities and allegiance to the voice of
the people, not the governor, because I
contend that if he is appointed, his job,
like the Sword of Damocles, will hang in
the balance, and his knee will bend to one
man.
I prefer that his job be responsive to
the voices of 1,400,000 registered voters.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: Mr. Chairman,
I will yield five minutes to Delegate Marvin
Smith.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marvin
Smith.
DELEGATE M. SMITH: Mr. Chairman,
I listened carefully yesterday to the ex-
planations of the majority and the minor-
ity. If one thinks carefully about the ques-
tions asked and the reasons given, I think
that one can conclude that the reasons were
very carefully brought out why the attor-
ney general should not be elected.
Now, if I understand the minority posi-
tion — and I think I do — it is their posi-
tion that was just put forward on the
Sword of Damocles — that despite the
canon of legal ethics, despite the oath of
the attorney general as a member of the
bar, that he might connive with the gov-
ernor to bring about some illegal act.
Now, Mr. Chairman and ladies and gen-
tlemen, think about that most carefully be-
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