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as they were nearly two centuries ago
when this nation was formed. When my
good friend Judge Adkins presented the
majority report of the Executive Branch
Committee last night, or the night before
last, he proclaimed the philosophy of Ham-
ilton. I say if this majority report is
adopted, it will be the crowning apex of
the destruction of Jeffersonian democratic
government, which has existed during the
last 100 years under the old Constitution.
The wisdom and the experience of the
past 100 years refutes the Hamiltonian
principle that the electorate is not to be
trusted. Just to mention a few of the great
men who have occupied the office of the
attorney general in this State, I will name
Albert C. Ritchie, Herbert R. O'Conor,
William Preston Lane, and the Chief Judge
of the Court of Appeals in Maryland, Hall
Hammond — and not to overlook our associ-
ate here, Judge Ferdinand Sybert, who has
retired from the appellate court.
I say, Mr. President, that the history of
this nation demonstrates that the electorate
of Maryland can still be trusted with the
election of candidates to this high office,
and I hope that the amendment will pre-
vail.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in opposition to the amend-
ment, in favor of Committee Recommenda-
tion EB-1?
Delegate Byrnes.
DELEGATE BYRNES: Mr. Chairman,
I would like to ask Delegate Henderson if
he might yield to a question.
THE CHAIRMAN: First, does anyone
desire to speak in opposition to the amend-
ment? If not, Delegate Henderson, will you
yield to a question?
DELEGATE HENDERSON: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Byrnes.
DELEGATE BYRNES: Delegate Hen-
derson, yesterday in response to a question
from me Delegate Mason responded very
disturbingly when I asked him about the
division of authority between the governor
and the attorney general. I asked him with
specific reference to the wage and hour case
which involved first of all, a question of
philosophy, and second of all, a question
of relations between States, and third of
all, the relation between this State and the
national government, and fourthly, millions
of dollars of tax money.
I asked Delegate Mason whether or not
the governor or the attorney general would
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have the final authority on whether or not
that case would be taken on appeal to the
Supreme Court. He responded that the at-
torney general and not the governor would
have the final authority.
I asked that question because I think re-
gardless of what the Committee of the
Whole decides on this issue, I think that
statement in the record is very disturbing
to the future. I would ask whether or not
you would concur in that judgment, and if
so, why; and if not, why not?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Henderson.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: I find it a
little difficult to answer that question. If it
is a matter of legal advice, the governor,
of course, could not control what the at-
torney general said, could not control his
opinion; but insofar as it is a matter of
policy to take the appeal or not, I would
suppose that authority would rest with the
governor.
I do not think that any state official is
bound to abide by the opinion of the at-
torney general. They usually do. I do not
know of any instance in which they have
not.
Those matters are worked out usually by
agreement, but certainly, if it were a ques-
tion of appealing a criminal case, the at-
torney general would have the authority
there and not the state's attorney, al-
though they are both elected. But if it is
a question of policy on whether a test case
should be made, I would think the governor
rather than the attorney general would
have the final say on that.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Finch.
DELEGATE FINCH: Mr. Chairman
and members of the Convention: I rise to
support our minority report and to urge
this Committee to continue the office of at-
torney general. A little over 100 years ago
a group of Marylanders, not too dissimilar
from ourselves, framed a Constitution
which created the constitutionally elected
office of attorney general, an office to be
filled by a qualified citizen chosen by and
directly responsible to the people of our
State.
This office has endured ever since. It has
served our people diligently and well, and
I believe that its preservation is vitally
necessary to the maintenance of orderly,
stable, honest and efficient government in
Maryland. With complex governmental af-
fairs, it is imperative that certain phases
of governmental action be separate and free
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