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ignate the office of comptroller a principal
department and have an elected official the
head of a principal department.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Barrick?
DELEGATE BARRICK: You admit the
governor will have control to appoint the
head of his departments?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan?
DELEGATE MORGAN: That is correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Barrick?
DELEGATE BARRICK: Then if he has
that power, the General Assembly could
not take it away from him. It is in the
constitution, is that correct?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan?
DELEGATE MORGAN: It is in the con-
stitution, there is no question about that,
but I think I desire to make sure that the
comptroller's office cannot be made a prin-
cipal department of the state government.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Barrick?
DELEGATE BARRICK: Let's forget
personalities for a moment, but is it pos-
sible that sometime we might have a comp-
troller who the governor might want to put
the head of a department and this would
preclude him from doing that.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan?
DELEGATE MORGAN: It would.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Barrick?
DELEGATE BARRICK: I take it, then,
the Committee would object to eliminating
the last sentence?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan?
DELEGATE MORGAN: I believe it
would.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any Delegate
desire to speak in opposition to the amend-
ment?
Delegate Murphy, do you desire to speak
in opposition?
DELEGATE MURPHY: I want to speak
in favor of the amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Robey?
DELEGATE ROBEY: Mr. Chairman, I
am only too sorry that I cannot join the
nineteen colleagues that I have on the Ex-
ecutive Branch Committee in this amend-
ment, but there has occurred much today
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within these halls, and outside the walls of
this building, about which I as a citizen of
Maryland and a delegate to the Constitu-
tional Convention, cannot be proud.
I am opposed to the politics that have
been played in the halls of this Convention
and outside the State House today. There
are many of us here who know of what I
speak. I do not intend to soil the record of
the Convention with all the gory details,
but I am opposed, unalterably opposed to
politics of the sort that places personal
interest above the public interest, and that
is what we have seen here today.
I would like it clearly understood that I
am the son of an elected Democratic offi-
cial in this State. If I am not mistaken, I
believe he is the oldest elected Democratic
official in this State, so I was born into a
family of Democrats. I am a registered
Democrat and I probably undoubtedly will
die a Democrat, but I say this because I
want this perfectly understood before I
read the next statement.
I want to read a statement that Governor
Agnew released to the public press and to
the people of this State within the last
hour:
"This Constitutional Convention has
earned the respect and admiration of stu-
dents of government all over this nation.
It is indeed unfortunate that its recent
deliberations have been more involved
with present day politics and personali-
ties than in the drafting of a sound,
workable document of government for
future generations. This is of grave con-
cern to me and I am sure it will be to
many citizens of Maryland. We are wit-
nessing an effort to protect the jobs of
elected office holders at the expense of
establishing an effective executive branch
of government that can cope with the
multiplicity of problems which now faces
the State and which undoubtedly will in-
crease in the years ahead. The Constitu-
tion now being put together is more im-
portant than any present office or office
holder. It should be a viable document
that will function far beyond the life-
times of those who drafted it and those
who now hold the major state offices, and
it seemed that the Convention was well
on the way toward achieving this objec-
tive when it approved proposals strength-
ening the legislative and judicial
branches. In one of these steps, the post-
audit functions of the comptroller's office
were transferred to the General Assem-
bly, where, in my opinion, they properly
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