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troller, judges, and numerous local officers,
yet they now want to reduce the voting age.
My g-ood friend, Ralph Hostetter, has
just handed me a copy of American Fleri-
ta-ffc. I am not going to read all of it ex-
cept that Alexander Hamilton and Noah
Webster collaborated on how to check the
Jeffersonian system in this country. Noah
Webster, later of dictionary fame, and a
high Federalist of the old school, said that
a solution for rampant Jeffersonianism was
to raise the voting age to forty-five.
(Laughter.)
Mr. President, my good friend from Bal-
timore County told you right. He did not
come here to reform the State, but he did
come here to help the youth. I am going to
vote for his amendment to reduce the age
to eighteen. If that fails, then I am going
to vote for Amendment No. 1 to restore it
to twenty-one.
(Laughter.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in opposition?
Delegate Vecera.
DELEGATE VECERA: Mr. Chairman,
members of the Committee, I would like to
know, Judge Dorsey, how old is Ginger?
DELEGATE DORSEY: I just had a
note signed Frank saying Ginger wanted
her voting rights.
(Laughter.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in opposition?
Delegate Ulrich.
DELEGATE ULRICH: Mr. Chairman,
I rise to oppose the amendment calling for
the age of eighteen. I support the ma-
jority report of nineteen. I attended a
hearing one night, the public hearing on
Suffrage and Elections. There were several
hundred young people there.
I am sure when it comes time for the
document to be ratified, the people that
were at this hearing that night will know
well what it did in this document. There
was only one person who opposed lowering
the voting age.
We have been very pleased in this Con-
vention in having fine young people with
us, and I wondered if they, the pages,
would voice their opinion at this time,
letting us know.
Everybody says the young people do not
want the voting age lowered. I wondered if
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they would voice their opinion now and let
us know how they feel, the pag%es here in
the Convention?
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair suggests
they are not registered as lobbyists and
would not be able to do that.
(Applause.)
Does any other delegate desire to speak
in favor?
Delegate Boyles.
DELEGATE BOYLES: Mr. President,
I have a question I would like to have an-
swered before I vote. I do not know
whether the question is in favor or against.
THE CHAIRMAN: To whom is your
question addressed?
DELEGATE BOYLES: I do not know
that. It is an open question. Anybody could
answer that.
THE CHAIRMAN: State your question.
DELEGATE BOYLES: Thank you.
I would like to know what percentage of
high school students do go to college.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Cardin.
DELEGATE CARDIN: Thirty-five per-
cent of those who graduate from high
school enter college. However, not all those
thirty-five percent who enter college ever
complete that education.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak in favor?
Delegate Pullen.
DELEGATE PULLEN: Mr. Chairman,
I have had fifty years of experience with
eighteen-year-olds and from the beginning
I was about eighteen or nineteen myself.
I think I taught three generations and I
say each generation is better than the
other.
Maryland is one of the most civilized
spots in the world, and to so splendid a
place so many of us have come. I would
like all of those outlanders born outside
the State of Maryland please to hold up
their hand. Do not let us be ashamed of it.
I do not think all of them are responding,
Mr. Chairman.
We came here —
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Pullen, the
Chair suggests possibly they are not of
voting age.
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