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Would it not be better to deny the B&O
in this constitution this right of subsidy,
or tax break, and increase the welfare
budget?
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: That may
well be. The point is here we cannot take
the exemption away from the B&O in the
absence of its doing something which by
law removes the exemption.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mentzer.
DELEGATE MENTZER: Delegate Gal-
lagher, did your Committee consider
whether this provision could have been in
the constitution in the schedule, and al-
though the schedule is primarily for the
temporary items of transition it can also
be used as an appendix to carry over those
things which do not belong or which seem
incongruent with the main body of the
constitution?
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: We felt
again that because of the importance of the
subject matter and the fact that it had been
handled on a constitutional basis in the
past that we ought not to jeopardize our
ability to remove this exemption by put-
ting it in any secondary status, and conse-
quently we determined to use the constitu-
tional route despite the language and the
length.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mentzer.
DELEGATE MENTZER: But the things
in the schedule have the full force of the
constitution, do they not?
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Yes, they
do, but again we are not certain, as I have
said before, that the B&O is the only cor-
poration involved. This is really a matter
of principle, although it appears to apply
to an individual case, and we simply felt
that we did not want to confer some less
than constitutional status. We considered
putting it in the transitional legislation
and decided we ought not to.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Willis, do
you have a question?
DELEGATE WILLIS: A point of per-
sonal privilege, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: State the privilege.
DELEGATE WILLIS: I would like to an-
nounce to the group that in the balcony in
the rear are 119 students from Harford
County, 79 students from the Edgewood
Junior High School, with their teachers,
Miss Lois Merckle and Mr. Garlands Fuller,
and 30 eighth grade students from our
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North Harford High School with their
teacher, Mr. Stephen C. Williams.
I would appreciate your all joining me in
giving them a welcome.
(Applause.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Ritter.
DELEGATE RITTER: Has your Com-
mittee gone into the far-reaching effect
that if this exemption was taken out of the
constitution what effect it might have on
railroad employment on the B&O in the
State of Maryland as well as effect on the
Port of Baltimore by them having their
tentacles into the coal fields of West Vir-
ginia whence most all our coal is shipped
abroad from Curtis Bay?
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: No, we have
not. I should say it is not punitive or penal
legislation. This is merely an attempt to
regularize and to make uniform corpora-
tion statutes and the handling of corpora-
tions chartered by the State of Maryland.
We did not seek to weigh the economic
impact of the loss of the exemption.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Ritter, do
you have a further question?
DELEGATE RIT.TER: You will admit
that there would be quite an economic
impact, though, if the merger of the
B&O-C&O would take place or would not
take place, and if they would decide to do
away with this exemption. They would
probably ship a lot of the commodities to
ports south of here, which is Newport News
and Norfolk, Virginia, rather than through
the Port of Baltimore.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: The ques-
tion of the desirability of the merger be-
tween the B&O and C&O has already been
decided. Now they are merely in the imple-
mentation stage, and I do not feel that the
question of the loss of the exemption
should be considered in any other aspect
than the State viewing corporate entities
which it has created, and that is the area in
which we restricted ourselves.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Kathleen
Robie, did you have a question ?
DELEGATE ROBIE: Mr. Chairman, I
would like for the Convention to join with
me in welcoming a group of elementary
students with the Oxon Hill Elementary
School.
(Applauxe.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any other
questions of the Committee Chairman?
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