administrative difficulties to say the least.
Therefore, I suggest that I can vote for
this resolution without the retroactive fea-
ture, but not as it stands, not knowing the
harm or injury it may do.
THE PRESIDENT: The question arises
on the motion to amend. Is there any dis-
cussion of that motion? Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: Mr. Chairman,
I rise to a point of order. Can we amend
the motion without suspending the rules?
THE PRESIDENT: I think so. We have
suspended the rules and the resolution is
before the Convention for such action as it
desires to take. Do you desire to speak to
the motion to amend Delegate Vecera?
DELEGATE VECERA: Yes, I do, Mr.
President.
THE PRESIDENT: The Chair recog-
nizes Delegate Vecera.
DELEGATE VECERA: In answer to
Delegate Gallagher, lines 6 and 7, that the
resolution be applied retroactively, the rea-
son we inserted that was the essence of
the resolution hinges on that. There have
been major decisions already taking place
in the committees, and it would be unwise
for us to continue under this particular
one man, one vote we are speaking of and
we ought to reverse ourselves at this point,
which is an early stage of the Convention,
and that we ought to take action on it
retroactively. There have been major de-
cisions made that might hinge on this par-
ticular resolution.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: In order that
I can vote on the amendment as well as
the resolution itself, I have perhaps two
or three questions which should go, first
of all, perhaps, to Mr. Scanlan as Chair-
man of the Committee on Rules.
I ask first of all whether this situation
is covered in the rules of the Convention
that we adopted in July.
THE PRESIDENT: What do you mean
by this situation?
DELEGATE MARION: Whether the
provision for appointment of officers as
liaison members with voting privileges was
covered in the rules of the Convention that
we adopted in July.
DELEGATE SCANLAN: The rules do
not specifically state whether or not a man
can have more than one vote. On the other |
hand, the rules do incorporate Robert's
Rules of Order to the extent that the rules
do not otherwise specifically cover the sub-
ject. Under Robert's Rules of Order, it is
perfectly clear, the Parliamentarian and
Chair are there if I am wrong, if you
serve on a committee you are entitled to
vote as a member of the committee. May
I have two votes? 1 vote as a member of
the Rules Committee and 1 vote as a mem-
ber of the Legislative Committee. I would
not like either right taken from me, and
at the present time as 1 interpret the rules,
this is permitted me.
DELEGATE MARION: If I might ask
another question of Delegate Scanlan, do
I understand what you are saying to mean
that the rules were adopted which would
incorporate this principle before the elec-
tion by this Convention of those officers
who have been appointed to serve as officer
liaison members with voting privileges on
more than one committee?
DELEGATE SCANLAN: Would you re-
state your question, Delegate Marion?
DELEGATE MARION: My question is
whether or not we adopted rules which
provide for this procedure, anticipating
the possibility, before the Convention by
majority vote elected a President, a First
Vice-President, and a Second Vice-Presi-
dent, who under those rules might well be
appointed to more than one committee
with full voting privileges on more than
one committee?
DELEGATE SCANLAN: I think you
are right. I think we elected our officers
and we adopted our rules on July 12, 1967.
Later the various committee assignments
were made. The officers of the Convention
were assigned more than one committee.
So I think the candid response to your ques-
tion is that we did not adopt this proce-
dure prior to the time when we adopted
our rules, even though the rules as adopted
would permit it.
DELEGATE MARION: May I ask you
one other question, Delegate Scanlan.
From your study of the rules, are there
other legislative bodies, for example, the
House of Delegates of the Maryland Gen-
eral Assembly, where members are ap-
pointed with voting privileges to more
committees than perhaps some of their col-
leagues?
DELEGATE SCANLAN: I think you
are even more familiar with that proce-
dure than 1, Mr. Marion, having served as
administrative assistant to Senator Tyd- |
