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Baltimore County, for coal in Allegany
County, for fresh water in Allegany
County, and the greatest resource we have
in the State, I suspect, happens to be
people. Does this intend to allow the Gen-
eral Assembly to pass local legislation con-
cerned with people? Mention almost any-
thing that you can imagine concerned with
the life of the people of this State, and it
will come one way or another under na-
tural environment or natural resources.
I think that this language to encourage
the General Assembly to deal in local legis-
lation is very dangerous and I hope that
the Convention will turn it down. Inci-
dentally, may I point out that despite the
fact that as Chairman Moser said, and he
was correct, that the Local Government
Committee did not act upon this particular
point, may I point out that on the list of
sponsors to this amendment there are eight
members of that Committee, and the pres-
ent speaker not on the list of sponsors,
makes nine.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Boyer.
DELEGATE BOYER: Thank you.
Mr. President, and ladies and gentlemen
of the Convention, it seems perfectly
obvious to me that my brother, the first
speaker, evidently knows very little if
anything about the growing season or any
other element about oysters or clams.
The General Provisions Committee con-
sidered this Avhole spectrum of public gen-
eral and public local laws in this area. It
was our considered position that when it
comes to natural resources, because of such
a wide variety throughout the State, I be-
lieve one delegate referred to it as Ameri-
ca in miniature, in some section of the
State we may have an overabundance of
a particular commodity, and in other sec-
tions there may be a scarcity. We would
want to protect the scarcity, but not at the
expense of overharvesting the overabun-
dant area. The growing season of the
oyster from Kent County to Somerset
County may vary as much as three or four
months. This deserves special and par-
ticular attention on a local basis.
He referred to the size of the clams in
the Chester River. He probably is unaware
of the fact that Wickes Beach is a major
oyster producing area. It is illegal for any-
body to harvest the spat, that is the seed
bed, for Queen Anne's County oysters.
This requires special, particular attention
and could not possibly be handled on a pub-
lic general law. I know nothing at all about
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strip mining, but I can visualize where
there might be some wide variances of
opinion from Garrett County to Allegany
County. I do not see how a public genera!
law could possible handle those particular,
individual problems.
We have on the shore many, many iob-
lolly pines. There is an abundance of thsm.
They may be scarce in Garrett County.
Perhaps Garrett County may want to pro-
tect them. We do not. There may be the
curtailment the other way. It seems to me
that there are many speakers on this try--
ing to get a public general law, but most
of them seem to come from the more citi-
fied areas, and I would respectfully sug-
gest that this Convention reject this
amendment because of the individual char-
acteristics of the natural resource problem
in the State of Maryland.
I urge you to reject this very important
amendment to the problem of natural re-
sources, and support the General Pro-
visions Committee.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any other
delegate desire to speak in favor?
Delegate Fox.
DELEGATE FOX: Mr. President, I rise
as a delegate from an uncitified area to
support this amendment. Unless you do
support this amendment, the concept of
wanting to eliminate the practice that has
gone on for so many years of having the
General Assembly pass local laws is going
to amount to nothing in this Convention.
Everybody says that it is a great idea
to restrict the General Assembly so they
enact only general laws and let the counties
run their own show. However, then they
say it is not a good idea when it comes to
my bailiwick of natural resources or it is
not a very good idea when it comes to my
bailiwick of general education.
None of these exemptions are necessary.
They are all put in to water down what is
a good concept. Under general law admin-
istrative agencies can pass what lavrs are
necessary to take care of oysters in Kent
County and oysters in Somerset County, It
can be done under statewide law. It does
not take much ingenuity on -the part of a
legislator to say that a particular bill
relates to natural resources and environ-
ment and education and therefore can be a
local law.
Delegate Weidemeyer touched on it nice-
ly when he asked if a county's dispensary
system was a part of its natural resources
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