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stitutional convention. We sincerely hope
that this particular amendment will be
adopted.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Boyer.
DELEGATE BOYER: Mr. President and
fellow delegates, I think that Delegate
Johnson has very adequately and fairly
presented this question. It is a very clear-
cut issue. If you believe that the constitu-
tional convention should be accomplished by
a vote of twenty-one senators instead of
twenty-four, then you would vote against
this amendment. If you believe on the
other hand something as important as call-
ing a constitutional convention should be
accomplished by a three-fifths vote then
you would vote against it. Same thing in
the House. If you believe a three-fifths
vote instead of a bare majority, you would
vote for it. I leave it to your judgment.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any other del-
egate desire to speak in favor of the
amendment?
Delegate Case, do you desire to speak in
favor?
DELEGATE CASE: I would like to ask
Delegate Johnson a question.
THE PRESIDENT: You will have to
wait until he has the floor.
Delegate Mentzer.
DELEGATE MENTZER: I also wanted
to ask a question.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any delegate
desire to speak in favor?
Does any delegate desire to speak in
opposition?
Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Presi-
dent and ladies and gentlemen of this
house, I spent too many frustrated years
in this General Assembly trying to get
even a majority vote out of the House and
Senate to have a constitutional convention
called and I assure you the probabilities of
calling a constitutional convention even
when you need only a majority vote are not
very great because of a number of built-in
difficulties when you are dealing with the
General Assembly itself which is not
anxious to risk its security to a constitu-
tional convention.
I cannot think of a better way of stulti-
fying the opportunity for a constitutional
convention, no matter how badly it is
needed by this requirement that there be
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a three-fifths vote. If you had been in this
General Assembly in the early 1960's and
had seen the time and effort that went
into attempting to get a constitutional con-
vention to do something about reapportion-
ment you would have a far different view
about some of the people who are dissatis-
fied with the work of this Convention.
Now, you will also feel perhaps that had
they had this constitutional convention that
the rigors of reapportionment would not
have been as heavy upon them as the
courts have proved to demonstrate. I simply
say on the basis of experience that this is
an opportunity to bottle up the popular
will, that this is an attempt, it seems to
me, to keep the status quo as long as pos-
sible, and I would urge you to defeat the
amendment.
THE PRESIDENT: Does any other del-
egate desire to speak in favor?
Delegate Johnson, would you take the
floor to yield to a question? This will be
your second and last opportunity to take
the floor.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: I will be glad
to yield to any question. I would like to
have a moment to close.
THE PRESIDENT: You have a total
of three minutes including time for ques-
tion. If you want to say anything, perhaps
you better say it before you yield. It is up
to you.
DELEGATE JOHNSON: If Delegate
Case will give me just a moment. I want
to point out in answer to Delegate Gal-
lagher's argument that this particular
amendment in no way changes the fact
that the legislature at any time may by
majority vote call a constitutional conven-
tion. It may do so, but the only proviso is
that that question by majority vote must
be before the people on a referendum.
We also have a proviso in section 4.03 if
no action is taken within twenty years,
then, of course, a constitutional convention
will be called and put on the ballot.
We are writing a constitution that we
hope will last for some period of time. A
constitution should require something more
than a majority vote of the General As-
sembly to change it. I think this is simply
good constitutional writing.
I do not like the idea that there may be
a constitutional convention, whether it is
necessary or not, two or three or five years
from now, and I submit that the vast ma-
jority of all the other states in this country
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