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If there are any questions that I can
answer, I will be happy to endeavor to
do so.
THE PRESIDENT: Are there any ques-
tions of the Committee Chairman?
Delegate Burdette.
DELEGATE BURDETTE: I should like
to make just a little legislative history.
About the intent of the Committee with
respect to page 3 with the first resolve, the
language empowers the President to em-
ploy an appropriate staff which will, under
the direction of the President, conclude the
business and including in that conclusion
of the business, the compilation, the pres-
ervation, and the publication, where de-
sirable, of its files, records, transcripts,
histories, and journals.
Now, I hope, Mr. Chairman, and I am
virtually sure that the intent of the Com-
mittee is that this language authorizes the
President to decide what the Convention
shall do with regard to preservation and
publication so far as the Convention itself
is concerned. I think it could be inter-
preted, however, to authorize that the Con-
vention has an exclusive use or an exclu-
sive power to determine what might be
preserved or published.
I am hoping that the intent of the Com-
mittee, and if the resolution is passed, the
intent of the Convention is that, of course,
the Convention under the management of
the President may publish under its aus-
pices as it seems to be desirable, but that
other people not involving the Convention
may have full access to its records for re-
search and that they may publish all or
part of those records through private enter-
prise, that they may have the full access
which American scholarship may need with
respect to this Convention without any use
of the interpretation that publication
where desirable would leave the private
publication to the determination of the
Convention.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Dulany.
DELEGATE DULANY: These are pub-
lic records. The purpose of the resolution
is only to authorize the publication where
we feel it would be necessary for us to
publish the records.
It is not in any sense meant to be re-
strictive or limiting on the publication or
study of these records by outside groups
or agencies. This is only for the authority
of the Convention to act. Not in any sense
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is it meant to be a limitation on the au-
thority to publish.
THE PRESIDENT: I think the Presi-
dent ought to add to that statement for
certainty and for emphasis. All convention
records in the opinion of the President,
and this is the policy uniformly followed,
are public records. The official journal, that
is the original notes of the Journal Clerk,
have been microfilmed each day and are
in the Hall of Records where, of course,
they are always available to the public.
The files of the Convention and of all of
the Committees will be turned over ulti-
mately to the Hall of Records where they
will, of course, always be available to the
public.
The Archives has already put in motion
plans to collect all of the documents from
the various committees, all the files of the
officers and all of the official papers of the
Convention. These are being catalogued
and boxed for delivery to the Hall of
Records so that I would anticipate that
within thirty days after the Convention
had adjourned sine die, the records would
all be physically in the possession of the
Hall of Records.
The publication of these records, as that
term is used in the resolution, would be
construed by the President to mean publi-
cation under the auspices of or at the ex-
pense of the Convention, leaving it to
private enterprise to publish as much or
as little as might be desired.
I might add that in addition to the ar-
rangements just outlined for the delivery
of the records to the Hall of Records, we
have made arrangements to deliver to a
number of libraries throughout the State
copies of all convention records that have
been reproduced in quantity, not, of course,
such things as correspondence, of which
there may be only one copy, but we have
been preserving for delivery to half a
dozen libraries, including the State Library
in Annapolis, the library at the University
College, Johns Hopkins University, and
other college libraries, Pratt Library in
Baltimore, all proposals, committee re-
ports, and every document that has been
printed by the Convention.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Pullen.
DELEGATE PULLEN: Mr. Chairman,
I did not know that you were a mind
reader. You have just made what I think
is a very practical suggestion. I am turn-
ing over all the material that I have,
transcripts, and the like, to the law library
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