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when a hundred years ago it must have
been a burning issue of the Convention.
For those reasons, I ask you to support
the principle and leave out the word and
to support the constitution which I hope
we all will do and perhaps even in the
next few months the legislature will see
fit to do that which we have not seen fit
to write in the basic words of the Consti-
tution itself.
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Mitchell.
DELEGATE MITCHELL: Mr. Presi-
dent and fellow delegates, I rise to pay
tribute to the principles upon which the
Convention was founded and to the quality
and character of the delegates who were
elected from across the State to this Con-
vention which vindicated the kind of elec-
tions which were held. We were supposed
to be elected on a non-partisan basis with
the interest of welding here the kind of
principles, basic principles, into a new
constitution which would move this State
forward.
I have turned the half century, so I have
lived a little longer. I am an old warrior
against injustice, but what has sustained
me in my long struggle as a human being
for justice has been my faith in the Consti-
tution and the kind of government that we
have in this country. Sometimes our young
people will become very impatient, but I
am happy to say that the faith of my an-
cestors and my contemporaries in the kind
of government that we have in this country
and the principles on which this govern-
ment was founded has been vindicated
again and again.
That is not always enough to sustain our
young people as we point to the fact that
man once he sees the problem and under-
stands, responds, but I have been heartened
in this Convention as I have seen how our
delegates, many coming from various areas
of life who had no understanding of some
of the problems, have responded to the
basic needs and the principles here. I com-
mend that and I say that in the remaining
years that I have for public service it
has been an enriching and heartening
experience.
I want to say that I saw the faith that
I have, I have faith in the goodness of
man. I think that is what our founding
fathers had, but they set up a Constitution
and a government to protect man against
himself and his weaknesses and that is
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what this constitution does. It protects
man against his own inhumanity to himself.
Certainly the whole area represented by
this principle of collective bargaining is a
very vital one to our domestic peace in this
State and in this nation, as well as the
problem of peace abroad.
I can only say to the representatives of
the business community who rendered such
a disservice to the principles upon which
the Convention was founded and who vio-
lated the will of the Convention by the or-
ganized campaign to thwart that will once
it had been expressed, that I hope they will
learn from history. I say this factually be-
cause in time after time when we have
come down to the legislature for legislation
to eliminate injustices, the business com-
munity has been on the opposite side op-
posing. But now in communities they are
seeing what these practices have done.
There is an old saying you cannot keep an
old fellow in a ditch without staying there
to keep him down. The business community
has come to us in Baltimore City through
the urban coalition asking us to help them
rebuild the inner cities because the prac-
tices which they have fostered have caused
the great deterioration and loss.
I only hope and only wish that more of
them could have been at this Convention
because I think they would have responded
and been as as moved to do the fair and
just thing as our delegates here and I
want to pay tribute to the delegates here
who have represented business interests
who have voted, when the Convention first
considered this problem and after fair de-
bate, voted with us on this matter.
I, too, want to say that we have done a
number of good things here and I think
that the constitution which we have evolved
is too important to not take the leader-
ship in getting it adopted and so I hope
that business will be on our side in the
legislature since they say it is a statutory
matter to correct the injustices which now
abound in the economic field.
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: Mr. President
and fellow delegates: I rise first to con-
gratulate the two ladies, Mrs. Miller and
Mrs. Bothe, for their wisdom in taking the
course of action which they have selected
for today and also to thank all of you for
your patience in listening to those of us
who feel so strongly on this one issue that
we requested time to address you for just a
few moments.
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