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three times and cannot agree on the
language.
THE PRESIDENT: Is the problem with
the language or the punctuation?
A note has been passed up to me which
I would like to read to you.
All of the pages would like to express
to the Convention their appreciation for
the opportunity afforded to them by the
Constitutional Convention.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Borom.
DELEGATE BOROM: Mr. Chairman, I
have just received a note from the chef at
the Maryland Inn indicating that the main
bill of fare for that Committee tonight is
alphabet soup.
DELEGATE SCHNEIDER: We have
recognized many of the workers of the staff
of the Convention, but there is one person
who is not really a member of the staff of
the Convention, but has been so helpful to
some of the delegates. I think we should
recognize her. It is the secretary to the
Attorney General, Janet Mutscheler.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Gill.
DELEGATE GILL: Mr. President and
fellow delegates, a lot has been said about
the constitution. A lot has been said about
the President and his staff, and a lot of
other people that have helped to write the
Constitution.
I did not want to say this before, be-
cause I thought it might be in a resolution,
or someone else might say it, but I do not
think the time should pass without it being
mentioned.
I would like to commend the delegates
and the City of Annapolis, and especially
the business community, for the spirit of
democracy that has been shown during the
three months that we have been here. Once
before I mentioned that Maryland was the
United States in miniature, and I meant
just that. I did not mean an America in
miniature, because that is too all-inclusive.
I would like to say again that the mem-
bers of this Constitutional Convention have
been the United States in miniature again.
We come from Maryland, which repre-
sents so many different thoughts, so many
different opinions, so many different back-
grounds, and so much that is very, very
different.
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Personally I hope the other Negro dele-
gates can say the same thing: I do not
think that there has been anything that
has caused us to feel that we were not
treated as first-class citizens.
Just two years ago I would not have been
able to stand on the floor and say that,
because that was during the time when a
lot of demonstrations were going on, and
you could not enter a hotel or motel or
restaurant; and it is just historical that
the constitution is being written during this
time when it is possible for the world to
see that democracy does work and can
work. And when each delegate goes back
to his home, I hope he will remember this
as a prime example that we can get along
together. I do not think any American
citizen wants anything but first-class citi-
zenship, and just to be treated as an ordi-
nary person, and I think that was dona
here.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Presi-
dent and ladies and gentlemen: I do not
think that anything has been said during
the course of the resolutions about the
gratitude which this Convention owes to
the members of the original Constitutional
Convention Commission, of which you were
the Chairman, and I think it would be: ap-
propriate at this time to record for (he
transcript of these proceedings our grati-
tude to the Commission for the two yours
of work which it did, and for the oppor-
tunity to have as our first consideration
here the Commission draft, which proved
to be so helpful and so fruitful.
The fact that it may not have been fol-
lowed in all respects certainly is no indica-
tion that we did not find it eminently
satisfactory as a point of origin and a
point of departure.
I do think we owe all of those members,
those who were elected here as delegates
and those who were not, our thanks for
those two years of hard work.
I would like to express the gratitude on
behalf of our Convention.
The committee room is set up with cam-
eras for a simulated committee meeting
which I wish you would come to imme-
diately for the purpose of a documentary
film.
THE PRESIDENT: This is important,
as it becomes part of the complete record
that we are trying to maintain.
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