gate Gallagher is mistaken. Delegate Barn-
berger was to speak at this point.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Bamberger.
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: The issues
before us are really two: first is the issue
of what shall be the proper size of the
General Assembly if it is to be efficient,
if it is to be strong, if it is to stand in
its proper relationship to the executive
and to the judiciary.
The second issue, and the issue stressed
before our Committee by the witnesses
who are now members of the General As-
sembly and by the. seven members of our
Committee who are present or former
members of the General Assembly, was to
free us from the kind of turmoil, the kind
of rending trauma that we have when we
must make decisions about increasing or
decreasing the House and the Senate.
Obviously, it is difficult for a body of
men and women gathered together to con-
sider legislation, each hoping to have the
support of the other for some particular
proposal, to sit and decide that some mem-
bers of that group may not come back,
that some are there for the last time, that
the size must be reduced.
It is equally difficult even to increase the
size, because when you increase the size,
you change political boundaries, you shift
political power, you make it easier or more
difficult for somebody to be elected or to be
re-elected.
As the Chairman has said, with almost
one voice, the members of the General As-
sembly who came before us said, we do
not want that. That tears up this body.
Set a size. We understand it is difficult
to decide now what is the optimum size,
but we have to have some guides.
Our Committee talked about this, I
should suppose, from the first day that we
met. There was no lack of sympathy on our
Committee for the problems of the small
counties. There were articulate spokesmen
for the small counties on our Committee.
This Convention, the Committee of the
Whole, has before it the testimony of its
two vice presidents, one of whom is a
President of the Senate, the other of whom
is a distinguished member of the Senate
both of whom say to you, the present size
is not the most efficient, the present size
is not efficient.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have little less
than a half minute. |
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: I suggest
with that testimony that we ought to be
convinced, that we ought to reduce the
size. Now 35-105 is the product of com-
promise. I point out to you that of the
seven present or former members of the
General Assembly who served on the Com-
mittee, four, as noted in the report, voted
that it should be 35-105, and that we should
free the General Assembly from this prob-
lem, this trauma, so it might attend to
its work.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your time is up.
Delegate Gallagher, you have a half
minute.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Chair-
man, I will not allocate. I will simply say
this: Delegate Rosalie Abrams asked for a
size of 100 and 33; Charles Doctor, 80 to
100 in the House, 40 in the Senate; Dele-
gate Finney, or Senator Finney, 33 senators
and a smaller House; Delegate Blair Lee,
80 House members, 40 senators; Mr. Man-
dell, 100 House members, 40 senators; Dele-
gate Sarbans, 105-35, Delegate Edna Cook,
123-member House, a smaller Senate, Dele-
gate James, 80-40, Delegate dark, 80-40.
THE CHAIRMAN: There is now author-
ized twenty minutes of uncontrolled debate.
Does any delegate desire to speak in favor
of the amendment?
Delegate Gleason?
DELEGATE GLEASON: Mr. Chairman,
I wonder at this time if we could get a
motion to extend the time for the unalloted
time from three to five minutes.
THE CHAIRMAN: The allotted time
per speaker is presently five minutes under
the schedule, as amended. I suggest, how-
ever, that since total time is twenty min-
utes, it obviously would be unfair to have
many delegates try to use five minutes.
Do you desire to speak on the amend-
ment?
DELEGATE GLEASON: This mike
keeps shutting on and off.
I do not know when I can speak, but I
think we will just wait until the time
expires and then if other people have to
speak, we will ask for an extension.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in favor of the amend-
ment?
(There was no response.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gleason, |
