his first love and interest will be Kent
County.
We are not asking for anything that the
Supreme Court said we should not have.
We have no right to come before this body
and ask for something that the Supreme
Court said we are not due. We do have a
right to come before this body and ask for
fairness and justice, however, and I submit
to you that the Chairman of the Legislative
Committee, who gave the majority report,
stated in that report that they wanted to
be fair to the rural counties. I submit to
this body that there is only one way to be
fair and that will be for fractional voting,
and for that reason I support the amend-
ment to the amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak in opposition to the
amendment?
Delegate Mason, do you so desire, to
speak in opposition?
DELEGATE MASON: Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN: You may proceed.
DELEGATE MASON: Mr. Chairman, I
rise to speak in opposition to the amend-
ment, and I support the amendment by
Delegate Sherbow.
In supporting this amendment I am not
unmindful of the "treatment" that the
urban areas have received over the past
hundred years by the rural areas; but we
have been debating this question for hours.
The Committee on the Legislative Branch
indicated that when they considered the
120-40 number in their Committee they
split ten to ten.
That is a good indication as to how that
Committee felt about it at the time they
voted on it. Therefore, I think that the 120-
40 is a good compromise on this floor.
Therefore, I vote, or I will vote against the
amendment to the amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. James dark.
DELEGATE J. CLARK: Mr. Chairman,
I would like to speak for the amendment
to the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of
the Committee, it is imperative that we
reach a consensus on this matter. It is more
imperative that we reach a consensus with
good grace and good feeling because this
will help our endeavor very much.
I can say that Delegate Hanson and the
Chairman of the Committee, Delegate Gal- |
lagher, put their finger on it when they
said that by increasing the size of the
House from 108 to 120 you are really not
doing what you are trying to do. What you
are doing here is putting more delegates
into the metropolitan areas where they are
not wanted and where they are not needed,
and you are not putting them in the rural
areas at the extremities of this State. This
is the problem with which we are strug-
gling, in actuality.
I have a deep concern for the smaller
counties. They have added much to the past
legislatures, and if we can provide some
means by which they can have a voice—
and I think we can do this—they will add
a great deal to future legislatures.
For this reason I think that Delegate
Hickman has hit the nail on the head and
has seen the light. I believe that if we will
support the committee for the lower num-
ber, and then support the provision for the
fractional vote, we will have struck a com-
promise, which will serve this State well
for many years to come.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak in opposition?
DELEGATE VECERA: Mr. Chairman,
members of the Committee, I object to
Senator dark's remarks in that the dele-
gates are needed and are wanted in the
urban areas, and we also want to work
with our fellow brethren throughout the
State in order that they also may have
representation.
It is, therefore, my earnest intent to sup-
port Delegate Sherbow's amendment to the
amendment.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Beatrice
Miller, do you desire to speak in favor of
the amendment?
DELEGATE B. MILLER: Mr. Chair-
man, it seems to me that we came here
today to rewrite a Constitution that is 100
years old, and that the situation is not the
same as it was 100 years ago. If it were,
we would not have had to come here today.
Political subdivisions today are different.
We have to provide for sprawling suburbia.
The Chairman has stated that some of
these small counties have less population
today than they had in 1776. How small
does a county become before we stop think-
ing of it as a representative political sub-
division? Do we wait until it gets down to
15,000, 1,500, or 900? It is important, also,
I think, here to realize that the issue is |
