296 ARTICLE 49B.

ARTICLE 49B.

INTERRACIAL COMMISSION.

1. Appointment; terms; executive sec- I 2. Compensation and expenses.

retary. I 3. By-laws and regulations; powers.

1927, ch. 559, sec. 1.

1. There shall be a permanent Interracial Commission, which shall
consider questions concerning the welfare of colored people residing in the
State of Maryland, recommend legislation and sponsor movements looking
to the welfare of said people, and to the improvement of interracial rela-
tions, and to co-operate with other State agencies to these ends.

Said Commission shall consist of the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction and eighteen members equally divided between the white and
colored races, including a white chairman. All members shall be appointed
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, except that the
members first appointed under this Article shall be appointed by the Gov-
ernor alone and their terms of office shall begin on September 1, 1927.
The members of said Commission shall hold office for six years, provided
that those appointed under this Article shall be so classed by the Governor
that the terms of office of six shall expire on the first Monday of May, 1928,
the terms of office of six on the first Monday of May, 1930, and the terms
of office of six on the first Monday of May, 1932, and thereafter in each
case the Governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint six
members in the place of the six whose terms shall so expire. All vacancies
occurring by reason of death, resignation or removal from the State shall
be filled by the Governor for the unexpired terms. There shall be a colored
Executive Secretary of the Commission. The members of the Interracial
Commission shall serve without pay.

The Executive Secretary shall be appointed by the members of the Com-
mission, or a majority of them, provided that such appointment shall not
take effect before October 1, 1927. The Executive Secretary shall hold
such office as long as he shall faithfully and efficiently discharge the du-
ties thereof. He may be removed by the Commission for cause in accord-
ance with the By-Laws after an opportunity for a hearing, and any vacancy
occurring in the office shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore provided.

The Executive Secretary shall report annually on or before January 1st,
to the Interracial Commission, concerning the activities and proceedings of
the Interracial Commission, which reports shall be transmitted by the
Chairman of the Commission to the Governor.

Ch. 559 of Acts of 1927 designated this article as art. 49-1, but it is codified as art.
49B for consistency.