of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 269

or another a new agency made its appearance in different states of our Country.
This agency is the Legislative Council. Its purpose has been to afford a more
continuous and more studious system of law-making by setting up special
committees, or commissions, usually assisted by a technical or research staff,
to meet between sessions of the Legislature and to consider and assemble data
upon the important questions that were to be presented to the ensuing session.
Here in Maryland the people in years past faced the same situation as
confronted other states in the field of legislation. Recognizing this fact, we
advocated several years ago a Legislative Council for our State and, after
becoming Governor, I sponsored the idea wholeheartily and made it a part of
the Administration Program.

The General Assembly of 1939 enacted the law establishing the Council.
The set-up of the Maryland Council is a fortunate one, because its member-
ship is limited to elected representatives of the people of one or other house of
the Legislature. The Council is composed of key members of the Senate and
of the House, the presiding officers, floor leaders of both parties, the chairman
of important committees and representatives of the general body of both
houses. Composed as it is of representatives of both the majority and minor-
ity parties, assurance is present that an opportunity will be given to all
interests required to be heard. It must be understood that no power was
taken away from the Legislature in the creation of the Council. The General
Assembly still retains and will continue to exercise all the powers and rights
it has enjoyed heretofore.

After the adjournment of the regular session of the General Assembly,
the Legislative Council proceeded to get down to business in a very workman-
like fashion. In a period of fourteen months, twenty-eight regular meetings
have been held with morning and afternoon sessions and sometime with night
sessions. In addition, there have been numerous meetings of sub-committees.
Because, as above stated, the Council is composed only of members of the
Legislature, I, as Governor, am not a part of this agency. Consequently, I
can speak freely as to the manner of which it is operated. I want to say
now that the members of the Legislative Council deserve the thanks of the
people of Maryland for the conscientious discharge of their duties. There
has been no division along political or sectional lines. Rather, the members
have devoted themselves energetically to the study and consideration of various
and far-reaching State problems, with a determination to get at the bottom
of the questions and have ready for their colleagues in the regular session
definite proposals for them to consider. I am firmly of the belief that the
Legislative Council has already justified itself by the painstaking care it has
exercised in the treatment of disputed matters coming before the members.

In view of the fact that the Governor is not a member of the Council, I
have consistently refrained from taking any part in the deliberations of the
body. However, every cooperation has been given through the State depart-
ments to make effective the work of the Council. For instance, the heads of
every important State department have appeared before the Council, have
reviewed the workings of their respective divisions, and have in most cases
made definite recommendations for improving the functioning of the depart-
ments under them. This was an absolutely necessary background for the
work of the Council, and it is a -background that will prove invaluable, no