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Chairman Clagett said that he detected general

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agreement on the part of the Committee members that the

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county should be the basic unit of government, as of that

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point. He agreed with Judge Adkins not to pin down the

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future of what local governments should look like too

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explicitly in any proposed constitutional revision. He

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also at this point raised the question, he said the

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Committee must face up to the question whether local

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government, whether the creation of local government

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should be made in the Legislature or whether power to

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create new units of local governments should be given to

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local bodies themselves.

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Consultant Loevy raised the question of abolish

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ing small cities and the further question of just how many

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small cities there were in Maryland and to what extent

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their powers existed. Mrs. Freedlander agreed on the

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abolition of small cities as being in many cases largely

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unrealistic units of government. Consultant Loevy at

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this point raised the question of a definition for the

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concept of home rule, whether home rule powers should be

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clearly laid out in the Constitution or should be left to