THEODORE R. MCKELDIN, GOVERNOR 2111

Therefore, I am returning the Bill without my approval.

Respectfully,

THEODORE R. MCKELDIN,
TRMcK/jmt Governor

May 7, 1951

Hon. John C. Luber
Speaker of the House of Delegates
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Mr. Speaker:

I requested the Hon. Hall Hammond, the Attorney General,
to advise me as to the legal form and sufficiency of House Bill
No. 643, and he commented as follows:

There are many pending applications for leases in Somerset
County, to which protests have been filed but which, as yet,
have not been tried in Court, and will not be tried prior to
June 1st. Mr. Hammond advised that four cases have come to
his attention in which applications for oyster leases in Somer-
set County have been made and protests by three Maryland
residents have been duly filed under Section 12 (j) of Article
72 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1947 Supplement).
Since the filing of these protests, one of the three protestants in
each of the four cases has withdrawn as a protestant. This
only leaves two protestants and the law requires three. On
behalf of the Tidewater Fisheries Commission, Motions to Dis-
miss the protests have been filed for the reason that they are
no longer in compliance • with the statute. The Attorney
General has been informed by the Attorney for the protestants
that, should the Court sustain the Motions to Dismiss, he will
file an appeal to the Court of Appeals of Maryland solely
to delay the granting of leases until after June 1, 1951, the
effective date of House Bill No. 643.

Mr. Hammond stated also that he knows the applicants in
these cases have made substantial expenditures in connection
with these leases.

While Mr. Hammond feels that although he could not
definitely say that these considerations would render the Bill
unconstitutional, a constitutional question does exist and as a
practical matter, the Bill certainly would result in unfairness
to the applicants.

Also, the enactment into law of this Bill would restrict the
further development of cooperative shell fisheries. The Tide-
water Fisheries Commission regards the cooperative as one
practical, working solution to the conflicts that make public
operations inefficient and believes the restrictions of this Bill
block the development of barren bottoms.