668 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

the space ship or that it was unable to serve a highly urbanized popu-
lation approaching four million people, who expect much from their
state government. For the underlying premise of the Constitution of
1867 was a distrust of political authority and its overriding virtue was
the construction of a series of checks and balances not only among —
but within — the three branches of government to prevent abuse of
authority.

The inability to envisage growth and change resulted in more than
two hundred amendments to the original document. Yet the funda-
mental flaws were so great that ultimately the Constitution was not
merely hindering administrative action — it was strangling it.

Maryland had become a static state and Maryland was not alone in
this. Other states, perhaps even the majority of them, have suffered
the same breakdown of their political nervous systems. In turn, the
Federal government, forced to fill the vacuum created by the strangled
state, has grown out of all proportion to its constitutional purposes,
and the cherished constitutional balance between Federal and state
governments has been disrupted. Thus, the importance of state con-
stitutional reform is not limited to improving the functions of state
governments individually, but may well improve the capacity and
quality of all levels of government nationally.

Obviously, as I talk about Constitutional reform I will rely on
Maryland's recently concluded Convention as an example, not only
because I know it best but because I believe we really have achieved
exemplary reform.

The success of Maryland's Constitutional Convention can be at-
tributed to several preliminary factors. First, the State was reappor-
tioned in 1966 and representation at the Convention truly reflected
the urban-suburban orientation of Maryland's population. Second,
the election to the Convention was genuinely nonpartisan. No indica-
tion of political party appeared on the ballot and in the majority of
Maryland's subdivisions the political parties united to form and sup-
port a bipartisan slate of candidates. Third, as a result of this con-
scious, nonpolitical approach many highly talented citizens were will-
ing to become candidates, although they had never been active in
partisan politics and therefore lacked the traditionally necessary broad
political base of support. Consequently, a plethora of well-qualified
civic — if not politically — oriented candidates were available and were
elected. While many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention
presently serve or have served in high elected offices, even more were
college professors, outstanding lawyers, judges, and civic leaders.