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This result did not just happen. It occurred

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because I42 very dedicated and hardworking men and women

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were determined that it should happen. High hopes were

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expressed for this Convention when it convened in September,

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1967, but I daresay there was no one who would have

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prophesied then that after four months of unremitting toil

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and debate, much of which could have been so divisive as

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to cause scars which would never have healed, this Convent-

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ion would have been able to draft a constitution approved

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by the nearly unanimous vote of all the delegates. This

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bodes well for the acceptance of the constitution by the

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people of Maryland and may be regarded also, I think as a

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part of the Annapolis Achievement.

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The delegates to this Convention come from every

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section of the State, from every walk of life, from every

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social strata and many different occupations; they have

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different points of view, different philosophies of govern-

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ment, different philosophies of life, different religious

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beliefs, different educational backgrounds. In four months

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of day-to-day work on a common objective, they have learned

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much of the other fellow's point of view and have developed