138 State Papers and Addresses

plans, such as the promise of exceedingly large pensions, or weekly payments
impossible of fulfillment.

A few minutes ago I said that I considered the calibre of appointees as
one of the most important factors for a successful administration. This was
a repetition of what had been asserted in my inaugural address. In making
my appointments during the year, I attempted to prove that I meant what I
said. Probably no branch of the government demanded the services of an out-
standing and well-qualified executive more than the State Roads Commission
for its Chairman. I selected Ezra B. Whitman, told him that his hands would
be upheld in the effort to give Maryland the best system of roads that could be
built. And we have backed up and supported him and his associates, W. Frank
Thomas of Carroll County and P. Watson Webb of Dorchester, as well as the
Chief Engineer, Wilson T. Ballard.

For the position of Chairman of the Conservation Commission I appointed
Edwin Warfield and with him Robert S. Harrison of Talbot County and Allan
J. Sollers of Charles County. As Chairman of the Department of Public Wel-
fare, formulating policies for the handling of relief and social security ap-
propriations, W. Wallace Lanahan was chosen, with a Board of outstanding
citizens from various parts of the State to give attention to these vital matters
affecting the less fortunate of our citizens.

For the important post of State Insurance Commissioner I was happy to
secure the services of John B. Centrum, and his successful work and his unani-
mous endorsement by all who have had business with his department is sufficient
proof that no mistake was made. For the Board of Liquor License Commis-
sioners for Baltimore City, with its difficult problems, I selected Charles T.
LeViness, 3rd, Dr. J. L. Valentini and C. Delano Ames.

As the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles I procured the services of W. Lee
Elgin, the former Mayor of Hagerstown, and as my appointee on the State
Tax Commission, Dr. Thomas W. Koon, the former Mayor of Cumberland, was
selected.

To head the State Police, I appointed Colonel Beverly Ober; on the State
Game and Inland Fish Commission, W. Garner Denmead; as Chief Judge of the
Traffic Court, Robert France, then President of the Bar Association; as Com-
missioner of Labor and Statistics, John N. Pohlhaus; as Chief Judge of the
Juvenile Court, H. Hamilton Hackney, and as Administrator of Loans, former
State Senator Mary Risteau. These capable officials are but a few of the many
conscientious men and women who have been selected for service in the State
Administration and whose appointment was a fulfillment of the pledge I made
to secure dutiful and efficient officials.

Having referred to the State Roads Commission, one of the most important
agencies of the State Government, let us report now as to its functioning.
During the past year this Commission has reorganized and revitalized the main-
tenance and construction work in the different districts throughout the State,
with marked improvement already apparent, and by visits of the Commission to
the various Counties, has effected a closer cooperation with the Counties, with
a consequent closer check upon, and cooperation in, the various County road
programs for 1940.

The Commission completed the Ritchie Highway during the year, and has
begun work on the final stretch of the new Philadelphia Road between Havre
de Grace and Elkton, with the expectation that it will be completed during the