Now, Maryland is, I am informed, the only state which computes a
Gross State Product, comparable to the Gross National Product com-
puted and published by the United States Department of Commerce.
Maryland's economic growth, as gauged by these two indicators, in
recent years has consistently risen at a more rapid rate than the economy
of the nation as a whole. From 1950 to 1957, Maryland ran slightly
ahead of the average maintained by the country as a whole. Since that
time, the national average has fallen while Maryland continued on an
upward tend. And the report I received from the Department of Eco-
nomic Development just two days ago showed that, by an evaluation of
the figures for the month of August, our Gross State Product—the sum
total of all the goods and services—rose above the $9 billion mark. This,
incidentally, is, to my knowledge, the first announcement that has been
made of this figure.

There are many other indicators which I have examined tending to
show the general good health of the economy of our State. Many of you
probably saw a few days ago a report from the Comptroller of the
Treasury which showed that for the first quarter of the current fiscal
year, while State income from all sources rose by 7 1/2 per cent over a
corresponding period of last year, revenues from corporation incomes
shot upward by an almost startling 46. 1 per cent. Now, I think it is
quite obvious that corporations, like individuals, do not pay income taxes
unless they are earning money. And so, I think we can say, without fear
of successful contradiction, that our business organizations have been
enjoying good earnings since the fiscal year began last July 1.

Let us examine another measurement—what the economists call per
capita "real income. " Since the year 1948, Maryland's per capita real
income climbed by 34 per cent, while that for the country as a whole
increased by only 27 per cent. In other words, the gains we have made
since that time were roughly 25 per cent better than the gains of the
country as a whole. The figures for contract construction show that
Maryland has reached the highest point in its history. In Baltimore City,
for the month of August, this rate had risen by an amazing 32 per cent,
and in Baltimore County, by 30 per cent. Unemployment figures are
always something less than satisfying, but here again Maryland is not
suffering for lack of jobs as much as the nation as a whole is suffering.

Now, I know the danger of becoming mesmerized by figures and statis-
tics. "No one has an almanac of the future to rely on—to accurately
forecast, " a nationally-renowned economist said recently, in commenting
on the Maryland situation. But here I am using the most accurate yard-
sticks of conditions that are available, and they show unmistakably that

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