Burton, of Fairfax county, Virginia; to Mr. Harvey Hannah, of the
Federal Trade Commission. We welcome you as our guests and appre-
ciate your attendance.

The program which I mentioned before offers every indication that
much thought and much planning has gone into preparations for this
third in a series of annual meeting's on fire prevention. It appears to me
that practically every facet of our problem has been covered in the
several group conferences which have been scheduled for today and
tomorrow. With this plan, and with the brains and the talents which
have been marshaled, there is every reason for confidence that our
conference this year will be a great success.

The safety of our citizens and the security of their property are, of
course, of tremendous significance to all of us. As has been said so many
times before, destructive fires are the creation of men, and, as such, are
susceptible of prevention by the acts of men. This is all the more reason
why there is a basic public shame in the fact so many lives are lost and so
much property is destroyed by fires which could and should have been
prevented.

I am realistic enough to confess that the possibility of a total elimi-
nation of fires is extremely remote. But we have demonstrated that fires
in homes, in schools, in factories, in assorted places of business and pub-
lic congregation, can be reduced, and reduced drastically. We have the
resources and the knowledge to give a large measure of protection to the
people against the peril of fires. It is our obligation, as persons perhaps
more conversant with the problem than others, to sec to it that these
resources and this knowledge are effectively applied.

An announcement made public only a few days ago enables us to
begin this conference on a note of optimism and confidence. On Thurs-
day of last week, Mr. F. Douglass Sears, our State Insurance Commis-
sioner and Fire Marshal, announced that Maryland fire insurance rates
have been reduced by 6 per cent, which will result in an annual savings
to fire insurance policyholders of approximately $1, 500, 000. The new
rates approved by the Commissioner were filed by the Maryland Fire
Underwriters Rating Bureau. The reductions vary from 5 per cent for
residential buildings and household furnishings to 35 per cent for office
and bank risks, hospitals and penal institutions and builders risks. This,
incidentally, was the second rate reduction ordered in the past two and
a half years.

This action by the Rating Bureau is concrete evidence that progress
has been made in our State in the reduction of fire losses through

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