effective fire prevention and fire protection practices. It speaks well of
every fire company, paid and volunteer, and for every individual mem-
ber of these companies. It speaks well of the fire-prevention and fire-
protection personnel of industrial plants, commercial enterprises and
public institutions. It speaks well of our Fire Service Extension Depart-
ment at the University of Maryland, which has performed so mag-
nificently in training the firemen of our State in the techniques of fire
fighting and in the methods of fire prevention. It is a clear and irre-
futable indication that the efforts exerted by you, me, and all others
who have concerned themselves with this problem have borne fruit.
For we all know that the experts of the rating bureau have—and under-
standably so—but one criterion—results. If fire losses go up, rates
inevitably rise correspondingly. Conversely, if fire losses drop, we may
expect a comparable reduction in the rates.

We begin this conference, then, on a note of confidence. But let us
not begin it with a sense of self-satisfaction. As we count our small
blessings, the death toll from fires and the property destruction from
fires loom before us with agonizing certainty.

Let us at this conference, then, go about our deliberations and our
consultations with firm resolution to leave no stone unturned in our
endeavor to safeguard the lives and the property of the people of Mary-
land against the hazards of fires.

Once again, let me express my sincere thanks to all of you for the
interest you have shown in this worthy undertaking. I wish you success
in your deliberations, and I hope your stay in Annapolis will be both
profitable and enjoyable.

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