vexing problems, and among them is the problem of developing mass-
transportation systems capable of handling the millions of people who
daily move into and out of these two great cities. The public trans-
portation systems of both cities, now antiquated and totally inadequate,
will have to be revamped if this problem is to be resolved. Maryland
has entered into a compact with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the
District of Columbia for the development of an adequate mass-trans-
portation system for the Washington area. And at this Session of the
General Assembly, a metropolitan transit authority for the Baltimore
area was approved, a move which I consider to be a significant first
step toward ultimate attainment of a modern public transportation
system for this area.

I have attempted here to offer you no more than a summary of the
activities of the 1961 session of the General Assembly. I am satisfied in
my own mind that much was accomplished for the betterment of your
State government and for the improvement of the services it renders
to the people of Maryland. If I have implied that this record reflects
some credit upon myself and upon my Administration, I do so in full
awareness that you have a right to expect as much, and perhaps much
more, from the public officials in whose hands you entrust your
government.

ADDRESS, REGIONAL MEETING MARYLAND

CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES

CAMBRIDGE

June 13, 1961

I am delighted to have this opportunity to meet with my friends
of the Eastern Shore and my fellow-workers in the service of the State
of Maryland. For twenty years, it has been my privilege to work in
a very close relationship with employees of the State in the classified
service. It has been a most happy and a most rewarding experience.

I can assure you that whatever success I may have achieved in the
offices I have held—as Bank Commissioner, as Comptroller of the
Treasury and now as Governor—is in a very large measure a result of
the cooperation I have received from this group.

We are all very proud of our merit system here in Maryland. In
operation now for more than forty-one years, it is not only one of the
oldest but is certainly one of the most efficient of State merit systems in

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