associations and their insurers, thus affording to investors in these in-
stitutions safeguards they heretofore have not had....

The legislation creating a new Municipal Court for Baltimore City
affects primarily the people of that city, but in a very real sense it is
legislation of Statewide import, since the courts of the city are an integral
part of our State judicial system....

As a practical matter, the redrawing of internal political boundaries
is one of the most difficult tasks a state legislative body is ever called
upon to undertake. The General Assembly faced that task this year
when it confronted the problem of realigning the Congressional Districts
to accommodate an additional Congressman allotted to Maryland in the
1960 census. The new Eighth District created by the General Assembly
is comprised of Prince George's and Howard Counties, which were taken
from the largest district, the Fifth. Baltimore City precincts of the
Brooklyn and Curtis Bay area were shifted from the Fifth to the all-city
Third District. By petition, this legislation has been referred to the
voters of the State in a referendum and I will reserve comment on it at
this time.

Our program of traffic safety was advanced a step further this year
when the General Assembly approved a bill providing for driver edu-
cation courses in our public high schools.... Maryland becomes a safer
State with every mile of new highway that is constructed in our stepped-
up road-building program. We have attempted to improve law enforce-
ment by making annual additions to the strength of the Maryland State
Police. Forty new patrolmen have been added to the force, as has been
the case every year since I became Governor. The budget was amended
at this session to give salary increases to State Troopers, a measure
designed to attract the most qualified men to these important positions.
Another bill placing the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles under the
classified service will, we believe, enhance the operation of the point
system, which is a mainstay in our program of traffic safety.

With the cooperation of the General Assembly, I undertook at the
beginning of my term to revise and reorganize some of the departments
and agencies of the State government to increase their efficiency and
their effectiveness. Included were the State Roads Commission, the
Department of Tidewater Fisheries, the Planning Department and the
Department of Assessments and Taxation. New agencies created in-
cluded the Department of Economic Development and the Commission
on the Aging.

This program to improve administration was advanced another step

299