housing which older persons can afford and that a campaign be waged
to eliminate age discrimination in employment.

In Maryland, steps have been taken to remove some of the barriers
against the employment of elderly persons in our State service. And
recently I sent out inquiries to key business figures in the State, asking
them for suggestions about how we may go about providing more em-
ployment opportunities for older people.

It has come to my attention that the Baltimore City Council has
passed a resolution asking the General Assembly to authorize real-estate
tax exemptions for home-owning pensioners. Within the several sub-
divisions of the State, varying conditions prevail which would make it
difficult for the General Assembly fairly to set a specific and uniform
figure of exemption. Upon the recommendation of the Commission on
the Aging, however, I am advocating the passage of legislation which
would empower the subdivisions to grant the kind of real estate tax
exemptions they feel will meet their requirements.

I should like to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem you are
studying at this conference—"The use of leisure time. "

I like to think of leisure as work without pressure. Certainly leisure
does not mean idleness.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that "to be seventy years young is
sometimes more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. " But
it can be neither cheerful nor hopeful if the added years granted us are
to be spent in loneliness and uselessness.

We are enjoined not to forsake the sick and the weak, but at the same
time we must remain aware of the needs of the healthy, cheerful and
hopeful persons in retirement. In the interest of such persons, we must
ask ourselves these questions:

Are there vital opportunities within communities for making use of
the wisdom and skills of older persons—of bringing together the old
and the young for the benefit of both?

Is there a place for them to gather, to work, to study, to exchange
ideas?

Are our churches, civic clubs, libraries, community centers aware of
the need of older persons for inclusion in their programs?

Is the great human need to contribute being met within our com-
munities with respect to the older citizens?

I am advised that four counties have established local commissions

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