Peace, Love, Amity, Unity—this is our heritage from the Calverts and
the first settlers in Maryland. May we cherish and nurture this heritage
through many more years of peace and freedom.

ADDRESS, EASTERN SHORE SOCIETY
BALTIMORE

March 31, 1959

As an Eastern Shoreman and a member of this Society, I am pleased
and proud to be able to come here this evening as the first Eastern
Shore Governor since 1920. And I am honored, of course, to join the
succession of distinguished Eastern Shoremen who have held this high
office—men like John Walter Smith, Austin L. Crothers, Phillips Lee
Goldsborough, Emerson C. Harrington and others who preceded them.

The Constitution of our Society states that one of its purposes is
"to preserve and foster an appreciation of the history, traditions and
pleasant memories of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Let me pause here
to honor the memory of a man who to my mind exemplified this purpose
by a lifetime of dedicated efforts to this Society. Walter R. Gale, of Kent
County, who died just last week, was a charter member of the Society,
and for many years conducted its affairs through his position as Sec-
retary-Treasurer. To many of us old-timers, he was Mr. Eastern Shore
Society. We shall miss him.

Maryland is rich in history, and a part of the story of our State that
always has fascinated me is the series of boundary disputes which deter-
mined the present geographical composition. It is certainly worthy of
note that my own part of Somerset County once—not too many years
ago—was claimed by Virginia, and that I missed being a Virginian by a
one-vote margin of an arbitration committee. I should like this evening
to recount some of the history of these border disputes. For Marylanders,
it is a story not entirely, but mostly of failure and frustration. For
Maryland lost most of the controversies with the provinces around her.
Perhaps it is one of the reasons that even today we feel a little trepida-
tion at entering into compacts with our neighbors.

It is interesting to note that if we had been successful in our claims,
the entire State of Delaware would be a part of the Eastern Shore of
Maryland, along with some 20 miles of southern Pennsylvania, including
downtown Philadelphia. Or, if we had accepted certain compromises

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