The topic you have chosen tor this session of your conference—
the relationship of government with our free press—is a challenging
one. I do not let myself forget, and I am sure you do not, that the
existence of a free press is our best security against forces which
would deprive us of our liberties.

In discussing the relationship of my office with the press and pub-
lic, I should like to begin by describing briefly the machinery by
which we operate. Afterward, I want to make some general obser-
vations about this relationship.

If I were to choose one word best describing the relationship of
the Governor of Maryland with the press, that word might well be
"informality. " As long as I can recall, editors and reporters have
dealt with the Governors of Maryland on a chummy, "first-name"
basis.

I was the first Governor of our State ever to hold formal, periodical
press conferences. When I initiated them, some of the older and more
experienced reporters assigned to the State House voiced some ob-
jections. They feared that the formal conferences would hamper their
freedom to move into and out of my office at will. They like the idea
of picking up a telephone, dialing a number and hearing the voice
of the Governor at the other end of the line. I like informality too,
and I try to maintain it in my relationship with representatives of
the press.

I do, as I have said, hold press conferences. They are held on a
biweekly basis, with sessions rotated for morning and afternoon pub-
lications. Unscheduled conferences are held from time to time as the
occasion arises. In tone, we try to keep them chatty, conversational
and as productive of ideas and information as possible.

My office uses most of the other conventional instruments of pub-
lic information—radio talks, television appearances, press releases. Re-
cently we began distributing a weekly newsletter, aimed primarily at
the weekly and semiweekly newspapers, of which there are some 65
or 70 in our State. We have not seen fit to set up an elaborate,
strongly staffed heavily equipped public relations office such as are
found in some states and some cities. We may someday come to this,
but the need as yet, in my opinion, has not been demonstrated.

So much for the machinery, and now let me make a few general
remarks about press relations.

In his letter inviting me to come here, Max Fullerton said it seemed