State to see inside our mental institutions. I think they would gain a
broader understanding of what we are trying to do. Secondly, this
attractive canteen, decorated and equipped to resemble the restaurants
scattered along our highways, will help the convalescent patient to
reorient himself to the life outside into which he is to go as a result
of the treatment he received at this hospital.

As I survey this scene, I see more than just a building of bricks
and mortar and steel. I see in it, rather a symbol of the charity, the
kind-heartedness, the brotherly love that fill the souls of good men
and women everywhere. This canteen, as we know, bears the stamp
of uniqueness. Now a State building, it was erected and equipped
with no State funds. It is staffed and serviced without money from
the State treasury. Instead, it was built from funds left to the hospital
by persons who wished to express their appreciation for the care
rendered a beloved relative or friend, from monies left to commemorate
the distinguished deeds of Auxiliary members or from funds earned
by the Woman's Auxiliary through benefit parties or other of its
numerous activities. In no other State hospital in Maryland can such
a project be found, I am told.

You will forgive me, I am sure, if I seem extravagant of praise,
but here, indeed, is a remarkable situation. It appears extraordinary
especially to those of us who find ourselves engaged in the task of
providing the public services the people demand and collecting from
the people the money to pay for them. Human nature being what
it is, the demands of the people of the State invariably exceed their
willingness to pay, with the result that we who are charged with the
responsibility of balancing the two are compelled, often to our personal
and political discomfiture, either to deny their wants or make them
dig deeper into their pockets than they would like to.

Here in Springfield we find citizens not asking of, but giving to,
the State. Here we find men and women concerned about the problems
of mental health and taking upon themselves the responsibility of
doing something about it. In a democracy such as we have, this is
a most encouraging sign. It represents a will of the people to do for
themselves and not just to stand by and wait for gratuities, from the
State or elsewhere. I was touched deeply, as I know you were, by
that statement in the will of George Glendenning, the great Mary-
lander who, in bequeathing $32, 000 to this hospital—money used to
erect this building—said:

"This bequest is made because of the splendid care they gave my
father when I was unable to help him. "

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