Even more encouraging is the fact that from an unemployment
position considerably worse than the national rate in February
Maryland climbed to a point above the national average, and in fact
recovered from the recession at a 13. 6 per cent faster rate than the
country as a whole.

It is regrettable, to be sure, that in the midst of this general
economic prosperity there remain within our state pockets of unem-
ployment and economic distress.

In this connection, it is satisfying to be able to say that at the
state level we have taken remedial action. We have not just stood
by idly, shaking our heads and making sympathetic noises. Instead,
all state and related agencies which could assist these areas have been
actively doing all that is possible to help, including my own office,
the Department of Economic Development, the Department of Em-
ployment Security, the Maryland Port Authority, the Development
Credit Corporation and others.

Since our best hope for immediate assistance for these problem
areas resides with the federal government, our efforts have been
concentrated in that direction. We have been diligent in trying to
persuade federal procurement agencies to give more contracts to
those industries whose troubles are mainly due to the decline or
cessation of federal purchases.

In summation, the economic condition in which we find ourselves
is reassuring. But again, as I have in the past, I would caution against
over-confidence and overexuberance. The problem I am presenting
to you is not built on overconfidence. It is, in fact, a program of
moderation which attempts to balance the requirements of the
people for governmental services with their desire and ability to
pay for these services through taxation.

The financial program calls for a general-fund expenditure of
approximately $20, 000, 000 in excess of that you appropriated last
year. But here it should be pointed out that in a vast majority of the
cases the increases reflect not new undertakings but improvements
or extensions of existing services. In almost every instance, the in-
creases have been predetermined by policies laid down in the past
or result from such factors as population growth and the general
expansion of the economy of the State.

Let us turn now to an examination of some of the programs and
services with the view to determining what needs to be done in the
light of what we have been doing. Public education is the mainstay

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