meeting attended by persons interested in safety bears the designation
of the office I hold. And as Governor, I feel a certain responsibility for
the success of a gathering which is called the Governor's Safety-
Health Conference. I want all of you to know, therefore, that I am
profoundly conscious of my personal obligation to you for the interest
you have shown and the work you have done to make the Conference
this year the success it has been.

You have exchanged ideas about safety in the home, safety on the job,
safety at play, safety in travel. The good health and the security of the
people of Maryland have been your concern during these past two days.
I know that I can speak for all Marylanders when I say that your State
and all of its inhabitants are most grateful to you for the sincere efforts
you have made to afford them happier lives through health and safety
measures....

I am impressed, too, by the scope of your program, for you have
brought together here the cream of the knowledge and the skill that
is available to find the means to protect our citizens against the hazards
of everyday life.

I would hesitate to assign a priority of importance to the various
subjects which have been under discussion here at this conference.
I know that a life lost in a fire is as dear as a life lost in an accident on
the highway. I know that an injury suffered through a mishap in a home
or on a job is as painful as an injury sustained in the collision of a motor
vehicle. But with your leave, I should like to devote most of my remarks
this evening to the most horrible killer of them all—the motor vehicle
out of control.

It is painful and disheartening to me to have to stand before you this
year and report an alarming increase in the fatalities which have occurred
on the highways of Maryland. I receive a report each week from the
Maryland State Police on highway accidents, and the reports I have
been receiving recently have been most discouraging.

Day before yesterday, there appeared on my desk a statement from
the Superintendent which began with these sentences:

"There was no let-up in the slaughter on the highways of Maryland
last week, according to the weekly report issued by the Maryland State
Police for the week ending midnight, September 16. Five drivers, five
passengers and four pedestrians, for a total of fourteen fatalities, raised
the total for the year to 399. This is 101 more than for the same period
last year. "

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