session of the General Assembly later this week. Meanwhile, John J.
McMullen, the distinguished Cumberland newspaper publisher and
businessman who is now a member of the Commission, has kindly agreed
to serve as Chairman until the new Commission is established.

In conclusion, gentlemen, may I express my personal appreciation of
the splendid cooperation you have given and are giving in the
modernization of the Maryland highway system. During my Adminis-
tration, we will work together to give this great State the high quality
of highway construction it requires and has every right to expect.

ADDRESS, MARYLAND HIGHWAY USERS CONFERENCE

BALTIMORE

July 1, 1959

I want to thank you of the Maryland Highway Users Conference for
inviting me to join you for lunch and to talk briefly about a subject of
interest to every Marylander—highways. I am sure all our citizens
are interested in roads, but it is gratifying to me to meet with groups
like this whose interest in better and safer highways is active and
dynamic.

You and I know that the importance of an adequate system of high-
ways in Maryland cannot be over-emphasized. We need good roads
first, of course, for safety—to shield the people of Maryland as much as
possible from the frightful expense of accidents on highways.... We
need good roads, furthermore, because they help our State economically
by inducing new business and industry to locate within the State. No
company interested in building a new plant would locate here if our
highway system were inferior—if there were no plans on the books to
improve it constantly. We could have the best geographic features, the
best tax structure, the best labor situation in the world, but no company
would build in Maryland if it could not get its product to market
efficiently and relatively inexpensively. These factors, safety and eco-
nomic growth, were prime matters of consideration when my highway
program was presented to the General Assembly early this year.

The Administration's safety program includes the point system. All
of you, I am sure, know how it works. A driver accumulates a certain
number of demerits for violations. If, as a result of frequent violations,
he collects too many of these demerits, his license is taken away. He is no

570