chian Governors. The subject matter is well chosen; for this is an
occasion where we truly have a most gratifying story to tell.

Just a little over two years ago—on May 20, 1960—I invited the
governors of all of the states in the Appalachian Region to come to
Annapolis to discuss the problems common to the region. The moment
was not a promising one. The distressed area bill had just been
vetoed; stories of the impoverished conditions in the Appalachian
area were spread across our front pages, highlighted by the presidential
primary contest in West Virginia. I had been governor for only a
little more than a year, and had already met on numerous occasions
with conscientious and concerned citizens from our Western Maryland
counties in an effort to try and find out what could be done to
alleviate the economic distress of their region.

The calling of the Appalachian Governors Conference that May
was based on a single idea—an idea which I expressed in my opening
remarks to the Conference. It seemed logical to me that nothing of
real and lasting significance could be accomplished for our Western
Counties of Maryland except as part of a program whose aim would
be to rebuild and revitalize the economy of the entire Appalachian
Region. The more I examined the problems of our Western Counties,
the more it became obvious that these problems were part and parcel
of an economic and social pattern which was common to the entire
Appalachian area.

As those of you who live in Washington, Allegany and Garrett
Counties well know, the citizens of this area more often than not
look to the North—toward Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania—and to the
South—toward neighboring communities in West Virginia—in pursuing
the social and business contacts of their daily lives. In so doing you are
following the natural contours of the mountains and valleys of the
Appalachians, which historically have favored North-South over
East-West communications.

There were also several other considerations in my mind when the
invitations went out to the Appalachian governors two years ago.
One was the feeling that we in Maryland would be able to solve our
problems better if we could more easily draw on the talents and
experience of those people from other states who had already con-
tributed much time and effort to the problems of the Appalachian
area.

Yet, above all of these considerations, or rather because of all of
these considerations, it seemed to me that the immediate and impera-

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