has been allotted by the county units for the purchase of equipment
so they can tie into a new statewide Civil Defense radio-teletype
network available for both peacetime and wartime disasters.

A giant shelter survey and marking program is well underway in
our nation. This national project aims to find shelter for 170 million
Americans. In Maryland, shelter space has been found for about
1, 200, 000 persons. It is our hope that about 800, 000 of these spaces
can be actually marked and stocked with survival supplies. I know
that many of you who are here today are aware of this program and
that your buildings already have been designated as public shelters. I
congratulate those of you who have made this space available for the
protection of your employees and your neighbors. If any of you here
have hesitated to grant permission for such use, I hope that you will
give your decision a second and searching look. We must utilize all
of the shelter space that is available.

I am pleased to report that Civil Defense, along with the staff of
the University of Maryland Extension Service and officials of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture, are working diligently with our farm
people and with the food industry to prepare plans for a continuing
food supply in the post-attack period. I present much of this back-
ground information so that we may adequately set the stage for
today's meeting, perhaps the most important one of its type yet held
in Maryland. There is a real and widespread need to further strength-
en our defenses and organize both individually and collectively in
order that we may quickly recover and reconstitute our economy
after an attack is over. To make our post-attack planning practical,
we need your support. We have met today to stimulate a vigorous
and realistic plan of preparedness measures for banking, commerce
and industry in Maryland. Let me put it to you quite bluntly — we
are not seeking lip service for preparedness, but real planning and
progress. Too many of our people have espoused the cause of civil
defense while sitting back and actually doing little or nothing about
it. I want to make my position and plea to you today quite clear. I
am looking to this group, and the part of society that it represents,
for real action and leadership in our State. Just dwell for a moment
on the effect you will have on your employees if you really launch a
worthwhile civil defense program. They will follow the lead.

I have no desire to take your time to delve into the specifices of
how to accomplish our aims. The experts who follow me will discuss
these plans in detail. They have been selected because they are well-
equipped to impart real knowledge to all of us. It is my desire, how-

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