grateful, too, to the National Wildlife Federation and to the Sears-
Roebuck Foundation for sponsoring this banquet and these awards.

Once again, let me offer my congratulations and commendations
to those of you who are receiving these awards for the contributions
you have made to conservation in Maryland.

ADDRESS, MARYLAND SCENIC BEAUTY COMMISSION

ANNAPOLIS

February 8, 1966

Mr. Anderson, members of the Maryland Scenic Beauty Commis-
sion, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

The public interest in beauty and the public acceptance of the
role of government in the creation and preservation of the things
that appeal to our esthetic sense are among the remarkable occurrences
of the age in which we live. Government no longer confines its activ-
ities to the health, the safety, the education, the general welfare of
the people it serves. It must plan and execute projects with the pur-
pose of ministering to the needs of the people for that which possesses
beauty. It is recognition of the Biblical maxim that man does not
live by bread alone, and it proceeds a step beyond that maxim to
hold that society itself is obligated to make it possible for individuals
to have that which transcends the ordinary and the useful.

Your presence here at this luncheon today is an example of this
changed attitude of the public toward the part government is to play
in the creation and the preservation of beauty. The scope of the
activities of this Commission is impressive. As the agenda for this
meeting shows, your interest encompasses highway beautification, de-
sign and construction, urban, suburban and rural esthetics, scenic
land and rest areas, open space and recreational facilities, and so on.
You oppose, as ugly and objectionable, such things as unsightly junk-
yards and road signs, air and water pollution, litter and waste and
weeds and noxious plants.

Although this concept of beauty as another function of government
represents, in a sense, a departure from the traditional concept of
government's role, it is not difficult to see that ugliness — or the
absence of beauty — does in a very direct way affect the health, the
safety and the general welfare of the people. The cluttering of our

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