part of the great east coast megalopolis. Common sense dictated that
we try to understand what was happening to us and what we should
do about it. Maryland's special desirability to new business and in-
dustry was clearly evident in its proximity to Washington, D. C.: its
strategic position in relation to major market areas: port facilities
for international shipping: and cultural and recreational opportun-
ities for labor and management. It was "flood tide" in the affairs of
men, and those of us responsible understood that it did very well
lead to fortune for Maryland. From its western mountains to its
Atlantic Ocean shoreline in the east, Maryland offers a range of
scenic and cultural variety unmatched in any similar area in our
country. Central to it all is what Captain John Smith once called the
most beautiful inland waterway he had ever seen — what we now
call the Chesapeake Bay.

I do not mean to imply that Maryland has no problems, but I
spoke before of our pride in our tradition of meeting our problems
imaginatively, realistically, and constructively. Perhaps the best il-
lustration of this is Appalachia, an area of chronic depression shared
by many states. Maryland, which has three Appalachian counties,
responded by initiating and implementing the concept of a co-
operative multi-state approach to the region's deep-rooted social and
economic problems. A recommendation of the Department of Eco-
nomic Development was responsible for my calling the first conference
of Appalachian governors in 1960. Out of this meeting grew the
federal-state Appalachian program enacted last year. This particular
program underscores another facet of our thinking. As I said earlier,
we are not only concerned with holding and fostering talent that
presents itself to us, but also for making it possible that it develop
anywhere in Maryland. It is this same thinking that underlies our new
state financial aids for business and industry. Time after time, we
have learned that sound industry seeking a plant location is not
interested primarily in avoiding taxation.

The most respected firms have learned to examine closely the "gift
horse" and investigate just what services they may have to do without.
The consensus seems to be summarized by a major industrial leader
in a recent speech who said, "we want to pay our fair share, because
we have discovered that someone will eventually have to pay. " Today
responsible industry also wants to participate openly in the civic and
governmental affairs of its new community, and it can do this only
when it believes that it is fairly sharing the responsibilities for all
the services it and its employees demand. Therefore, all of our finan-
cial assistance devices — revenue bonds, mortgage insurance and

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