on the campus of this great University to bear my name, I would
have chosen none other than this — this edifice that will house the
artistic pursuits of scholars now and in the future, this building which
symbolizes mankind's eternal quest for beauty and truth through
artistic expression.

The Fine Arts Center which we are dedicating here today marks
a significant step forward in the advancement toward maturity of this
institution of learning. I am exceedingly proud that it was erected
during my term of office as Governor of the State. And while I am
indeed pleased that the building bears my name, I know that it is in
truth a monument to all the people of Maryland who have given a
part of themselves to the building of this University, and is a memorial
especially to the members of the Board of Regents, the administrative
officers and the members of the faculty of the University of Maryland.

This is a red-letter day in the history of the University. Let us
observe it with joy and thanksgiving. In the complex industrial and
commercial society in which we live today, the emphasis is placed too
strongly I think on the material aspects of our lives — on such
things as jobs, housing and food. And while the gratification of these
material wants is a proper human purpose, it is regrettable, I think,
that too much stress is often laid upon these pursuits, to the neglect
of our intellectual and esthetic development. That man does not live
by bread alone is one of the eternal verities — a though that has
been expressed in one form or another since the dawn of civilization.
We expand a great portion of our energy in the fulfillment of our
material needs. A starved body is inimical to a sound society, but a
starved mind and a starved spirit is just as harmful. Arts and letters
are our most precious heritage. In them are embodied the knowledge,
the wisdom, the experiences of the peoples of all ages — an inexhaus-
tible treasure upon which we may draw to equip ourselves for the
struggles of life.

President Johnson, in one of his speeches spoke of arts and letters
as "the inner vision which guides us as a nation, " and went on to
say, in the words of Solomon, that "where there is no vision, the
people perish. "

I think all of us are heartened and inspired by the developments
of the past few years in which the promotion or arts and letters has
been recognized as a legitimate function of government. One of the
best examples of this, on the federal government level, was the passage
of the eighty-ninth Congress of a law establishing a national founda-
tion on the arts and humanities, a measure to support, encourage

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