ADDRESS, MARYLAND VOLUNTEER
FIREMEN'S ASSOCIATION

OCEAN CITY

June 19, 1963

I am happy, as I always am, to be here with my many friends of the
Maryland State Firemen's Association and the Association's Ladies
Auxiliary who have gathered here for another state convention. I have
been coming to these events, as all of you know, for many, many years,
and it would be impossible for me to exaggerate the pleasure and the
satisfaction I have derived from them.

My association with firemen—and with their wives and their families
—has been one of the truly rewarding experiences of my life. The
friendships I have cultivated among the membership of this Associa-
tion have added depth and breadth to my experience. I prize them as
among the very highest of my earthly possessions.

Firemen, I have found, are a happy and fun-loving lot, and a part
of coming here each year is to enjoy the pleasure of companionship
with men and women of a kindred spirit. But firemen also are a
serious and sober group when it becomes a question of the performance
of their assigned task—the protection of the people and their property
from fires. This afternoon, I should like to talk to you briefly about
some of the things we have been doing in Maryland in the area of fire
prevention and fire protection.

We have achieved a great record here in our State in safeguarding
our citizens against the devastation of fires. Proof of the caliber of
our fire-fighting organizations, and of the quality of the work they are
doing in this all-important task, is to be found in the decisions by our
Insurance Commissioner on the rates home owners pay in insuring
their properties. The Commissioner announced last February 1, that
rates for homeowners policies had been reduced by 20 per cent. And
since I have been Governor, the premium rates for basic fire policies
have been reduced by 13 per cent.

Now, these figures are highly significant. They are particularly
significant because while nationally the trend in insurance rates is
sharply upward the rates in Maryland continue to decline. This is a
tribute to the very commendable efforts which have been made by fire
fighters throughout the State. The savings in insurance premiums
alone resulting from the 20 per cent decrease in the rates of home-

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