govern trade with other nations. He also established a plan of admin-
istering public land. But, on May 7, his fellow delegates appointed him
minister plenipotentiary to represent American interests abroad and he
soon left for Europe. Shortly thereafter, on June 3, Congress adjourned.
Again, in 1786, the Maryland State House was the scene of an event of
national importance. Here in these halls, a meeting known as the Annap-
olis Convention took place. Represented were five states—New York,
New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia—and the groundwork
was laid for a general convention the following year in Philadelphia,
a meeting that was to give birth to the Constitution.
Ever since those stirring days, the Maryland State House has been
a beehive of government activity. Daily, and especially during the
sessions of the General Assembly, it swarms with activity as public
officials go about the business of carrying on the government of the
people of Maryland. It is a shrine of history, but not a mouldering
museum. Over the years some modifications were made to this struc-
ture. But finally in the early part of the 20th century, the new annex
was constructed and the old section faithfully restored to its former
grandeur. We owe a debt of gratitude to those leaders of the early
1900's, under Governors John W. Smith and Edwin Warfield, who
had the foresight to preserve and restore this noble building for pos-
terity. In my view, it is clearly the responsibility of present day
Marylanders to continue to expand the work of preservation and restora-
tion of the State House and the historic area surrounding it so that
future generations of Americans will be able to come to this shrine of
history and see for themselves the place where such stirring events took
place.
Before the advent of the automobile, most Americans had to learn
about their history from books. But since Henry Ford introduced mass
production to the auto industry, and especially since the mid-1920's,
Americans have been on the move. Each year we have seen a tre-
mendous upsurge in travel in this country. Along with this has come
an ever increasing interest in visiting historic sites. This interest has
been stimulated by such projects as the restoration of colonial Williams-
burg and, of course, the fine program of our National Park Service in
restoring and maintaining historic points around the country.
A decade ago we had about 15, 000 visitors annually to the Mary-
land State House. Last over 100, 000 people came here. The number
of visitors started growing by leaps and bounds a few years ago when
a certain lady in the employ of the State of Maryland became interested
in the history of this building and began sending out articles to news-
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