CONCLUSION

And now, before I have finished this message, I should like to inject
a personal note. This, as I said at the outset, is the last full session that
you and I will be working together in the interest of our State and
its people. The pains and the pleasures of administering public affairs
I have shared with most of you for the past three years, with some of
you for the past seven years. Let me say that I consider the relation-
ship which -we have experienced as the most pleasing, the most re-
warding of the events of my long life. We have had our differences,
we have had our disagreements. There has been harmony and there
has been discord. Such is inevitable in a relationship of human beings.
But all things considered I think we have had a good measure of
success in handling the government of the State for the best interests
of the people, and I have no doubt, despite our critics, that posterity
will so judge us.

Let us begin this new session, then, with the resolve that, with the
help of the Almighty, this last year of our stewardship will be our
finest year.

MODERNIZATION OF STATE GOVERNMENT MESSAGE

March 22, 1966

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the General
Assembly:

I want to discuss with you today a number of basic steps to in-
crease significantly the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of the
executive branch of our State government. I raise this subject with
you because of its long range importance and the responsibility we
share in the proper functioning of the State's executive agencies.
Maryland now has well launched a major study leading to the revision
of its constitution. The Legislature is being reapportioned this year,
with far-reaching consequences for both the State and its government.
I believe that an essential third step to prepare this government for
the tasks ahead is the updating of the administrative organization
which carries out public policy and provides such a vast range of
public services.

This message quite frankly is a very personal one for me. I have
spent much of my adult life working closely with the various
agencies. For the past few years, as Governor, I have been responsible

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