Aware of the close relationship of the law enforcement agencies and
the courts—of the interdependence of their functions—we have tried to
strengthen and obtain a closer coordination between our trial magis-
trates' courts and other courts of limited jurisdiction. Last fall, at my
request, Chief Judge Frederick W. Brune, of the Maryland Court of
Appeals, called a meeting of the magistrates and the judges of these
courts to form a permanent organization and to hold annual confer-
ences for the purpose of studying problems of mutual interest, including
problems of administration, and of developing uniform procedures. A
better administration of justice, and in particular with regard to our
traffic safety laws, was what I had in mind when I asked Judge Brune
to organize such a conference. The first annual meeting of that confer-
ence, incidentally, will be held here in Baltimore on May 23 and 24.
I have great hope in the effectiveness of this organization. As had been
said many times before, a law is a nullity unless those who violate it are
brought before a bar of justice and penalized or educated. The courts
can penalize or educate only if the offenders are brought before them by
law enforcement officers. On the other hand, the work of the law
enforcement officers is worthless if the court fails, for some reason, to
penalize or educate.

Closely tied to both the police and the courts is the agency responsible
for the licensing of drivers—the agency which we hold responsible for
deciding who is competent to drive and who is incompetent. In connec-
tion with the administration of our motor vehicle laws, I have already
mentioned the operation of the point system. It may be added that the
Department of Motor Vehicles is using many other resources and instru-
ments to remove the unfit, unsafe and financially irresponsible from the
highways and to license only the safer and better drivers.

So much, then, for some of the things we are trying to do to curtail
the rate of traffic accidents. What of the future? To an audience such
as this, I know it is needless for me to point out that the prospects for an
early resolution of our problem are dim. Along with the prosperity which
we cherish comes an ever-increasing growth in population, and with
population expansion comes a steady mounting of the number of motor
vehicles, of drivers and of miles traveled. This condition exists through-
out most of the country, of course, and particularly in this northeastern
area which is represented at this Conference.

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