ADDRESS, GIRLS STATE
ANNAPOLIS

June 24, 1963

It is a privilege for me, as you Governor, to welcome you to Anna-
polis and to extend official greetings to this eighteenth annual As-
sembly of Girls State. As many of you know, I have been accorded
this same privilege in previous years and I always look forward to
the occasion with a great deal of pleasure. It is my feeling that such
occasions arise too infrequently.

Naturally, I express my feelings on various matters affecting State
government to the members of the General Assembly as they convene
here in this very chamber annually. But, to a large degree, the men
and women of the Maryland General Assembly are concerned with
problems that affect the here and now. It is you, and the young people
throughout this State and nation, who will be concerned with the
problems of the future. It most certainly is not premature then to
prepare yourselves to face these problems.

I think that all of us gathered in this chamber today share a certain
sense of obligation. We share an obligation not only to the Maryland
of today and the future but also to the Maryland of the past. Standing
within these hallowed walls seems to instill each of us with a feeling
of reverence for the heritage upon which the great democratic tra-
ditions of this State and nation are founded. Here is the oldest State
House still in continuous use in the United States. It was here that
George Washington in a tearful ceremony resigned his commission
as Commander of the Continental Army following the Revolutionary
War. It was here that the adoption of the American Constitution was
first advocated and it was here that Congress ratified the treaty that
brought an end to the Revolutionary War. These are historical
events of almost majestic proportions and I truly believe that they
serve to inspire in each of us the desire to build an even greater
State and Nation than was provided for us by our ancestors.

The Maryland of today is, of course, not the same Maryland that
these men knew and loved. But if we learn but one thing from our
ancestors, then let it be the knowledge that those who preceded us
were not afraid of change. For it was these very individuals who
perhaps proved to be history's most enlightened innovators. They
were men and women willing to exchange a certain present bound by
chains for an uncertain future unfettered and free. This is perhaps

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