14 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

have to make will have political overtones? And in that case, can't it
be inferred that Mr. Burch will be consulted very infrequently?
A. No, I don't think that's true at all. First of all, I don't agree thai
most of the decisions will have political overtones. If we adopt a
bipartisan approach as we have to the tax problem, there is no reason
why there should be political overtones in those decisions. And as we
are now four years away from another State election, certainly in this
year and in the next year there shouldn't be any necessity to encourage
political differences.

Q. Would you say right now that Mr. Burch is probably the big con-
tender for the governorship in the Democratic party right now?

A. I have enough trouble figuring out what is going on in my party,
Mr. Cottin. I don't know who the Democratic leadership will be. I

guess it's pretty hard to determine this early.

Q. Mr. Agnew, you haven't talked too much about your goals as a
leader of your party in this State. You talked a lot about bipartisanship
and I wondered if you have any plans at present for building up the
Republican party?

A. Yes, I have such plans, and I think the biggest single contribution
that I can make to building a Republican party in Maryland is to be
a good state administrator, which out of necessity promotes the bi-
partisan effort. I don't feel that stressing the political end of things
is the way to achieve a good name for a party. I think a good adminis-
tration, similar to that that Governor Rhodes has given Ohio and
Governor Romney has given Michigan, is much more important than
building support for a political party and the recognition of indi-
viduals who may want influence.

Q. You mentioned pollution as one of the areas that you would have
a special staff appointed for. Do you have any specific program in
mind?

A. Yes, I campaigned on a program to eliminate water pollution, and
this is a program I'm extremely interested in. The air pollution prob-
lem, I think, lends itself first to national legislation because one of
the most significant contributors is the automobile, and the automo-
bile, obviously, can't be regulated on a state level. But I am most in-
terested in the water pollution program to attack the problem on a
forceful basis.

Q. Mr. Agnew, besides the State's fiscal matters, what do you think
is the second most important job you will have regarding legislation?