180 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

change, faces too hardened by old realities to react to new ones.

I called for a new state of mind for Maryland, for a new spirit of
leadership, for a direction in the pursuit of excellence. I challenged
every member of the General Assembly seated before me to share this
attitude and embrace this resolve; to put the good of his State first
and the special interest of his constituents second; to put the pride
of his State first and the patronage of his district second; to value the
worth of his work and not the recognition which might follow. I
called on these representatives of the people to join me in a new al-
liance rejecting partisanship and tradition that fails to serve or inspire.
A new alliance of people... principle... progress.

I knew then, as I know today, that once we achieve success in
changing the state of mind, so surely will we achieve success in chang-
ing the State of Maryland. And the State, my friends, has changed and
is changing. We have changed from partisans locked in battle to part-
ners joined in progress, from a government that was loath to try to a
government that refuses to fail. We have changed from a bland ac-
ceptance of the rising crime rate to an all-out attack upon it; from
voicing a concern for education to the realization of a program to
achieve it; from disregard for human rights to action which will help
to break the barriers centuries have built. We have moved steadily
from a fear of air and water pollution to some of the most progres-
sive programs in the United States for its prevention and elimination;
from an allegiance to archaic law to the pursuit of new directive; and
in more than 750 separate acts of legislation put the past to rest and
the future in perspective.

Credit for much that was accomplished during the seventy-day ses-
sion of the 1967 General Assembly belongs to the senators and dele-
gates of both parties who rose to the challenge and faced up squarely
to the difficult and sometimes politically inexpedient problems de-
manding resolution. The leadership of the General Assembly merits
special recognition. House Speaker Marvin Mandel, Senate President
William James, and the minority leadership including Senator Ed
Hall and your own Glenn Beall, Jr., worked hard for the passage of
all critical legislation and deserve a vote of confidence and a word of
thanks from a grateful public. I can assure you they have mine. When
men of honest intention pledge themselves to the public good what
is achieved is legislation such as the Priorities Bill which acknowledges
the need to construct three bridges across the Chesapeake Bay and a
tunnel beneath the Baltimore Harbor, making possible the develop-
ment of vital transportation arteries essential to the economic growth