NEWS CONFERENCE 235

Rouse when he said: "We should always examine the optimums and
forget about feasibility. It will compromise us soon enough. Let's look
at what might be and be invigorated by it. "

Individual imagination and private enterprise have shown the way.
The State of Maryland and all its citizens shall benefit from the "in-
stant" City of Columbia. As an individual, I applaud your success
and as a Governor, I am stimulated and challenged by your example.

In conclusion, it gives me great pride to present this official flag of
the State of Maryland to Mr. Fred Hittman, President and General
Manager of Hittman Associates, as a token of the State's appreciation
of its science-oriented industries. It is my hope that you shall fly this
flag as a symbol of modern Maryland, a Maryland that is striving to
blend the grace and charm of its tidewater tradition, the technological
sophistication of Hittman Associates, and the dramatic excitement of
Columbia to create a vital new image compatible with the aspirations
and the abilities of the Space Age.

NEWS CONFERENCE
May 18, 1967

OPENING STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNOR

Gentlemen, I've just returned from Howard County where we had
a very interesting meeting with the county commissioners and the
members of the General Assembly, all three of whom appeared. I
apologize for my slight delay in being with you, but we were operating
on a very tight schedule and that meeting took a little longer than
we anticipated, as we got into some very definitive discussions of our
efforts in the road sector.

I have nothing really new on roads except to say that the problem
of funding our roads problem is certainly a difficult one. We are faced
with this rise in construction costs of about 5 percent a year, which
has put our six-year program behind two years. We're adopting this
plan of spot improvements in the critical safety areas in an attempt to
stave off the need to make overall revisions in the road system until
we can fund what has to be done.

Mr. Wolff talked for quite a long time. He talked quite a while
about the toll facilities. We're still investigating priorities in that re-