LINCOLN DAY DINNER 63

of which I have yet to use or even really see. Besides, I don't expect
eternal spring and the chirping of robins to greet every act and action
of the new administration. What I do expect, and what happily is
already evident, is a fresh spirit and resolve among all who serve the
State.

I, personally, have been treated most cordially since my arrival in
Annapolis. People are striving to cooperate with me and more im-
portantly, to do right by you.

Criticism of the new administration to date has been relatively
minor. Besides, a governor, because of the nature of his office, must
learn to accept a few barbs. Governors can no more insist on being
loved by their legislators than presidents by their portrait painters.

Lincoln aptly described this problem when he said, "I can't run
this thing on the theory that every office holder must think I am the
greatest man in the nation. "

Lincoln said a lot about many subjects that had timely and timeless
meaning. Surely he was predicting the temper of Maryland in 1967
when he said in 1862:

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy
present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must
rise with the occasion.

As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew. Fellow
citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this administration will
be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or
insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial
through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor,
to the latest generation.

Our case is new. These four words alone capture the very essence
of what is being done to improve the State of Maryland and the
operation of its government.

Certainly the bipartisan Curlett Commission, in recommending the
strengthening of the Governor's personal staff and the establishment
of an office to continually review government operations and organiza-
tion, understood the meaning of these words.

In order to implement the Curlett Commission's report, the Gover-
nor's Task Force on Modern Management has been established. This
task force has been charged with the responsibility of examining