LINCOLN DAY DINNER 67

But if there is to be revision, let it be positive. If there is to be
criticism, let it be constructive. If there is to be change, let it speed
progress. And if there are some who still believe that time is indeed
on our side, that there is not great urgency to change our thinking
or subject our personal incomes to more sacrifice in the name of prog-
ress, let them recall some of the subjects of newspaper headlines of
the past year:

Four riots in our prisons, costing taxpayers nearly $1 million in
property damage.

Seven out of 10 criminals are back inside Maryland prisons within
five years after their parole. Repeated robbery, repeated rape, repeated
murder.

Two persons killed on our highways daily, 100 injured or maimed
each and every day.

Overcrowded jails, hospitals, mental institutions. Polluted air and
streams.

Can we afford the luxury of these grim statistics in order to "hold
the line" on taxes, continue governmental neglect and indifference?

I believe it to be the duty of leadership not to glory in the good of
its work but to direct its energy to the evil in its path.

I believe that it is the duty of leadership not to accept failure as
inevitable but to recognize success as attainable.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln "I say try; if we never try, we
shall never succeed. " And I say this too. A governor unwilling to
govern should not accept that great office. A governor unwilling to
act deserves no position of trust among his fellow men. A governor
unwilling to sacrifice prestige for honor, popularity for integrity, him-
self for the public good, is unfit for office, unable to discharge its re-
quirement and unworthy of the people he would serve.

Your Governor, ladies and gentlemen, intends to serve. Your Gov-
ernor intends to act! With your help, your Governor is going to do the
job!