766 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

Today, with the appreciation only time and perspective can bring,
we can see the progress they could only envision. Maryland's popula-
tion has more than doubled, while Southern Maryland's has almost
tripled. We claim a thriving economy — a State economy undoubtedly
enriched by the improved access resulting from the 1937 Bridge and
Tunnel program.

Three decades after Maryland's first toll facility legislation was en-
acted, the 1967 General Assembly authorized another bridge and tun-
nel development plan comparable and perhaps even exceeding its
predecessor in scope and ambition. Today, as the present State Roads
Commission prepares to launch the first phase of this program, it is
good to be here, to see in the distance this bridge. It stands as a symbol
that our action is not without precedent, our optimism is not without
proof.

In renaming the Potomac River Bridge the Governor Harry W.
Nice Bridge, we endow the bridge in name what it has long symbolized
in spirit — a tribute to a time when progress was courageously forged
by a leadership with vision and faith in Maryland's future.

NEWS CONFERENCE
April 18, 1968

OPENING STATEMENT

In anticipation of your questions regarding my response to public
reaction following last Thursday's meeting, I wish to make this state-
ment:

For the overwhelming number of thoughtful letters and telegrams,
pro and con, from citizens of all creeds and races, I am profoundly
grateful.

In response to the emotional charges that I am a bigot, I need only
cite my record of unprecedented action through executive appoint-
ments, executive orders and new laws to assure equal rights and equal
opportunities for all citizens. This record stands and it cannot be
obliterated or obscured by reckless accusations.

I would like to reiterate my conviction that respect for the law is
the path to orderly change and is the only answer to anarchy. Only