806

REMARKS TO NINTH ANNUAL SPRING ASSEMBLY OF

STATE, COUNTY AND CITY COMMISSIONS ON THE

AGING, STATE HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS

May 15, 1968

May I extend a warm welcome and my most cordial greetings to
the delegates of this Ninth Spring Assembly. For many of you the
surroundings are familiar; for all of you today's subject is familiar
and of vital importance. I share your interest in the problems of the
aging. I share your concern and your confidence that much can be
done to assure place and participation, health and honor to our senior
citizens.

One valid measure of a society's quality and compassion is the re-
spect and care provided its elderly citizens. While America's critics
often decry its youth-orientation, the fact is that never before in our
nation's history have we ever had so many senior citizens. Nearly one-
tenth of America's 200 million citizens have reached the age of sixty
or over, and the number increases by approximately one thousand
every day. Since the beginning of the century, advances in knowledge
and medical science have increased America's average life expectancy
from 49 to 70 years.

Women who are 65 now can expect to live sixteen more years; men
65 years old can expect to live at least thirteen additional years. And
now that we're reaching the era of the transplant, some may expect
that, barring an unforeseen accident, we can live forever!

Seriously, the unprecedented advances in medicine, in health
services and in the field of geriatrics present a clear challenge to our
society. The challenge was best expressed by our late President Ken-
nedy when he said: "It is not enough for a great nation merely to
have added new years to life — our objective must also be to add new
life to those years. "

We have made progress toward this objective both as a nation and
as a State, but much still remains to be done. All too often the "golden
age" fails to fulfill its promise. In many cases we have neglected the
opportunity to utilize the skill and time of our senior citizens for the
betterment of our communities. In many instances, we have failed to
provide our elderly with the security, the respect and the recognition
every human being needs.