of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 13

It is fortunate for me that, right at the outset of my administration, you
should select Annapolis as the place to hold your meeting. Fortunate for me,
I say because it gives me a much appreciated opportunity to thank all of you
in person for your consideration in the recent campaigns: to express my ap-
preciation to those who supported me, for their loyalty; to thank also those
who opposed me, for their forbearance and courtesy in dealing fairly with all
questions under consideration.

It is fortunate for the State, too, I think, that the representatives of the
County newspapers should be among the first to meet with me here at the
seat of the State government, for you gentlemen are going to be called upon
to play an important part in the struggle that lies ahead of us. This struggle
is to put Maryland back on its feet financially, socially and industrially, and
to so arrange our State policy and administrative procedure that Maryland
may weather any future times of stress without again losing caste among the
States of the Country, and without again floundering about in the throes of
uncertainty and dissension as to what is the proper course for our State to
pursue.

As Governor of Maryland, it probably will be necessary for me to press
for certain increases in taxes that will not be particularly palatable to me as
a private citizen, or to you or your readers—because I, as a private citizen, and
you and your readers will be called upon to pay these taxes. But, if and when
your Legislative and Executive Departments are agreed upon a course, and
that course, after being thoroughly and reasonably examined and discussed,
is adopted, you gentlemen of the county press can do a lot for your readers
and for the State by giving your support to the program as the thing that has
to be done for the good of the State as a whole.

Again, when the questions come up for consideration, as they will come up
during my administration, regarding the long-range policy of the State on such
life-and-death matters—and the neglect of the past really has made them
life-and-death problems for the State now—as fisheries and conservation gen-
erally; forestry, erosion, road-planning and building, etc., I ask you, as
moulders of public opinion, to bear very definitely in mind, even though the
shoe may pinch at times, that the State-wide viewpoint is going to have to
prevail over any purely local viewpoints. It is entirely possible that one or
more of you gentlemen may be called upon in the not-too-far-distant future,
to support and approve editorially, as a loyal Marylander, a State policy on
such matters that may not be anything like the policy that your particular
section, or your readers, would prefer.

I pledge you, here and now, to give the best that is in me to try to
help solve for the years that are to come, the problem as to how best to
conserve and develop the natural resources and advantages that have been
placed at our disposal, to the end that the greatest number of people possible
may be benefited by such action as we may decide upon. I pledge further that
my approach to the problem, in every instance will be directed entirely by
consideration of the good of the State as a whole, rather than by any particular
benefit for any section or group. And I, in turn feel justified in asking that
you leaders of thought in your respective localities approach the problems on
the same high plane, no matter how much you may be pulled this way and
that by local wishes and thoughts of sectional advantage.