of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 3

have been in charge of the State's affairs. Instead of occupying your time
with a discussion of what could, or should not, have been done, it is my judg-
ment that it is more useful to invite your attention to, and seek your consider-
ation and support of what might be done henceforth. We go on from here.
We wipe the slate clean and start afresh, planning and working for the future,
for the betterment of Maryland.

It is not to be understood from these statements that I am unmindful of
the party to which I owe allegiance. I am aware of the principles and the pur-
poses of our great Party; aware especially of the possibilities that arise through
the cooperation of the public-spirited men and women who compose the Demo-
cratic Party. I refer to this fact because it is upon the Democratic Party in
Maryland and upon those chosen by it that now rests the primary respon-
sibility for the conduct of State affairs. Continued confidence in our Party will
be maintained only if that Party measures up to its obligations and gives its
best to our people.

It is natural that this should be so. Maryland is normally a Democratic
State. Its people are imbued by tradition and inclination with the ideals of the
Party as set forth by statesmen, by patriots, and by officials who were proud
to be members of the Democratic Party. It is only when untoward conditions
prevail, when the Party fails to measure up to its obligations, when Party
leaders have become arrogant or blinded by power, or when internal dissension
has broken out that an aroused electorate repudiates the dominant party of
our State. When, as a Party, we live up to our obligations to the people, and
realize that that obligation is paramount, and when we are united in good
work, the democracy of Maryland is invincible. Therefore, I hope not only for
an harmonious official family in which past differences among its members are
forgotten but for an entire party working in accord.

For my part I shall do my best to bring about such a situation. No one
need fear an attempt by me to build a personal organization or a political
machine. I am now free and shall remain free to avail myself of the full
potentialities of the whole Party for the betterment of our State.

Our beloved State, though it may seem small in territory and population
in comparison with others, has no peer with respect to sound cultural and
political traditions. The qualities of independence, self-determination, tolera-
tion, and justice to all, with the maximum of individual liberty consistent with
the good of the whole, are still regarded as the best part of the heritage be-
queathed to us by our fathers. They justly entitle us to be known widely
and favorably as the "Free State, " and are memorialized in the martial song
"Maryland My Maryland, " by James Ryder Randall, the centennial of whose
birth we observe this year. I wish here and now to reaffirm my allegiance to
these basic qualities and to pledge my administration to their strengthening.

The only ambition I have is to be the very best Governor that it is within
my capacity to be. To this achievement I shall devote my whole time, my
thoughts, and my energies. I shall let nothing interfere. Only in this way
can I best serve my State and my Party.

I cannot escape the realization that, at the conclusion of my service as
Governor, I shall be called upon to give an account of my stewardship—a day
when my administration, its last accomplishment recorded, will take its place
in the history of our State. It is my hope and wish to be the kind of Governor