of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 439

he must read the speeches of the Fuehrer because in the totalitarian system
the Fuehrer alone is the single source of law. No matter how old-time law-
yers may view such a change they do not complain, because they dare not.

The Gestapo are the representatives of Hitler. In the Courts they review
every important case. In each sitting of the Court cases with "political"
aspects involved—and in Germany everything has "political" aspects—the
agents of the Gestapo are present.

We are told that if sentences do not satisfy them, they step in before the
very eyes of the Judge and Jury and seize the accused for transmittal to the
concentration camp. Under such circumstances it is easy to picture the type
of life the lawyer leads. He must be ever ready to harken to the Party call.
He must be careful to take part in all Party rallies and shout as loudly as
anyone else there, or he will quickly find himself no longer practicing before
the Bar and possibly interned at some concentration camp.

All the more reason, is it not, why members of the Bar of Maryland and
throughout this Country, must exercise every effort and influence to the pro-
tection and preservation of those American ideals which almost alone of all
the governments of the world today stand as a guarantee of individual rights?

To keep its heritage of leadership, the Bar must act as a sort of balance
wheel of national sentiment.

In a word, they should exercise their talents to prevent public hysteria,
and yet also to keep the Country moving calmly but steadily along the road to
complete national preparedness.

The Bar must keep a watchful eye upon the relations of capital and labor,
upon any suggestion of subversive influences in any quarter and upon govern-
ment itself.

The Bar must be ever vigilant to guarantee that, in times of emergency
as well as normal times, the civil liberties of worthy citizens are fully protected;
but on the other hand, it must be just as vigilant to see that the proper agen-
cies of government promptly and vigorously uproot any subversive attack
upon our defense program or upon our free institutions.

We all know that there has been and is in this Country today, as there
was prior to the last war, a considerable amount of sabotage in vital defense
plants, in ships in our ports, and elsewhere. By rigid laws governing civil
liberties it is difficult today for our law-enforcement officers to apprehend the
perpetrators of these outrages.

For instance, on a recent occasion telegrams were received by foreign
shipmasters in our ports directing them to inflict serious damage upon their
ships; yet the telegrams, coming from a foreign consulate, were privileged
communications and could not be intercepted by law officials. In. such a case,
at least, the protection we have thrown around our liberties turned out to be
a protection for the enemies of our Country.

Our Nation today is deluged with mail matter directed from foreign
governments and from propaganda sources in this Country; yet under our
laws we have no way of stopping this. We not only permit foreign agencies