of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 571

submarines, launching planes against this vital area, or whether the African
'possessions of France will be utilized as a base for operation against this conti-
nent, we can be sure that there will be such operations, because there must be
if Germany has any hopes of coming out of this war without annihilation.

What all this means to Maryland is not difficult to picture. No wonder we
are included by the Federal authorites in the vital "target area" of the East.
So remarkable has been Maryland's participation in defense efforts, so tre-
mendous have been our contributions not only in planes but in explosives, in
ships and in many other fields of defense industry, that it is only reasonable to
assume that our State now occupies a prominent point in German and Italian
War plans, as containing objectives that must be destroyed or crippled, if
Germany and Italy are to survive.

This means, for you and me, and for all the people of Maryland, unremit-
ting work, and planning, and care, for, as in everything else, styles have
changed in warfare, too.

In warfare, as heretofore conducted, the evil population of a country en-
joyed a fair degree of protection so far as its physical safety was concerned.
That protection grew out of considerations of humanity. That is no longer true.
The international brigands now aligned against us have time and time again
violated that rule. They make direct bombing attacks upon the civil popula-
tion!, including women and children, behind the lines, as an active part of their
military operations. With our Country involved in war, the individual man or
woman is no longer physically safe, especially if he or she is located in one of
the Coast states—such as our State happens to be.

It becomes apparent, then, that our people, old, young men, women and
children, are faced with danger. The Military and Naval defense on our behalf,
and of the Country at large, will be conducted by our Federal Government. The
matter of preparing for the home protection of our population, however, is one
that we must deal with directly ourselves. With the destruction of war threat-
ening us from both oceans, we dare not postpone or wait. At our peril we are
forced to devise ways and means of protection. To that end, intelligent and
vigilant cooperation is necessary. The danger from the havoc of a bombing
raid may be more immediate than we think. We must keep always in mind the
frightening fact that it can happen here. Hawaii was a larger number of miles
from Japan than some hidden air base in. the wilds of northern South America
may prove to be.

In addition to, or rather as a necessary part of the cooperation to be
brought about, we must each of us as individuals, impose upon ourselves and
the routine of our daily life, a discipline which it will not be easy for us to
take on. Discipline at the first step involves restriction. It also enforces the
exclusion of the selfish attitude as the test of daily life. Self-discipline, there-
fore, has always been rather the ideal than the achievement, except in the rare
few. And yet, in a Democracy such as ours, we are compelled to assume, and
we do assume, that in this time of common danger, our individual men and
women will for the common good so severely discipline themselves as to be-
come the guardian of the lives and the property of us all.