of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 75

WELCOME TO ANCIENT ARABIC ORDER OF THE NOBLES OF
THE MYSTIC SHRINE, NATIONAL SHRINE CONVENTION

Boumi Temple, Emerson Hotel

June 27, 1939

Baltimore

IN extending to you the most cordial welcome of the people comprising the
Sovereign State of Maryland, I shall not refer to the resources or attrac-
tions of this Commonwealth unless it be to indicate the extent of the greeting
which I am privileged to express to you. I shall not refer to the character-
istics or the hospitality which represent the "Heart of Maryland" unless to
assure you doubly of the warmth and of the cordiality which abounds in the
feelings of our people for you.

I trust that it will not be considered a matter of invidious comparison if
I say that this national convention of members of the Shrine is the greatest
event in the history of fraternal visitations to our State. Coming from every
section, State and Territory of our Nation and constituting, as you do, such
a representative cross section of the best in citizenship, you are assured of
our delight in having you in our midst. As the spokesman for this State, I
am honored to have this opportunity of extending the hand of fellowship to
you. The people of Maryland express unbounded happiness of your selection
of their State for your assemblage.

Not alone is this so because of your great numbers or the high position
of consequence and substance which you enjoy in your respective States and
communities. These are real considerations, it is true. However, the crown-
ing quality characterizing the tradition of your fraternity is to be found in the
generous and unselfish assistance which your great organization has extended,
for years, to those who, otherwise, would be helpless and forgotten. Our
people, outside of your membership, have long been acquainted with your
beneficent acts of brotherhood and charity.

In the final analysis qualities of heart and mind, as evidenced by indi-
viduals or organizations through acts of brotherly interest and charity, are
the surest countersigns of true superiority. I stand in respect and admiration
of you and ask that you accept our friendship and our reception of you as a
token of gratitude and appreciation for what you have done for humanity.

You could not have chosen a better outlet for your humanitarian instincts
than when you elected to undertake, as an organization, the work of providing
hospitalization and skilled surgical attention free to crippled children whose
parents are unable to provide such helps themselves. By so doing you are
giving these handicapped youngsters a priceless opportunity to win for them-
selves in the world some measure of the joy and happiness and success towards
which we are all striving.

A fine man becomes finer—a great fraternity becomes greater every
single time he or it lifts a cripple or otherwise gives succor to the helpless in
the great brotherhood of man. And you gentlemen, Shriners, to your ever-
lasting credit, for years, among other acts of generosity and brotherhood, have
been practicing such acts until it is now a regular routine.