WM. PRESTON LANE, JR., GOVERNOR. 2227

formerly comprising land of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Company, extending in and along the banks of the Potomac
River and Wills Creek within the corporate limits of the
City of Cumberland; and

WHEREAS, said property has long since fallen into disuse
and has become unsightly, unsanitary, and detrimental to the
health and general well-being of the residents of Cumberland;
and

WHEREAS, it is the sense of the General Assembly that such
property has no use as a canal in the foreseeable future by
reason of accretions of mud and cave-ins and because fast
and inexpensive transportation is more readily available by
rail, highway and the air; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council of Cumberland has,
through its Planning Commission, evolved plans whereby said
property could be utilised to the great public advantage for
the construction of a modern highway with conduits under-
neath for the sanitary disposal of sewage, which highway will
relieve traffic congestion in said City and provide a direct and
expeditious route to the municipal airport, and also for
housing and recreational purposes; and

WHEREAS, the said Mayor and City Council has expressed
its willingness to take over said property with the obligation
of eventually developing the same in the general public inter-
est and as a matter of civic improvement; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That on
behalf of the State of Maryland, the said General Assembly of
Maryland does hereby respectfully petition the Department of
the Interior of the United States Government to sell for a
nominal consideration to the Mayor and City Council of Cum-
berland, Maryland, all the right, title and interest of the
United States Government in and to the lands, located within
the corporate limits of the City of Cumberland, Maryland,
formerly belonging to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Com-
pany, together with all improvements and appurtenances
thereto to be used for highway, sewerage, housing and recrea-
tional purposes; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby
authorized and directed to transmit copies of this resolution,
bearing the Great Seal of the State of Maryland, to the Secre-
tary of the Interior of the United States and to each of the
Senators and Representatives from the State of Maryland in
the Congress of the United States.

Approved April 16, 1947.