ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR. 1369

to the cemetery for burial. House Bill 241 eliminates this
requirement, and permits an unlicensed employee of the
undertaker to take charge of the remains from the time the
casket is finally sealed until the burial.

It was contended at the hearing that the services of a
licensed undertaker are not really required after the closing
of the casket. It was urged that one of his unlicensed em-
ployees is competent to do all that need be done from the
home to the grave, and that the question involves no health
considerations.

This does not meet what I feel is the objection to the
bill. The undertaker performs one of the most solemn and
sacred tasks that can be performed. His employment in-
volves the utmost measure of trust, and a confidence which
is often the result of the faithful performance of this trust
on previous family occasions. The relationship between the
undertaker and the family begins at the moment of death,
and it does not end until the casket is lowered in the grave.

I believe the family is entitled to have the undertaker con-
tinue in personal charge of the remains until the last final
rites have been performed at the cemetery, and if the under-
taker himself for some reason cannot continue in charge
until the actual burial, then I believe the custom should be
continued of having one of his licensed undertakers in charge
until the end. I do not think the family ought to be asked
or required to accept for this last and most solemn part of
the whole ceremony the superintendence of some employee
or subordinate who does not afford the responsibility and
the confidence which the possession of a license assures.

This bill is not desired by the undertakers as a whole. It
is opposed by the Maryland State Funeral Association and
by the State Board of Undertakers. The force behind the
measure is the professional interest of one large undertaking
establishment in Baltimore City. I do not think that this is
sufficient justification for making the proposed change in
the law. For these reasons, I will veto the bill.

WOODLAND BEACH CHARTER.
(Chapter 121, House Bill 305.)

Woodland Beach is a Summer resort in Anne Arundel
County. The present population consists only of about eight
families, and there are about fourteen hundred lot owners
who are accustomed to spend week-ends there during the
summer months.