42 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [July 29

The call is noteworthy in that it proceeds not from any outcry
upon the part of the Jews themselves but from a profound sense
of justice animating prominent non-Jews of both political parties.
The call is the spontaneous result of a feeling upon the part of the
rank and file of our Christian fellow citizens that to leave things
as they were would be an act of political injustice.

To those who are doubtful or cynical as to the progress of Amer-
ican civilization I specially commend this session as a complete
answer to the doubts which occasionally arise and find expression
as to the existence of any real progress towards the goal of real
broadminded civilization.

Steady and sure, at least in Maryland, has been the line of pro-
gress. Starting in 1649 with the Act of Toleration, granting
religious freedom to all Christians, advancing in the ^Nineteenth
Century as a result of Kennedy's spirited leadership past the bar-
rier that held back the Jewish people from the right of suffrage,
through constitutional changes designed to permit all men to hold
office, we find ourselves now in that stage where men, themselves
unaffected in their rights and therefore acting from unselfish mo-
tives, have gone out of their way not to grant new rights but to
see that rights already in existence are exercised freely and with-
out strain.

I would be singularly lacking in appreciation if I did not voice
my personal gratification as well as the satisfaction of my people
as such at this latest evidence of the regard of our Christian neigh-
bors. To those then who are responsible for the calling of this
session and to you who have come from the mountains, the farms
and the shores in order to cany out the intent and purpose of the
call, I tender ury heartfelt thanks.

To my appreciation of your present attitude let me add, while
the opportunity presents itself, my profound thanks for the many
courtesies extended to me personally in the past. This, as far as
I can see, will be the last time in my career when my voice will be
heard in this Chamber. The time has come when I shall surren-
der the seat which has been so dear to me and remove permanently
from this scene in which I have played a part for so many fruit-
ful years. I can truthfully say that in the many years I have
been in this Chamber I have never consciously attempted to injure
a living soul, nor have I borne, nor do I bear, any feeling of re-