Theodore R. McKeldin                               355

combination, convince the members of your honorable body that the
veto should be sustained in the best interests of the State, its political
subdivisions and their industrial expansion.

As is generally known, we now have functioning in Maryland the
Commission on State Programs, Organization and Finance, made up
of public-spirited and well-informed private citizens and members of
the General Assembly.

It is the purpose of this Commission to make a thorough study of
each Department and Agency of the State and to make recommen-
dations to the General Assembly and to me as to needs for any future
changes in their organizations and functions.

The Planning Commission will, of course, have the benefits of such
a study, and it seems to me that it would be poor policy and even a
breach of trust for us to enact a change as expansive and as radical
as that proposed in House Bill 25 without awaiting the results of
the study that is to be made by a very capable group of men and
women who are serving their State without compensation. Such action
would be excusable only in the face of an emergency. It is quite ob-
.yious, I believe that no such extenuating circumstance of crisis exists
in Maryland.

Indeed, we have been and continue to be the beneficiaries of a con-
siderable extension of our industrial plant, both in the expansion of
existing industries and the locating of new companies, and it is my
own opinion, as well as that of many authorities with whom I have
discussed it, pending documented evidence to the contrary, that a
State Department of Economic Development would add nothing to
the success which we now enjoy in the advancement of our economy.
It might even prove a detriment in that it conceivably could create
an atmosphere in which the essential financial support of our ex-
cellent Chambers of Commerce and the Baltimore Association of Com-
merce might be neglected through the erroneous belief of some that
a State agency was assuming their functions.

In this Administration and, I am sure, in others, the Office of the
Governor has served as a coordinating force with considerable suc-
cess in the acquisition of new industries when the acquisition moves
were initiated in the communities where such initiative rightfully be-
longs and is most effective. All State departments whose activities
could be helpful in such circumstances have been most cooperative,
and I am confident they will continue to be so.

As you are aware, the General Assembly in the Special Session
of 1956 enacted and I have signed Senate Bill No. 1, which established
a Maryland State Port Authority to manage, expand and promote
our harbor facilities which, of course, are major inducements to the
growth of industry within our borders.

There can be no doubt that this Authority's extensive promotion
activities will include proper publicity of the opportunities which
exist for industry and business in Maryland—another reason why
the expansion of the State Planning Commission for the same purpose
would be unnecessary and wasteful at this time.

Even if the need for a State Department of Economic Development
should become evident in the future, I still would be opposed to mak-
ing it a part of the State Planning Commission which already has
important functions and duties from which it should not be diverted
by a new, time-consuming activity which eventually might super-
sede the highly essential, primary purposes of the Planning Com-
mission.