18                            JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS               [March 11

PRESENTATION OF SESQUICENTENNIAL GOLD COIN TO
GOVERNOR J. MILLARD TAWES

March 11, 1964 — State House

Mr. President; Mr. Speaker; Members of the General Assembly of Mary-
land; President Bussard and Members of the Francis Scott Key
Memorial Foundation; Mayor Magaha, of Frederick; Mr. Wrenn,
President of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners; Mr.
Weil, of the Economic Development Commission, Distinguished
Visitors, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am deeply moved by the high honor I have received here this
morning. It was most gracious of your Foundation to arrange this meeting
and to select me as the recipient of this gold coin symbolizing our Nation's
observance of the One-Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Star-
Spangled Banner—Our National Flag and Our National Anthem.

I shall guard it and cherish it, always with the memory of your
kindness and your thoughtfulness on this day.

Let me offer my profound appreciation and highest commendation to
the Francis Scott Key Memorial Foundation and to the many other indi-
viduals and organizations which are laboring so tirelessly and unselfishly
to make a success out of Maryland's observance of these great events of
our history.

Plans are underway that the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner,
and the many significant events which surrounded it, shall be properly
memorialized—at Fort McHenry, where the battle took place; at the
World's Fair, where Maryland will have a splendid exhibit; at Frederick,
where the great Key lies buried, and at other appropriate places throughout
our State.

I encourage all Marylanders, those who are here this morning and
those who are not here, to support actively and forcefully these programs
of commemoration. We can, with honor, do no less, knowing that it was
our State that gave our country its flag, its song, and, yes, for that matter,
its capital.

The naming of our flag and the creation of our song emerged from
what was perhaps the greatest single emergency our Nation has ever
faced.

To realize the seriousness of this emergency, we only have to con-
template the situation that existed a hundred and fifty years ago.

The British had burned and sacked our Capital City. Our President
and important federal officials had fled into hiding. Our capitol building
was a heap of rubble and ashes.

Our Republic was only thirty years old at the time, and it looked as
if the end was near. The British felt they had only one move to make—to
capture Baltimore—and the young nation would expire. And so, they
moved upon Baltimore.

We know the story of this battle too well to warrant a detailed
recital of it here. When the fight was over, the enemy sailed away and
the United States of America, with the mighty Star-Spangled Banner
flying over Fort McHenry, was saved. And in Baltimore, there was a new