1666                                     VETOES

was approved by the General Assembly, it was ruled unconstitutional
by the office of the Attorney General. Subsequent to this ruling, a
new bill was drafted in compliance with the provisions of the Con-
stitution and designed to fulfill the original intent of Senate Bill 323.

This new bill, House Bill 1190, which was approved by the
General Assembly and which I have already signed, is now Chapter
606 of the Acts of 1965.

With kindest personal regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

                                                    (s) J. MILLARD TAWES,

Governor.

Senate Bill No. 353—Motor Vehicle Tires

AN ACT to add new Section 292A to Article 66½ of the Anno-
tated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Motor Vehicles," sub-
title "Operation of Vehicles Upon Highways," to follow immediately
after Section 292 thereof, to prohibit the sale in the State of NEW
pneumatic motor vehicle tires which have a ply rating other than
the actual rating of the tire,

May 4, 1965.

Honorable William S. James
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17, of the Maryland Con-
stitution, I am returning herewith Senate Bill 353, 1965 Session,
which has been vetoed by me today.

This Bill would make it unlawful to sell in this State after
January 1, 1966, any new pneumatic tire for motor vehicles which
has stamped or molded into it a ply rating for the tire which de-
scribes the ply by any rating other than the actual ply of the tire.

I am advised that technological improvements in the tire manu-
facturing industry have enabled the manufacturers to produce tires
with less "plys" which, in their opinion, are equal to the tires with
more "plys" that were made under the old process. As a result, the
industry has adopted the term "ply rating" to apprise buyers of the
tire's equivalence to the old system of actual ply rating.

Although I recognize the salutary purpose of the Bill, I have been
impressed by the arguments advanced by many individuals and or-
ganizations that passage of the legislation would have an adverse
effect upon Maryland tire manufacturing companies and would have
a devastating impact upon several thousand workers in the Appalachia
area which is already the subject of so much concern.

Moreover, I have been assured that the subject matter of the
Bill is being studied by the Federal Trade Commission and that there
is now pending in the United States Senate legislation pertaining to