igadier-General John H. Sherburne
was established to deal with the problem of the high cost of
living--with power which has been effective in reducing the prices of
the necessaries of life. No other State has taken any effective measure.
The compensation of public employees has been increased. The entire
public service of the Commonwealth has been reorganized in accordance
with the constitutional amendment into twenty departments. In caring for
her service men Massachusetts led all the States of the Nation in relief
and in assistance, besides voting the stupendous sum of twenty million
dollars, not as compensation, but as recognition of the gratitude due
those who had represented us in the great war. The educational
opportunities of the youth of the State have been improved. All of these
acts of great importance, which are of course only representative of the
character of current legislation, had the executive approval. There has
been not only a sympathetic but a very practical attitude toward the
ideal expressed in my inaugural address, that there is a right to be
well born, well reared, well educated, well employed, and well paid. We
shall not be shaken in the mature determination to promote these
policies. The ancient faith of Massachusetts in the worth of her
citizens, the cause of great solicitude for the welfare of each
individual, will remain undiminished.

The many uncertainties in transportation which are State, Nation, and
world wide, sent our street railway problems to an expert commission
which will report to a special session of the General Court. It is
recognized that the rate of fare necessary to pay for the service
rendered has in some instances become prohibitive. Some roads and
portions of roads have been closed down. There must be relief. But such
relief must be in accord with sound economic principles. What the public
has the public must pay for. From this there is no escape. Under
private, or public, ownership or operation this rule will be the same.
We must face the facts and restore this necessary service to the people
in such a form that they can meet its costs. In meeting this issue, not
hysterically, not with demagogy, but calmly, with candor, applying an
adequate remedy to ascertained facts, Massachusetts, as usual, will lead
all the other States of the Nation.

That agitation and unrest which has been characteristic of the whole
world since the close of the war has had some manifestations he