NEWS CONFERENCE 303

find him to be very moderate and responsible, an excellent choice for
the Supreme Court.

Q. Governor, what interest does the State have in buying the Oregon
Ridge property?

A. I haven't had a chance to talk with Mr. Wahbe since I read that
the county has given up the idea of moving ahead on the question.
I would like to get with him and see what can be done. I'm not giving
up hope that something can be done about Oregon Ridge. Frankly,
I don't think that there is going to be any rapid disposition of the
property at the figures indicated, and we may still be able to negotiate
a solution by which we could take over that very fine natural asset.

Q. How far would you go, moneywise?

A. Well, I can't say yet because I'm not that far into it.

Q. Have you given any thought yet to the dates on the Constitutional
Convention?

A. Yes, I discussed that with Mr. Eney this morning and, while we
haven't set any definite date, it would be hoped that we would ac-
complish it without waiting too long, sometime in July, I would ex-
pect, because the delegates have to meet and organize and there's much
to be done before the actual Convention begins in September.

Q. Governor, you said you spoke with Mr. Eney this morning. Did
you assure him of every possible help on your part that he might be
elected president of the Constitutional Convention?

A. No, we didn't even discuss the presidency, the chairmanship of
the Convention, in any way.

Q. Governor, have you had a chance now to review the winners of
the elections. Would you comment now on the quality and credentials
of the candidates?

A. Yes, I was very pleased. I had a chance to do so last night. I not
only looked at those who had won, I looked at those who had lost.
And I'm pleased generally with the fact that the majority of those
elected were people whom I think will prove to be a great asset to the
Convention. This doesn't necessarily mean they're people whom I
think agree with me on all questions that have been explored recently
in government. On the other hand, I think there are some very fine
people who were not elected. Fortunately, I don't think that the per-
centage of outstanding people who were not elected is as large as
the percentage of those who were elected.