402 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

Q. Governor, last Thursday you painted a rather bleak financial
picture of the State. You said that there is a possibility that some of
the programs may have to be curtailed if the financial picture stays
the same way. The day after that, the State came out with a statement
which said the financial position of the State looked pretty rosy. Have
you talked with the Comptroller, have you since changed your mind,
or do you still feel the same way?

A. No, I haven't talked with him, but I think it was obvious from
the statements from the Comptroller's own office that he did not give
me the benefit of the latest information in his possession. I was operat-
ing with information that was some $11 million inaccurate. I think
the whole question of revenue estimates is, at this stage of the game,
one that's not dependable. The Comptroller often boasts of his ability
to make close revenue estimates, but we found that looking at his
figures that had it not been for the reversions, in other words the
unused portions of departmental budgets that seemed to come in and
rescue him, the surplus that he predicted based on the building of
revenues would have been quite a bit inaccurate. I don't criticize him
for this. I say that, in a budget the size of ours, it's impossible to be
totally accurate with revenue estimating. But I do criticize him, and
I criticize him very strongly, for not making available to me, after my
specific request, the latest up-to-date information that was on his desk
at the time, which he did not let me have. I think this is a reprehen-
sible action on his part.

Q. Is this one of the reasons why you feel so strongly that a Gov-
ernor should be able to choose his own Attorney General and Comp-
troller?

A. Well it certainly is a position that I take, that these offices should
be appointive under the Governor's discretion. But I want to empha-
size that I have had no trouble of this type whatsoever from the At-
torney General's office and have found them to be most cooperative,
leaning over backwards to make certain that I had the best informa-
tion that they could produce.

Q. Governor, would you speculate on Mr. Goldstein's motives?

A. No, I wouldn't care to do that. I just haven't any way to know
what his motives were. But I do think that it was an unfortunate oc-
currence that certainly took away some of the confidence that I would
like to have in the Comptroller's office.

Q. Governor, do you believe that the Comptroller's office should use
and limit itself to the formal and official estimates that the Board of