NEWS CONFERENCE 893

(Open Housing)

Q. You said not too long ago that you now favor 100% open hous-
ing. Do you think it's necessary — will you put in a total open housing
bill at the Legislature or has the Supreme Court decision taken care
of that as far as you are concerned?

A. I don't know whether the Court decision has taken care of it. I
frankly have never felt that laws on housing are going to do this job
because housing is an economic problem. You can have total open
housing under the law but you still can't have integrated neighbor-
hoods unless the people are in a financial position to move into the
neighborhoods. I think that complaints about the lack of open hous-
ing sometimes are used as a crutch to explain other deficiencies, and
I want to see that crutch removed so that we can get down to the
specifics — the economic problems — that need to be solved. So I am
for open housing. I think it's an entirely necessary premise on which
to launch the problem-solving that needs to be done in the cold, hard
ability of families who have reached the socio-economic structure that
entitles them to the move into other areas. But I don't think it's
going to solve the problem in itself. It didn't solve it in Harlem, for
example.

Q. Would you care to elucidate on that phrase "a crutch" or other
deficiencies?

A. Yes, I think that many of the people — and certainly not the
people that are involved in the desire to move, but the people who
are activists in certain civil rights organizations — all too frequently
use the lack of an open housing ordinance as a take-off point to
criticize the lack of the sensitivity of the so-called power structure to
be receptive to their problems. That's what I mean by a crutch.

(Lowering Voting Age)

Q. Governor, the President has asked Congress to extend the fran-
chise to all eighteen-year olds. Are you in favor of that?

A. I've testified in favor of it during the Constitutional Convention
hearings. I am still in favor of it, yes.

(Sales Tax)

Q. Governor, back to taxes. There is some suggestion that all meals
should be taxed, not only those over a dollar. Do you think this is
one of the loopholes that needs to be plugged?

A. All sales taxes are different and some of them take a very heavy
bite. They are heavy revenue producers for states when they include