The age-herald., 1897-11-14
TECHNICS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS.


 An anomalous condition is niiodSw existeuV fin Alabama politics. The, present dtscus1 efon of the candidates for the supreme bench of the state, has developed iH The position assumed by some of thos& candidates has confirmed It, It Is conA tended by several of the lawyers who desire to occupy the honorable and re5 sponsIb1e positions eff chief just1ca ofl associaus justices of Alabama's highest court that politics and political vlewa should not play any part in their nominS ations or elections; that the Judiciary should be above such sordid and debas- ing influences etc. This is to be sure an Arcadaan atmosphere, with which they surround the subject, but unhappily perhaps, this Is not Arcadia, and for thd purpose of sustaining life-political and othierwlss-one has to breathe the reg'$ i; ular, every day aerlform fluid with more , or less ozone, according to climatic ina fluences. The ordinary atmospheric conditions have developed a. race of very practical politicians, who have not found it always advisable, or wholesome to mix and mingle sentimentaIty with of- fic seeking. ss,eti It would be fortunate, Indeed for tha psople, if the judiciary of the country could be kept above and aloof from ev1 cry form Of politics. If a man could don the judicial eumine, without the bias Of any political creed, he would prove O wise and dependable judge. But, even the justices of the supreme court of the United s at are al pointed generally, acc cord.ng to their party affiliations and their political tenets. This the south has tested to her sorfpw. A man of positive convlctlons is neces- sari1y a partisan, struggle as he may against it. A man, whose opinioh1s count for anything, must take slides upon every issue that presents itself to tlps consideration of the public mind. The opinionless man is an .nanity. The man with views unconsciously permits those views to color the lens through which he looks at a question. No man is worthy of any office, who has remained upon neutral ground, while great bat tie for principle was being fought.
 
 The man who presents himself for any office, whether judicial or otherwise, is compelled to adopt certain political meth ods in order to hope for any success. He does more than place himself in the hands of his friends" he hs obliged to use the means employed by the average politician tla secure votes. If he does net, he generally is permitted to remain quietly at homeb unencumbered by hon oas, or official petition The office rarely seeks the man, the man usually makes a desperate race to oveftake the office. This Cs seemly and right if the struggle is made upon high, honorable plane, ard not in the mud and mire of repre- hensibie methods. A man must s:ek an office to find it, and along a highway with the fierce light of Investigation beating upon his political platform.
 When a man employs the usual pofft- foal msthods to secure an office, no mat ter of what kind or nature, he sh-uld submit to the rules govsTning canffi- dates of every degree. There tsS no reason that he should be an immune as to platforms and a beneficiary as to of- fee, wh,ther he desire to go to the leg islature or sit upon the supreme bench of the state. Every candidate IS entf- tied to his individual opinion upon ey- cry issue of public import and the peopts who place him in an office where he can exploit these views either in rendering l;gal decisions or in enacting laws, are also ent.tled to learn what those opin- ions may be. No man can expect the votes of a party, unless he takes fair, square position upon the platform of that party. When an office seeker asks the suffrages of l1ls fellow citizens, he has gen rally left behind him Arcadia with it's dallyting meadows and sweet scented woods. He is in the great work- aday world, and must abide by the rules governing everyday folk. If he has not a platform, he should speedily find one.
 There IS generally no delay in an of- flee seekers making known the blanks of a political platform, If they are in &C., cord with the principles of the dominant faction or party. An indispos1ton to disclose individual pollical opinions, is generally due to an antagonism to the teneits of the popular fact9cn of the par ty in power The voters of Alabama have a. flight to know the platform of every candidate who asks office at their hands. Thare is no reason that any man should be exempt from this demand. There is no official position in Alabama, free from political bias and the people have a right to require that the bias, or pejud.ce is in the proper direction.
 BALL.