Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1904-03-18
SELECT COMPETENT MEN.

SELECT COMPETENT MEN.
In selecting candidate for State
Senator, and, in fact, every Office
on the county ticket, the Republi-
cans of Polk county should be
guided solely by a desire to select
men best qualified to fill the res
pective offices. Each man should
be chosen with a view to his
peculiar fitness for the office to
which he aspires. Electing men to
public Office is, after all, only en-
ploying men to attend tothe public
business, and the same careful con
sideration of their qualifications
should be exercised as one would
exercise in employing a man to
take charge ofone's private business
affairs. Incompetent men should
not be given a place on the ticket
under any circumstances.
In this connection, it is only fair
to all aspirants for Office to bear in
mind that all men are not fitted
for the same kind of work. A man
possessing the qualifications neces-
sary to make him an efficient
sheriff might be a total failure in
the assessors office, and a man
with good judgment of property
values and clear ideas as to a ust
and equitable assessment might
not have the first prerequisite of a
successful tax collector An expert
bookkeeper in the treasurer's office
might prove a poor thief-catcher,
and county clerk whose hand
writing would equal the beauty of
a printed page might not possess
either the stomach or the nerve to
hold an inquest over dead body.
A man qualified to represent the
people with dignity and influence
in the legislature might turn out
to be utterly incompetent in
county office, and fairly success
full county officer might be abso-
lutely unable to stand up in the
legislature and say ten words in
favor Of a good law or against a
bad law. "Every man to bis
trade" is an old saying, and the
same rule holds good with all the
professions and callings in life.
The OBSERVER favors the nomi-
nation of e. G. Kirkpatrick for i
State Senator from Polk county for :
the reason that he is we'll qualified =
to fill that important office. Even d
his few enemies are forced to admit
That he is not lacking in ability to
Polk county as a live and =,
county should be repre- {
'ented. Mr.. kirkpatrick would be e
lble to stand on the floor Of the "
Oregon Senate and command T.
respectful attention from the ablest S
men in that body when speaking a
or or against measures concerning -
he public welfare. He has a wide
throughout the state,
md would not 60 to Salem as an
unknown man. He is public spirit I
ID, and would work impartially for
he interests of every section of Polk
county and the state at large.
Mr.. Kirkpatrick does not seek an
lection through merCenary motives
II for the purpose of keeping some
nen in office or putting others out.
he office of State Senator is too
ignified and honorable to be pros
ituted for mere personal gain, and
ny candidate who does not realize
his fact to its fullest extent is un-
'orthy of consideration at the
ands of the voters. The plain,
citizen of this good land
+ ours is not worrying his head
luch as TO who shall be door
eeper, or clerk, or head emptier of
baskets in the Oregon Legis-
iture; neither is he electing State
enators for the purpose of throw
lg Bill Jones out of the postoflice
Coon Hollow, especially when
i'll is filing his office capably and