The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-28

G
 \ bnt the qualifications of men for of flee. or the official conduct of municipal, county and state officials is subject open to discussion by all persons at all times.
 Tn a little over two months the demo- cats of Alabama will hold their primary election for the nomination of candidates for several important offices among them 2 United States senator, ten representa- lives in Congress, members of the state sRT prerne and appellate courts, president Of the Alabama public service commlsslon and perhaps one or two other offices. Democratic nomination is equivalent to election. All of these are important, the men filling them will have important questions to consider, and upon ther de- cisions and their actions the welfare and the future progress of the state to great extent depends.
 Then it is incumbent upon thevoters to select the best men available for the va rious offices: men of known ability, ln- tegrity and patriotism. There are such men in the state, many of them, who . would fit into the offices to be filled this year and discharge the duties thereon with credit to themselves and to the ben eft of their constituents.
 One essential of an efficient public of ficia1 that should never be lost sight of by the voter when he goes to the polls to cast his ballots is honesty. No matter how bril- liant he may be or what his associations or affiliations are if he be dishonest no good can come to his constituents from his ad- miniStratiOn.
 To be a dishonest official one need not be thief or a grafter or a liar. He may be upright and honorable in all his dealings with his felloW-man, yet he may be dis honest in the conduct of his official duties. He may be tied up with clique, or class, or sinister influences that will warp his judgment and control his action to the detriment of the state.
 Such instances have not been infre- quent in this country and even Tn Ala bama. There should be no class distinc- tions when it comes to the selection of gov ernment officials whether the govern ment be city, county state or nation. No man ought to be elected to office merely because he is an adherent of one class or another. Membership in lodge, or club or church or labor organization does not qualify man for office The test is, or should be- is he capable, is he honest, will he represent the whole people in preference to portion of them? This has not been the test at all times in the past and perhaps will not be uniformly so in the future.
 During campaign supporters of cer- tain candidates are heard to say that their favorite is a member of such and such an organization, or he is opposed to certain specified things that certain other ele- ments of the community want; that he will represent one particular class if elected, and that seems to be the sum to- tai of the argument in his favor. His sup porters apparently forget that the elected official presumably represents all the people in his county or district or state That is of no importance to them. The thing they are interested in is to get in of flee the man who will represent their par ticular interests regardless of whether the things they want are for the best interests of all the people.
 That is the wrong spirit. That makes for cleav- age in the ranks of the people It will result in ami mosities and clashes and divided citizenship that can only operate to the disadvantage of the com munty. In political elections there should be no division olOnO 1innS If nta1 lahOr chllrch lodro