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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Is legal
competence the most important quality?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: Legal compe-
tence, I would say, is one of the most im-
portant qualities.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: In the
committee deliberations did you study any
campaign literature issued by any attor-
neys general?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: No, we did not.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Have you
ever personally seen any campaign litera-
ture of a person running for this office in
which he stressed his legal competency?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: I have seen cam-
paign literature for persons running for
this office where they have had the endorse-
ments of hundreds of attorneys who have
endorsed him for the office, so I would pre-
sume that they think he is legally compe-
tent.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: May I ask
you whether or not the candidate for at-
torney general is not generally selected as
part of a ticket?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: That is correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: May I ask
you further whether or not his selection
on that ticket is based on his legal com-
petency or upon his, quote, getting power
for the ticket on which he is a part, un-
quote ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: I would imagine
it would be a combination of both. You
would not select a person completely for
legal competency if he could not get any
votes so I think it would be a combination
of both.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: May I ask
you whether or not the area of the State
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in which this person lives is not a factor to
be taken into consideration in determining
whether he is included on a ticket or not?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: I have heard it
said that it is a factor, but I would assume
we have competent lawyers in all areas of
the State.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: So do you
not concede by admitting that the vote-
getting factor, the area of geography, that
these factors are being used in a very im-
portant way in determining who the at-
torney general shall be, and not his legal
competency?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: No, I would not
concede that. I think his legal competency
is always considered, but these other fac-
tors are added to that before he is selected
by whoever is selecting the ticket.
I do not think a person without legal
competence would be selected as an attorney
general. If you review the record of the
outstanding attorney generals we have had
in the State all of them have been compe-
tent lawyers and competent attorney gen-
erals.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardwicke.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: This is my
final question, Mr. Chairman. If you were
selecting a personal lawyer to represent
you in an important case, do you believe
that the most competent man would be
chosen by an elective process or by some
other process which would be subject to
your personal determination, such as your
own appointment?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: Well, if it were
left to me to select an attorney, who I
would think would be most competent, you
would obviously have someone you thought
was more competent if you selected him,
so I think it is subjective as to who is the
most competent attorney. We cannot say
as a matter of fact that one lawyer is that
much more competent than another.
There are many objective factors in-
volved in this.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Pullen.
DELEGATE PULLEN: Mr. Chairman,
I should like to ask your legal interpreta-
tion of several words that I shall call at-
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