Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1886-07-22
MISCELLANEOUS.
EVERYDAY BLUNDERs.
Mistakes Frequently Made by People
Who Ought To Know Better.

VINO ought To Know Better.
A distinguished journalist, testifying
before the Congressional Telephone Com
mittee, was guilty of the verbal crime of
calling a Cabinet officer Cabinet Minis
ter This malyersation is common
enough, yet we have no more got Qhis
verb is used knowingly and adviscdly) a
Cabinet Minister than we have got
constitutional monarchy. We have no
Ministry consequently we have no
Ministers. We have merely Cabinet of.
ficers, who are not voted out of office,
and whose status is so totally unlike that
of Cabinet Ministers that it Is not neces.
sary to enlarge upon the subject Quite
as erroneous is the appellation of the
Secretary of State as the Premier. Mr..
Bayard has figured as Premier until he
must be weary unto death of being called
what he is not and never can be. The
Premier is the responsible head of an ad-
ministration. The Secretary of State is
by no means that. He is merely the chief
of an Executive department, and in our
Government the smallest and least i'm.
portant of all the Executive departments.
He is no more Premier than he is
pterodactyl or xerocolyrium, and If he
is an American he won't want to be any
or either.
Worse than either of these mistakes is
tpu int a.,
dent an audience" One constantly
reads in newspapers which ought to know
better of these audiences as if the
President were the Rajah of Cawnpore.
An audience with the President of the
United States! Pshal
Nine newspapers out of ten, and ninety
and nine persons out Of hundred,
when they speak of Congress" mean
the lower house alone, and call Repre-
resentative "Congi essman." The Sen
ate aud the House of Representatives ia
ken together constitute the Congress, and
a Senator is as much Congressman as
Representative is. A like confusion of
terms exists regarding the words minis.
ter and Ambassador. Our represen.
tativcs at foreign courts are not in any
sense Ambassadors. They arc merely
Ministers Resident. Only six countries
in the world-thc five great European
powers and Turkcy-scnd or receive
Ambassadors.
The difference between an act and o
law is also very great. but the contem-
porary press generally speak of them as
identical. An act may be passed by both
Houses of Congress, receive the Prcsi-
dents signature and go on the statute
books, but until the courts have passed
upon it is not law. Many acts are un-
constitutional; others are imperative;
Others again conflict with established
laws. An act does not become law un-
til it has proved its rdiSOn d Gtre. Anoth-
er un.American blunder which is cons
family made is speaking of a private sol
dier as n common soldier. This may do
in European countries, where class dis
tinctions are rigidly observed in civil as
wefl as military life, but it won't do at all
in this free and glorious republic, where,
as the Evangelist says, there is nothing
common or unclean. These are errors
picked up at random-bu one starting
out 10 find them in books, newspapers
and magazines Of the best class could
light upon two or three billions Of them
year.-N. Y. Mail and ErproSs.