Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-03-24
TIE WHITE HOUSE NAIL.
THE TITLES CONFERRED BY THE
PRESIDENTS CORRESPONDENTS.

Queerly Addressed EaveIopes and
CrAnls' Appeals.
One-half of the Presidents daily mai
l. addressed to His ExcelIency the
President Of the United States This,
OF course. is exclusive of mail from off
cial sources If this record is taken as 8
criterion, one-half of the people of the
United States are ignorant Of the Presi
dents official title and of the fact thai
it was determined early in the history
Of the republic that the President should
not be called His Excellency.
The question ~what style or titles il
will be proper to annex to the Offices OF
President and Vice President OF the
United States, If any other than those
given in the Constitution. came before
the FIRST Congresa The matter was re-.
ferred to joint committe, who reported
O Recommendation that the President b
addressed as His Exec lency." The
Senate disagreed to this. and the subject
WAS referred to q conference co nmittee,
which reported ~that. in the opinion of
the committee it will be proper thus to
address the President, His Higlness,
the President OF the United States Of
America and Protector of their Lber,
ties" This report was postponed, and
the Senate. on May IA, 1889, passed a
resolution fixing the title of the Presi
dent, which yet remains in force. The
resolution was as follows:
From q decent respect for the opin-
ION and practice OF civilized nations,
whether under monarchical forms of
government. whose custom is to annex
titles Of respectability to the tffice of
their chief magistrate, and that i'm i'm
tercourse with foreign nations a due re-
sptct for the MAJESTY of the people of
tile United States may not be hazarded
by an appearance of singularity, the
Senate have been induced to he of opin-
ion that it would be proper to annex "a
respectable title to the office of Presi-
dent of the United States; but the Sen.
ate, desrous of preserving harmony
with the House of Representative
where the practice lately observed in
presenting an address to the President
was without the addition Of titles, think
1t proper, for the present, to act in con-
formity with the practice Of that Houses
therefore,
Resolved, That the present address
be: ITO the President of the United
States, without addition of title.
In an examination of the Presidents
mail at the Executive Mansion one day
recently but one letter was found in the
entire package which was addressed
rorrnatlw anI fhat ,,,a. f.o.. = ...:I...-S
company in Camden, N. j. Four were
nearly correct. Two were addressed
TO the President, Washington, d. c."
and the ether two "To the President.
Executive Mansion, Washington, d. G.
The San Francisco board Of trade ad-
dressed an envelope to ~His ExceIlency
Benjamin Harrison, President, Wash
ington, d. c., and a leading insurance
company Of New York sent letter ad-
dressed TO His Excellency Benjamin
Harrison, President" etc, and in tile
corner of the envelope Was the word
sPrivate Another letter was ad-
dressed "His Excellency, Ex cutive
Mansion, D. c., and marked Personal.
The Personal" mark never takes a let
ter beyond the desk of Executive Clerk
Tibbott, who handles all of the Presi-
dents mail, and turns over to Private
Secretary Halford the letters which do
not require the Presidents personal at
tention.
A more direct style of address which
10 popular with the Presidents corre-
spondents lie President Harrison, Wash
ington. d. c. Sometimes this is varied
by q letter addressed to president
Benjamin Harrison" Just as direct
and more democratic is the address,
-Mr. Benjamin Harrison, Washington,
ID. c." Occasionally the President has
one or two superfiuous initials conferred
upon him. "F." is a favorite, and /
found both %Hon. B. F. Harrison" and
His ExcelIency B. F. Harrison" on his
letters One Rip Van Wrinkle corre-
spondent addressed his letter @To His
Excsllency William H Harrison, Presi-
dent" etc. A letter from an army off,
Ger in the West Was directed ITO the
President. Benjamin Harrison" an
illustration Of the fact that even official
experience is not always good teacher.
The majority of the Presidents letters
carry his name as well as his official
title. Parsons, KAN, and Philadelphia
each sent a letter the other day ad.
dressed to Benz njamen Harrison, further
described for purposes of Identification
as President Of the United States"
though in one instance the word was
spelled ~Presadenk" A correspondent
in Newark, N. J., addressed ~Mr. Ben
jamin 81. Harrison, Washington, D. c.
and then added, apparently as an after
thought, President q. s." sH" is
another favorite initial with the Presi-
dents correspondence. probably remi-
niscence Of William H., the first Presi.
dent Harrison.
The foreign idea Of the Presidents ad-
dress found illustration in q communi-
cation from the Department of Neg
Iected Children and Reformatory
at Melbourne, Australia. It
was directed to the President of the
White House Washington, U.
s. A. Officially there & no such place
as the White House. The Presidents
ONCE and residence i The Executive
Mansion. Some Of the letters which
the President receives suffer delay from
Of address. Postal clerks
are kept busy deciphering the addresses
on the Presidents mail. One letter was
addressed to @Bengerman Harson,
lt was mailed at Al
toona, Pa, and the postmaster there
sent it 70 Warrington, Pa There @Try
n ~