The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-04-20

Hut Surrounded nv Heavy Nantts OF
>.cr~cy-~Thst Hehring. >-s rfoesins-
tion- nhs and How u WAS Prepared
aud Promulgated iiut Few Person,
vhi ..t sight of the impsrtan- Bin.
Prints.
WASHINGTON. April la-rhe pro-
cednre Of presidential proclamations j.
altnEe .hev very tame affair compared
with the Importance which i Mt
iached - II hy those who are unfa-
miliar with the ways ~ government
The prevailing idea that the president
proclaim> something. IN the generally
accepted sense of the word j. wholly
erroneous especially in the ease of
such proclamation n that relating
10 liehring sea. In many foreign conn
tries where official gazctteS are pub
lishcA proclamation> are literally pro-
claimed: but in the l'nited States. II il
were not for the wide publicity given
10 presidential action. il j. exceeding
~ doubtful il more than forty people
would have ever heard of the
PRESIDENTS MANNING TO TIII SEAL
PoAcHER>
When congress passed the bill placing
the decision Of the Paris tribunal on
the United States statutes, and il be-
came a law by presidential signature.
il was binding on every American citi-
zen from that moment. The pleading
Of ignorance of that statute would
probably have been considered worth
less in any court in the land. Some of
the ablest advisers of the government
held that no further action was neces-
sary to insure the punishment of any
one found violating its provisions.
There were others. however. who son-
tended that additional security was 10
Toe found in formal proclamation of
the new law. as
INFORMATION QUESTIONS WERE IN
voLyED:
and in order 10 forestall any possible
flaw that might be raised To cause flu
turc trouble the proclamation was de-
cided upon.
Then one OF the great red tape ma
chimes of the government was called
into action. There is printing estab-
iishment IN the unknown regions Of
the state department where some of
the best typographical work in Amer
lea is produced. secret documents are
printed there surrounded by more pre-
cautions than are observed in making
bank notes. To this establishment
was taken
A cAEEFJILY-CoMPARED TNrE-wHTTEN
CORY
OF the presidential proclamation, which
consisted Of an ordinary print of the
act OF congress with couple of per-
functionary phrases "lroclaiming" its
provisions and stating that the prcsi-
dent had hercunto set his hand and
caused the seal of the United States to
bc affixed. all of which was done at
the city Of Washington. the ninth day
of April. in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundrcd and ninety
four and Of the independence of the
United States Of America the one
hundred and eighteenth. with an
abnormal number of capital letters.
punctuation marks. and varieties of
types. Proofs were
CORRECTED A DOZEN TINES
by dozen different men and women.
who, nevertheless. overlooked at least
seven typographical errors. and. final
! lv. several hundred copies were printed
upon the heaviest blue bond paper. A
few of these were filed away in the
archives of the state department, while
the remainder were delivered to the
secretary Of the navy to be distributed
among the commanders of the twelve
vessels which are to patrol the forbid
den waters, and by them handed to the
captains of vessels in officially
WARNING THEM NOT TO TAKE SEALS.
No one will ever see the actual
proclamations. or be officially aware OF
their existence. except these warned
shippers and the few officers who
handle the documents before their de
livery. Probably less than 100 copie.
will be used altogether None OF then
will be posted in the customhouse OF
along the wharves Of the Pacific coast
where the Interested persons could see
them; ia fact. the utmost secrecy has
been and will be maintained regard
ing them.
OFFICIAL RETICENcE.
Although the act was signed OF
April G. and the proclamation was
sealed and done" on April 2. il wa,
not until April 10 that the officials o
the White House and state department
could be induced to confess that sucl
a thing AZ proclamation existed. ane
even then no interest in securing it,