The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-26
UNITED STATES "IS."
History of the Use of the Name as 8
 Collective Noun.

Secretary Hay writes to The Wash- ington Post the following letter, on which The Post comments:
 I have found that in the early days of the republic the prevailing practice was the use of the plural, but even then many public men employed the singular, and of late years the latter has become the rule. Among states men who have habitually used the sin- gular verb are:
 Hamilton, Jefferson, Seward, Blaine, Edmunds, E. J. Phelps. Webster, Ben ton. Fish. Frelinghuysen, Motley, Reid. Gresham, Silas Wright, Marcy. Evarts, Bayard Charles Francis Adams, De- pew, Olney.
 Of living professors of international law, Woolsey of Yale, Moore of Colum- bia, Huffcut of Cornell and James C.. Carter of New York. use the singular. Andrew Jackson was the first President to adopt the singular verb in his off, cial papers. In the earlier messages Of the Presidents the plural form is usual ly found, but since Lincoln all of them, including Grant, Cleveland, Harrison and Mckinley, have invariably used the singular. In the decisions of the Supreme Court during the first half century tine plural form Is generally used. but singular appears occasionally. In later years the court has used the singular. The same remark applies to treaties with foreign nations. In the early history of the republic the plural was used, and during later years the singular. No amendment to the con- stitution Is necessary to justify the use of the singular because we have de- hA lon nf that in strument and from the customs of the fathers in typography. orthography. etymology and suntax. If we stood by the constitution we would have to re- wise our spelling, our punctuation and our use of capital letters. For example the constitution says that "the House of Representatives shall chuSe their speaker" and the Senate shall chuse their other offic Srs." If we continue to use the plural for the country at large we should do the same in our refer ences to the Senate and the House of Representatives. We no longer refer to Congress as they" but as ''it," We no longer write "chuse," and no longer use capital letter for every noun, as is done in the constitution. Further more, the authors of the constitution were not constant in the use of the
  States, but used the singular also. For example, section ? of article says that the judicial power shall extend to controversies to which the United States shall be party" when 1t might have said parties"
 In considering the phraseology of th' Constitution we must bear in mind tht time and the circumstances under which that instrument was written. 1tG authors came together as representa- tives of thirteen independent states which had not yet relinquished any DOT tion of their sovereignty. but still exer' cised the right to make their own wal levies, impose their own taxes and GUS toms duties and regulate foreign com merce. It was, therefore, natural tha they should use the plural verb. WV should remember that an event whicl occurred in the sos relieved our Ian guage from that servitude and estab lished the truth of the national motto E Pluribus Unum.'
 But the oneness of our governmen was proclaimed Ions before the frs shot was fired at the flag over For Sumter James Wilson of Pennsylva mia declared in the convention of IFS | that by adopting this Constitution WI shall become a nation. and there wa no dissenting voice. We ceased thei to be a league of States, and became single political entity. All the writ CTS who employ the plural verb use tn term nation and United States inter changeable. It is a curious fact alst that in many public documents. ever | in the messages of the Presidents, botl the singular and the plural forms ar, used in the same papers sometimes il the same sentence. For example, Sec retary Bayard once said: The United States have no reason to believe tha any discrin ination against its citi zens Is intended
 This gives an intelligent review of th matter and furnishes Justification tt those who are uncertain as to thei right to use the singular verb, bu whose tendencies are naturally toward such usage. Really there should be m need of such fertilization, but sine there is. it is well to have 1t. The fac is that the United States is and wh, should anyone hesitate to say so?
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