The Washington times., 1901-09-08

COMMUNICATION the greatest care Is OBJ
served and the shades of distinction are
carefully drawn. Ambassadors to the
United States. representing, as they do
the personality of their sovereigns. are
entitled to greatest consideration They
are addressed with all their titles In COM
mencing a letter to Lord Pauncetote, the
British Ambassador, for instance Secre-
tary Hay would say 'Excellency'' and in
the lower left hand corner of the first
page he would write:
THE Right Honorable Lord Pauncefote.
G. c. B.. G. c. Il c.. q. T.. and p" the
first set of initials being for Lord Paunce-
fote's title and the A. Z. and P. meaning
Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni-
potentary." minister, on the other
hand. would be addressed simply Sir"
and has name written as MFR. WI Ting
fang, Z. f. and NJ. P'' meaning Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister PIenipoten-
tiary. 1t was formerly the custom tc give
ministers their title such, as Count and
Baron, but confusion arose from the
mingling of titles and the giving of titles
is nos restricted to Ambassadors The
address must always be placed in the
lower Ieft-hand corner of the first page.
no matter how long the document may
be. There is also a mote verbale' which
goes without address on the note itself
and is written in the third person such as
THE Secretary of State desires to ex-
press his great regret that the British
Ambassador is unable, etc. This is
used for very Informal communications.
Communications to United States Am
bassadors and Ministers abroad are ad-
dressed: THE United States Ambassa-
dor. London. etc. the name of the coun-
try never being given except where con-
fusion is likely to arise from its absence.
These letters are always begun with
Sir
In the matter Of signing letters the
State Department Is more ceremonious
than the others. To all ..:e-qbers of Con-
gress. members of the Cabinet, and Unit
ed States Ambassadors and Ministers the
Secretary of State signs himself:
Il have the honor to be, sir,
Your most obedient servant,
JOHN HAY"
This is also the proper conclusion when
United States Ambassadors and Ministers
are addressing the Secretary of State Mr..
Hay employees this same form usually in
addressing the representatives of the for
eign Powers at Washington, although it
is susceptible Of much elaboration, and
the more important the communication
the more elaborate the parting saluta-
ton, as for insance: Il am, sir with the
assurances of the most profound regard
your most obedient servant" which is
frequently used. Former Secretaries of
State, especially in the early days, were
given to the most elaborate expressions
In concluding an official letter. In fact
Your obedient servant was almost as !
late as the civil war considered the prop /
er form, only it was written Your ob't !
serv t. Authorizations were plentiful +
then, but since the introduction of type |
writer's into the department they have
almost entirely disappeared. Letters are !
on file addressed to George Washington, |
Esq, President of the U. S."
In all departments but the State De- |
partment the letters are signed simply !
Respectfully or VERY respectfully" |
the former finding the greater favor John !
Sherman was so habituated to the use of |
Respectfully while in the Treasury |
department that he carried it with him |
to the State Department and never sign /
ed anything any other way. Secretary |
Long is the only member of the present |
Cabinet to have his name printed on his
official paper. and this is done because
his signature is undecipherable. New
Cabinet officers always start in signing
some length, as John D. Long" but aft
er writing this several hundreds of times
daily they soon reduce it to u D. Long
and learn to write it as easily as possible
Mr.. Root formerly signed his mail "EIihu
Root but he is now content with ..E.
Root" and Lyman ]. Gage has given
way to L. ]. Gage"
Senators should be addressed thus:
Hon William E Mason
United States Senate,
Washington, d. c.
And members of the House:
Hon. Charles Curtis.
u S. House of Representatives,
Washington. D. c."
The use of the words Senator or
is strictly tabooed The
Justices of the Supreme Court are ad-
iressed Mr.. Justice Harlan. u s. Su-
,reme Court, Washington. d. c." etc,
although the initials are permissible. In
he case of the Chief Justice the words
The Chief Justice" are proper
In social matters where the invitation
s extended because of the position and
egardless of the incumbent the invita-
ion would read The First Assistant
General and Mrs. -''-Bal-
imore Sun.