The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-07
PURE MUNICIPAL ENGLISH.
RIVES SENDS 4 CIRCULAR TO
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS.

tngiiSn) capitals ana Commas W I'LL Get
aBoom I'm Greater New York-he City
Is"Party" OF First Part. Net parties"
The Hon. George L. Rives il very we'll
known as yachtsman. fairly well known
as lawyer. and somewhat well known as
Corporation Counsel Of the City Of New
York. Mr.. Rives gets paid only for dis
charging the duties Of his Office. but TO
supply n long-felt want in Mayor Lows
administration, Mr.. Rives has consented
to act, without pay. as an arbitcr Of pure
English for the city government. 1t was
reported around the City Hall yesterday
that Mayor Low. who is said to have some
influence still with the trustees OF Column
bia University. will recommend to that
body, at its next annual meeting, that il
add TO the list Of university degrees that
OF A. p. Z. (Arbiter Of Pure English, and
further. in order that the university may
show Its appreciation Of the great educa-
tional work performed by Mr. Rives. that
he be the first recipient of the degree.
1t was not known until yesterday that
Mayor Low had added an Arbiter OF Pure
English to the other specialists In municipal
government with which he has surrounded
himself. 1t all came out through q cir.
cular letter addressed by Mr.. Rives, as
Corporation Counsel. TO all the heads OF
city departments. This letter contained
the Arbiter's first suggestions as to the
kind Of English which will he approved
hereafter by the municipal government
1t could not be learned definitely yesterday
whether the Mayor himself received q copy
OF Mr.. Rves's suggestions or not. It Is
taken for granted, however, that, since II
reached all the other heads OF departments,
the Arbiter would not feel at liberty TO
leave out the Mayor.
A great many Of the heads Of depart
ments, AZ well as others. took occasion
to drop into the City Hall and congratulate
the Mayor on having frst-class A. p. +.
in his cabinet. Some Of the bearers Of
these messages, in order to assure the
Mayor that they regarded MIR. Rives's
work az OF the highest importance, as
suret his Honor that this departure was
the fir, bit OF genuine reform that had
been put IN force since Mr.. low became
Mayor. They even went so far as to as
sure the Mayor that they hoped he would
take occasion to devote one OF his talks
TO municipal English, and that before
the end Of his administration II would
/ be possible To have an A. p. E. In every
city department.
The letter referred TO begins with the
following statement: The following eug-
gestions are offered TO facilitate the prepar-
alton. revision, correction and final ap-
prevail of Contracts, Specifications, Bids,
Bonds. and Advertisements As soon as
it becomes generally known that the NUM-
cipal A. p. Z. insists upon the capitaliza-
ton OF common nouns, and the insertion OF
comma after the next TO the last noun
Of series and before the conjunction
connecting II with the last OF the series,
the fashion will be. no doubt, very generally
adopted. Judging from the letter. the
official A. =. f. regards the capitalization
Of common nouns, even when they are
used in the middle Of a sentence. as one
of the essentials OF pure English.
Mr. Rives insists upon such uscs Of capt.
tails as the following: They (contracts)
should be submitted again when in the
form Of Printers Proofs at least twenty
four hours before they are wanted: 'Ad-
vertisements In the City Record or Cor
iwenty-four hours before they are sent
to said papers; - "and the Copy
should be submitted to this Office in such
printed form (without recopying on type
writer) with all blanks filed In and with
such alterations. corrections. omissions
and determinations mo comma here before
the connective) carefully noted a. we'll
as adapt the said printed form 10 the De-
partment, Office or Bureau. and to the
particular Improvement. Structure or Sup
tons are intended
Then the letter goes on TO gay: Greater
uniformity and conciscnees will be secured
in Contracts II the following suggestions
are observed: (a) Use the single words,
President, Commissioner or Board
wherever applicable to designate and
refer TO the head Of the Department or
Office the word Contractor for the party
Of the second part; and the word Engineer,
Architect or Inspector for thee Consulting
Engineer, Engineer in Chief. or Consult ing
Architect. as tho case may be. On Use
the words The City or party mot partiee)
Of the first part, in referring to The City
Of New York, The corporate name Of the
city il The City Of New York. by which
it should be designated, not by the word
Corporation, (c) Avoid the use of the
word said before the words President.
Commissioner, Board, Engineer. Architect.
Inspector or party of the first part. Id
Avoid the use Of the word That as an
Introduction TO clauses and paragraphs.
(e) Topical subjects of each clause OF
paragraph should be in the form OF mar.
ginal notes. The length of paragraph
should be determined by the subjects
treated, and the numbers should be as
few a. il consistent with clearness.
II will be noticed that, while the official
A. p, +. taboos the word said" in certain
cases, he rather affects lite use in laying
down instructions for others, as, for in