The Falls City tribune., 1908-05-22
NO RULE TO GUIDE
OFFICIAL TITLES A DIFFICULTY
II FOR THE UNINiTlATED. =
Changes Made In the Forms Of Ad-
dressing tho President and 9th
ers In High Positon-"Con-
gressman" Not Used.

! should address him as Your Ex
| cellency,' as Mr.. President or as
| just President p
I'm sure | don't know. Just muir
mur President and l guess he won't
know the difference"
This conversation, overheard at one
of the White House receptions, Is in
dicative of the difficulty with titles
encountered by visitors to the ma
tional capital Nor is there any print
ed guide to follow. These things must
be learned from well-posted friends,
or mistakes will be made.
In ye olden times no one ever
thought of addressing the chief ex-
ecutive of the United States less for
mally than as Your Excellency," but
that expression is now relegated to
the list of things that were. "Mr. Presi-
dent is the correct form, both in
speaking and writing. Mr.. Roosevelt
has even eliminated "The Executive
Mansion" as the name of the presi-
dents official residence, and his sta
tionery bears the simple inscription:
THE White House"
1t is not only with the title of the
chief executive that the uninitiated
find difficulty, for there are many
forms to be learned. For instance,
cabinet officers are not addressed as
Secretary Root" or Secretary Gar
field" but as "Mr. Secretary" On the
other hand, senator's are addressed by
their titles, as Senator Lodge" "Sen-
ator Hale" A few people prefix "Mr."
saying "Mr. Senator" but it is not
considered as necessary, and by some
is pronounced an affectation.
Polite usage requires, invariably, the
prefix to the titles of members of the
supreme court For instance, one ad-
dresses the chief justice as "Mr. Chief
Justice" and the associate justices as
Mr.. Justice" although in making an
introduction one would add the name,
as: "Mr Justice White"
The rule which applies to the presi-
dent applies also to the vice-president
and to foreign ministers, who are ad-
dressed as "Mr. Minister" but in the
case of ambassadors the form Your
Excellency," is used except where one
is reasonably well acquainted, when
the simpler "Mr. Ambassador" is
adopted, and in every instance one
or the other of these terms is used
instead of the diplomats personal IT,
| tie of baron, count, or whatever it
| may be.
Throughout the government ser.
vice there are officials who are ad-
| dressed by their titles with the prefix
Mr." such as the civil service COM
missioners. the interstate commerce
| commissioners, the controller of the
treasury, and it is always safe when
IN doubt to so address a man who
holds public office.
With members of the house the
simple Mr." should be used, and
not Congressman" which is regard
ed as provincial despite the fact that
| President Roosevelt is apt to use that
| form. There are some members of the
lower house of congress who like to
| be addressed as Congressman" and
| 1t is probably in Difference to such
| preference that the president has
adopted that expression. The speaker
| of the house Is always addressed as
| Mr.. Speaker"
Army and navy circles also present
no little confusion because of the con-
tlict between official titles and social
| usage. For instance, those who know
| never address socially a lieutenant
| by his title, despite the fact that he is
| so designated in the army register,
and is so addressed by his brother
officer when on official business. He
is simply "Mr. Smith," or whatever
his name may be, and receives his
title In the social world only when
he reaches the grade of captain. But.
| you may object, every one refers to
and addresses the leader Of the Ma
rine Band as Lieutenant Santelmann."
| Very true, and that is because Lieu
tenant Santelmann is not a commits
stoned officer. He receives the title
by virtue of his position as leader
of the Marine Band, which carries
with it the rank of lieutenant, and
therefore every officer, whether speak
ing socially or officially, is punctilious
| TO use the title. And so, too, is the
same care exercised by every officer,
should he have occasion socially to
| speak to or communicate with an en-
listed man of any arm of the military
service, TO address him by his rank
alone, as: Sergeant" Corporal"
Private"
Cat with knowledge of Music.
! At a meeting of a Washington short