The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-28
topeka STATE JOURNAL
Information, Bureau
FREDERIC ). HAsKN. Direotnr.
washington, d. @
oFFICTAL SIGNATURES.

4
name. The king OF England, for in
stance. signs George r." the r
standing for Rex, Latin for king. If
those who sc4ff at this system had
the jobs of some Washington officials
| they would look at the matter in a
different light. For the man, whether
/ he be a king or the occupant Of some
| other important Executive position,
who has to sign his name frequently,
soon discovers that the shorter the
signature, the lighter the task.
| In the old rnonarehies, members OF
reigning families have held high posi-
lions for generations and have formed
| the habit of using single names or
otherwise abbreviated signatures. In
our republic, where the great offices
are held by men often having no ad-
, vance experience, the lesson has not
been learned.
The president of the United States
| is required to sign his name on an
average of 10000 times a year, or
nearly fifty-eigh times day. II
Sundays and holidays are excluded ne
must sign at the rate of more than
sixty-six times day to keep up with
his work. As matter of fact, presi-
dents frequently spend holidays, when
other business is light, in catching up
| ON accumulated papers requiring
signature.
stand for the name of a great man in
the annals of the United States. the
popularity of those initials arose in
part from this burden of presidentlal
signatures. Theodore Roosevelt Is q
| long name. The president VINO pore
that name was an unusually busy one
IConseouen whenever possible, ne
used the initials T. R. instead of the
name with the result that they De-
j came well known turnout the country.
There are many papers, however.
I ion WI
| initials They-must be signed formally
and with the full signature Take for
| instance the commissions OF postmaS-
/ tiers. Five thousand of these year
must be signed by the president, or
10000 during an administration. Thefe
| is an average of 23e executive orders
/ a year to be signed by the president
and from As 70 so proclamatlons. The
4 public acts of congress must bear the
presidents signature and each year
produces about 200 of these Pardons
are written on a form which requires
| two presidential signatures. The com
missions of al notaries public in the
| District of Columbia must be signed
by the president and these number
| some 800 a year. Commissions OF Of
ficers in the army and navy must be
signed by the president and also re-
1 firements. Whenever an OFFICER Is
Ipromoted, he receives a new commits
sion so there is a constant flow or this
| work
: When President Wilson was i'll dur
| ing the last portion of his adn1inistra-
ton, there were periods in which he
was unable to sign his name A great
amount of important business &C
cumulated, especially army and navy
| commissions
Many Letters to Be Signed.
| In addition to these formal papers,
| the president signs an average OF fifty
! letters d day. There are many informal
notes and memoranda which ne
| initials or signs in addition
| Many a schoelboy who cherishes the
hope of being president may perhaps
feel he is peing imposed on il he is
kept in AMER EPflool add required to
write his name br some other exercise
/ a hundred times. Not at all; it is the
best practice in the world for the job.
| The biggest signature writing job
which the president has he delegates
/ in a curious manner. Forgery is a
serious crime and the statutes provide
severe penalties for those who initiate
| the signatures of others. a consp1cu-
Gus exception is made in the case of
the presidents signature for special
purpose. Under the law, the president
| is required to sign land patents. The
| job is too big for him. so by executive
order he specifically appoints sub
stitute who is authorized to sign his
name to land patents The appointee
=
learns to copy it exactly. The sigma
ture placed on the patents is a perfect
iIegaHzed forgery. There are about
$4,000 of these land patents to be
signed each year.
! Mrs. VioIa/P. Pugh of Washington
is the person now authorized. to affix
| the presidential signature. She has
been doing so during the present adj
ministration.
The presidents signature writing
4 S,oINH Iii Sv1
ment by any means. The man who
signs the most checks is William A
Holmes, disbursing Officer of the vet
Grams bureau. Last July, the bureau
sent out 631,Ts0 checks or nearly 49,
900 a day. This would be more than
100000 a year. Mr.. Holmes has
two assistants who help him but he
does most of the signing himself. AS
lit would be a physical impossibility
to sign $4,000 checks a day every
working day, a machine is used. 1t
is called signograph. It consists
of a light frame which holds usually
ten fountain pens. The checks which
are to be signed are placed beneath
1 the frame. The signer grasps the
pen at the lower left hand corner of
the frame and writes his signature in
the proper place. The frame is so con-
structed in relation to the uniform
size of the papers to be signed that
each of the other pens writes the ex-
oOpAACdeO VI WI1dI lI1S SlSneT
writes, in nine other places. These
machines are used in all governn emit
departments where many checks have
to be signed by hand.
Treasurer a Busy Signer.
The post office department has
| some 100000 checks a year to sign
and the pension offieef60o 900 checks.
The treasurer OF the United States is
one of the busiest of the signers.
Treasurer Frank White and his chief
deputy, Frank J. F. Thiel, sign away
more money than probably any of the
others as their checks frequently arc
for very large amounts. The regular
treasury warrants which they sign
number about 100000 a year, while
miscellaneous checks number another
10000
Disbursing officers of all the Gov
eminent departments. boards, bureaus