Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-28
Washington, D. c., Sept. 26.-

Washington, D. c., Sept. 26.-
Americans are sometimes inclined to
make fun of'the foreign princes who
sign their documents, signs merely
with one name. The king of England,
for instance, signs George r." the r.
standing for Rex, Latin for king. If
those who SEQ at this system had
they would look at the matter in a
different light. For the man, whether
he be 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 m~onarchies, members OF
reigning families have held high po-
sitions for generations and have
formed the habit OF using single
names or otherwise abbreviated sig
great offices are held by men often
having no advance, 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 So times a day. If Sundays
and holidays are excluded he must
sign at the rate of more than sc
times a day to keep up with his work.
AS a matter of fact presidents fire.
auently spend holidays, wien other
business Is light, in catching up on
accumulated papers requiring sigma
lures.
The initials 'T. r." will always
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 presidential
signatures. Theodore Roosevelt Is a
long name. The president who bore
that name was an unusually busy one
Consequently, whenever possible, he
used the Initials T. r. instead Of the
name, with the result that they be
came we'll known throughout the
country.
There are many papers. however
which no president may sign with his
initials. They must be signed formal.
ly and with the full signature. Take
for instance the, commissions of post.
masters. Five thousand Of these a
year must be signed by. the president
or 10000 during an administration.
There Is an average of 230 executive
ord ers q year to be signed ky the
president and from As to so proclaim
atoms Z. The public acts Of congress
and each ear produces about 200 a
these. Pardons are writers on a,form
which requires two presidential sig
natures. The commissions of all no.
taries public in the District Of Colum-
bia must be signed by the, president
and these number some 500 q year.
Commissions OF officers In the army
and navy must be signed by the pres:
ident and also retireme pts:: When
ceives q new commission so there Il
a. NAnuto NJ &1ND nf this wnrLa .-fEIEaAl
When President Wilson was i'll DUR
ing the last portion Of his administra-
ton. there were periods in which he
was, unable to sign his name. A great
amount Of important business acru:
mulated, especially army and navy
commissions. X
Many Letters 70 BE Signed.
In addition to these formal papers,
1.-THE preside nt signs an average Of 50
letters a day. There are many in.
formal notes and memoranda which
he initials or signs IN ADDITION.
Many q scf1oolboy who cherishes
the hope OF being president may per-
haps feel he 10 being imposed on ii
he is kept in after schools and requir-
ed to write his name or some other
exercise a hundred times. Not at all;
1T ig the best practice in the world
for the Job.
The biggest signature writing job
which tho president has he delegatsi
in curious manner . Forgery Is q
serious crime and the statutes provide
severe penalties for those who initiate
the signatures of others. "A conspicu-
Gus exception ID made an the case
Of the president,s signature for . spe-
presfdent ID required to sign land pat.
ents. The Job - too big for him, "a
by executive order he specifically, APP
points . substitute who 81 authorized
Ito sign his name to land patents. The
appointee studies the presidential
signature and ,lesrnl to copy ~ exact.
llys The signature placed on the pat.
tents - perfect iegaiized forgery,
There are about 5000 OF these land
patents to be sisned each year.
Mrs. Viola r. .Pugh OF W~ashington
10 the person now authorized to afkis
1.-THE presidential signature. She hal
bssn doing % AaGsang the present "a.
ininistrauoass