The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-28

washington, D. G.. SEPT 81
Americans are S0lhetimes inclinea
to make Tin 0f the foreign princes
Who sign their documents merely
With one name. The king Of Eng
land, for instance. signs George
r. the z standing for Rex, Latin
Tor king. II those yho scof at this
system had the Jobs Of some Wash
ington officials they would look 1t
the matter in . different light. For
the man, whether he be king or
the occupant Of some other import
ant executive position, who has to
sign his name frequently, soon dis
covers that the shorter the sigma
ture, the lighter the task.
In the. old moparchies, members
of reirpfng families have held
high Positions for generations AMI
have formed the habit Of using SIN
gle names or otherwise abbreviated
signatures. In our republic, where
the 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 IS times q day. II Sun
days and holidays are excluded he
must sign at the rate Of more than
6 times a day to keep up with his
work. A. a matter Of fact presi-
dents frequently spend holidays,
when other business is light, in
catching up ON accumulated papers
requiring signature.
The initials IT. R." will always
stand for the name of . 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 long name. The
president who bore that name was
an unusually busy one. Conse-
| quently. whenever possible. he used
the initials It. r. instead of the
name ,Eith the result that they be-
came well, known throughout the
country.
There are many papers, however,
which no president may sign with
his initials. They must be signed
formally and with the full sigma
ture. Take for instance the COM
missions of postmasters. Five thou
sand of these Year must be signed
by the president, or 10000 during
an administration. There is an
average of 238 executive orders a
year to be signed by the president
and from IS to SO proelamations
The public acts of congress must
bear the presidents signature and
each year produces about eco Of
these Pardons are written on q
form which requires two president.
ial signatures. The commissions
of all notaries public in the District
of Columbia must be signed by the
president and these number some
| 800 a year. Commissions Of off
GERS in the army and navy must be
signed by the president and also
retirements. Whenever an office,
is promoted, he receives new com.
mission SO there. is a constant flow
of thi swork. ~.
! When President Wilson was i'll
during the last portion OF his ad-
ministration, there were periods il
which he was unable to sign hi.
name. A great amount of import
ant business accumulated, .espe.
cially army and navy commissions
Many Letters to Be Signed.
In addition to these formal pa
pers, the president signs an aver
age of so letters a day. There ar,
many informal notes and memo
randa which he initials or signs il
addition.
Many a school boy who cherishe:
the hope of being president ma,
perhaps feel he is being imposed OF
if he is kept in after school and re
quired to write his name or some
other exercise hundred times. No
at all, it is the best practice in the
world for the job.
The biggest signature writing jol
which the president has he dele
gates in curious manner. Forg
cry is a serious crime and tn
statues provide severe penalties fol
those who initiate the signature.
of others. A conspicuous exception
is made in the case of the presi
dents signature for a special pur
pose. Under the law, the preside !
is required to sign land patents
The job is too big for him, so b
I executive order he specifically ap
points Substitute who is author
lied to sign his name to land pat
ents. The appointee studies tn
presidential signature and learn
to copy it exactly. The signatur
placed on the patents is a perfec
legalized forgery. There are abou
$1,000 of these land patents to b
signed each year.