Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-09-28
OFFICIAL NATURES
Sy Frederic j. Haskia

III Dy HtCuSIto y
Washington. Sept. 2ss--Amcrlcans ms
are sometimes inclined to make fun
of the foreign princes who sign their
documents merely with one name.
The King Of England. for instance,
signs George H." the II standing Tor
TEX, Latin for King. II those who
scoff Mt this system had tho jobs oil
some Washington officials they would
look Mt 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 tho shorter the signature, the
lighter the task.
/ In the old monnrchies. members OF
reigning families have held high po-
sitions 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 mon 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 So times a day. IL Sundays
and holidays are excluded he must
, sign Mt the rate OF more than GG
] times day to keep up with his work
I AS matter OF fact Presidents fire.
q quently spend holidays, when other
I business is light, In catching up on
G accumulated papers requiring sigma
= ture.
q The Initials ct. r." will always
g stand for the name of great mar
= In the annals OF the United States
: The popularity OF those initials aros,
In part from this burden of presiden
y tial signatures. Theodore coosevel
!. is a long name. The President whit
d bore that name was an unusuall,
i busy one. Consequently. wheneve
II possible, he used the initials 7. r. in
e stead of the name, with the resul
that they became well known through
n out the country.
N There are many papers, however
e which no President may sign with hi
W initials. They must be signed formal
N and with the full signature. Take 70
g instance the commissions Of the post
masters. Five thousand OF these
10 year must be signed by the 'Presiden
or 10000 during an administrator
sG There Is an average Of 230 executiy
+. orders year to be signed by III
al President and from As to so proclan
e. ations The public acts OF Congres
O. must bear the Presidents signatui
tx and each year produces about 200
these. Pardons are written on a for
rd which requires two presidential sfl
T. natures The commissions OF all NJ
taries public in the District OF Co
nd urnbia must be signed by the Pre-
ot ident and these number some 300
year. Commissions of officers in u
,st Army and Navy must be signed
r. the President and also retirement
10 Whenever an officer is promoted.
C. receives a new commission so the
,e- is a constant flow OF this work
not When President Wilson was III du
Is ing tho last portion Of his Admini
a tration, there were periods IN which
was unable to sign his name. A gre
n? amount OF important business q
Y. eumulated. especially Army and Ma
tut commissions
Many Letters to BE- Signed.
In addition to these formal pnpe,
"? the President signs an average OF
P. letters a day. There are many
lat formal notes and memoranda Will
he he initials or signs in addition.
,od Many schooiooy VINO cherish
,rtI the hope of being President may p
In haps feel he is being imposed On IL
err is kept IN after school and requil
fs to write his name or some otl
exercise a hundred times. Not at
err 1t Is the best practice in the We
F. for the Job.
ent The biggest signature writing
AXE the President has he delegates in
INT. curious manner. Forgery 10 seri
crime and the statutes provide sew
rs. penalties for those who initiate
signatures OF others. A conspicu
na- exception is made in the case of
on. Presidents signature for a spe,
yer purpose Under the law. the Pr
r. ident is required TO sign land pate
ch. The job is too big for him. so by
ion ecutive order he specifically appo
Von a substitute who is authorized to S
his name to land patents. The
ur- pointee studies the presidential sig
ma ture and learns to copy ii exactly.
m signature placed on the patents j
leg perfect legalized forgery. There
Won about $1,000 of these land patents
;es- be signed each year.
on Mrs. Viola P. Pugh of Washing
ear is the person now authorized to q
the presidential signature She
been doing so during the present
ministration
The Presidents signature writing
'"h is not the biggest in the Governn
by any meansi The man who $
~ the most checks is William A. Holl
- Disbursing officer of the Veterans
<NDe reau. Last July. the Bureau sent
W. 631, ,7S0 checks or nearly 25,0o0 a
VI This would be more than $500. .o(
it'S year. Mr.. Holmes has two assist:
who help him but he does most of
signing himself. As il would be a
steal impossibility 10 sign 25 900 ch,
a day every working day, a mac
-. is used. 1t is called a signograph
consists of a light frame which h
usually 10 fountain pens. The CHI