Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1923-01-11
\ RhetorleaI Rerresents,l,e.

Nnft"FfA N'FFfN'N'h'i'fs
This can ne saon from the case -
ono Representative who bad heon
school teacher when hi= speeches
were 80 up 20 be printed and -0a
proofs wo-- returned % h'm cor ro--
reaction. mo- would so through the pages
inserting numerous pu0rfu9'ior
marks totally u7nersra7rv 90 c'oa~-
noee.
4 grammatical sypo-- af 'ne Print
ing ONCE eZlqined this mysterious zys-
tern 20 tho puzzled operators Al
comma Indicated slight historical
pause. \ semi colon showed hat
here tho speaker paused longer Tor
drsmstic effect. 4 period or Dash in
dicated GREATNESS suspense This
rhetorical punctuation VAS once widely
used iu printing speeches. u is row
I'd Jrfuuc' practice. and not ono per-
son .u t th-usand you'd understand
t1a reason f1- 800 many commas and
lasnes The government printers.
lcVavcr. had 20 reset entirely nearly
naf n '1.s mans speeches because
o. the extra punctuation.
Such Incidents - this .ong ago
showed he need for o. single. 1gsd
s'vio ia d. shop which is said 20 30
tho largos- printing plant .1 no
world. Guf bureau officials could
uove- seem % compromise On their
pet Controversies.
soon after the presen: puhic
Printer. George H. Carter. took Office.
however. no theoretically tackled tho
proposition 81 making the government
style book D. real official standard. 8
board Of revision was formed ~
Printing Oflce officials and some au-
tb1rit.es from ether government
IgenC.es. For more than "a year this
board met and discussed policies. 70
consulted with scientific experts and
dictionary editors. II conducted ro-
search 20 be certain Of usages by besj
authorities.
In one historic instance the board
Get DOWN q rule which would have
made "meaiybug" and "fruitwcrn.
each Two words. The Department Of
Agriculture objected that these and
. certain other terms should 10 one
word. The department polluted ogt
that 20 write mealybug .n ,wo words
; indicates that the insect ls o. bug and
J that mcsly describes j.. While d
reality a meaiybug IS not strictly
speaking n bug. Similarly. a fruit.
rm is not worm. After extensive
T. c7cresp uderce. tho pru.inE board
surrendered % this argument.
s When ihe manual vae compiled a
3 represented final government
standard for punctuation. rompouu,
words. spelling rules. capitalization
: grammar. abbreviations. and prln.ins
style. The book was approved by IN,
/ President. The budget director. th.
Z congressional Joint Committee or
Printing. and by tho permanent coz
ference on printing composed 81 ofH
q c.ais On tho government department.
who 5re On charge - publications..
Adopted as a Textbook.
]. While tho style book IS an odic.a
., standard Tor the government only. {
it also being used 20 a considsrab r
extent 10y other agencies. Il has beel
adopted o. a textbook En- some school
and colleges. and It's rules are bein
D.. followed by "a number OF prnt.n
l. cilices and publishing houses.
n Nj. Carter explains that the m1uua
4 ie not au autocratic attempt 20 Dc
eide emphaucally what Is right an
.s wrong in English style. Languag
"a and custom change too steadily ia
J. that 20 DO practical. What the boar
"a Of revision did was 20 study goo
usage and opinions OF authorities an
10 decide what practices would I
?" best FOR the government TO adopt I
"a avoid confusion.
& Though the rules in the style boo
le are official so Tar as the s. vernme,
D. is concerned. they are not unchang,
able. and the Printing Office n,
evolved an effective method OF keel
or ing It's manual up-to-date. Officia
a who use the book in their work ha'
a special copies made with blank rul,
he pages after every printed page. II
y new public issue brings up a ne
word and there IS a dispute oy