TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.
Strikethru text is denoted by ++double plus signs++.
A small box representing a space is denoted by the ▢ symbol.
A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}, for example A^1 or ^{cm}.
Some minor changes are noted at the end of the book.
MANUAL OF STYLE
GOVERNING
COMPOSITION AND PROOF READING
IN THE
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1894.
CONTENTS.
Page.
ABBREVIATIONS 8
BILL STYLE 25-28
CAPITALIZATION 9-16
COMPOUNDING 17
COURT WORK 22
FOLLOW--FOLLOW LIT 22
GENERAL TESTIMONY 23
GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 7
GREEK ACCENTS 40
GREEK ALPHABET 40
GREEK CASE 40
JOURNAL WORK 29-32
MATHEMATICAL, ASTRONOMICAL, AND PHYSICAL SIGNS 39
MISCELLANEOUS 24
ORTHOGRAPHY 7
PREFACE 5
STANDARD PAGE MEASUREMENTS 39
SUGGESTIONS TO AUTHORS 6
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITORS, READERS, AND REVISERS 33-38
TABULAR WORK 19-21
USE OF FIGURES 18
USE OF ITALIC 23
PREFACE.
Clear and positive rules for composition and proof reading are
needed in printing offices to prevent confusion and unnecessary
delay and expense. Inflexible rules for style in all works can
not be given, but for the general work of the Government Printing
Office the rules herein contained will be observed. When important
changes are to be made, written or printed instructions will be
furnished or there will be a special preparation of copy.
All persons connected with the typographical divisions of this
office are requested to preserve this book and study carefully and
well the rules and suggestions offered for their guidance.
Department editors are requested to make their copy conform as
nearly as possible to the style here presented, and to specify
fully when sending work to this office any general deviation
therefrom that may be desired.
SUGGESTIONS TO AUTHORS.
Authors are advised to so prepare their copy that it can be clearly
understood by the printer. Nothing should be left for conjecture.
Measurable perfection can be secured by first transcribing copy on
the typewriter, and before releasing it for publication giving it
as careful revision as is afterwards given proof sheets. In the
end this will not only save time, but Department printing funds
frequently exhausted in making author’s corrections in proof will
be available for other work. Typewritten copy is always preferable,
when not on paper too thin, but plain copy is absolutely essential
to good work.
The following are offered as suggestions which, if heeded, will
enable this office to achieve the best results:
1. All paragraphs should be clearly marked on copy, thus avoiding
vexatious misprints due to overrunning in proof.
2. Objects, photographs, or drawings for illustration should
accompany manuscript. Each should bear the name of the publication
to which it belongs, together with the figure or plate number, and
necessary titles or legends for the same should be inserted at the
proper place in copy. A complete list of plates and figures should
always accompany the paper.
3. When a work is made up of several parts, or papers, a carefully
prepared schedule of the desired arrangement should be forwarded
with the manuscript.
4. Proper names and technical terms should be plainly and carefully
written, using CAPITAL letters if necessary, and each should be
verified before the copy is sent to the printer.
5. Details of capitalization and punctuation may be safely left to
the printers and proof readers. It is part of their profession;
they make a study of the subject, and will generally meet the
author’s taste.
6. Write only on one side of the paper. When printed matter
covering more than one side of a sheet is used as copy, a DUPLICATE
should be furnished; otherwise much trouble is caused in cutting.
7. When, as an afterthought, new matter making more than a line is
inserted, it should be written on a separate sheet and the place
for its insertion clearly indicated.
8. Galley proofs will be furnished when desired. It is important
that all corrections be made on the first proofs; later ones should
be used only for purposes of verification.
9. Corrections in stereotype or electrotype plates usually do
more harm than good. They weaken the plate and render new errors
probable through damaged letters.
10. Authors and compilers are requested to direct those handling
their manuscript to transmit the same to the Printing Office in
flat form--never to roll it if it can be avoided.
RULES GOVERNING WORK IN THE DOCUMENT DIVISIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT
PRINTING OFFICE.
(Adopted December 3, 1894.)
ORTHOGRAPHY.
1. Follow Webster’s International Dictionary.
2. Observe the spelling of the following words:
Arapahoe
Arapahoes
Navajo
Navajoes
upward
downward
backward
forward
toward
aftward
afterwards
draft, drafting, etc.
manila (city and product)
canyon
embed
waterway
employee
missfire
farther (distance)
further (other than distance)
3. Use the following forms of words:
O. K.
taggers tin
feet, B. M.
Anderson & Co.’s invoice
5 by (not x) 10 inches
by day (not day’s) labor
State (not State’s) prison
quartermaster stores
one-fourth (where ¼ is marked “spell” in copy)
Jones’s (possessive)
can not
waterworks
waterway
cattleman
4. Omit the dieresis in such words as reexamine, cooperation,
preemption, zoology.
5. The following is a list of words in common use in which accented
letters occur. Follow it, except in works of the United States
Geological Survey and United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, in
which no accented letters are permissible:
attaché
bête noir
blasé
Champs Élysées
chargé d’affaires
confrère
coup d’état
coup de grâce
débris
élite
en arriére
en échelon
en déshabille
en règle
entrée
entrepôt
eozoon
exposé
façade
fête champêtre
garçon
matériel (Fr.)
mêlée
née
papier mâché
procés verbal
protégé
régime
résumé
rôle
rôle d’équipage
GEOGRAPHIC NAMES.
1. In the spelling of geographic names give preference as follows:
Decisions of the United States Board on Geographic Names, United
States Postal Guide, Lippincott’s Gazetteer, and Rand, McNally &
Co.’s Atlas, in the order named.
2. The following are the general rules governing the decisions of
the Board on Geographic Names:
The possessive apostrophe is dropped.
The final “h” is dropped from names ending in “burgh”: Pittsburg,
not Pittsburgh.
Names ending in “borough” are contracted to “boro”: Boonsboro, not
Boonsborough.
Names are not compounded: Alluwe, not Al-lu-we; Hongkong, not
Hong-Kong.
“C. H.” is omitted as part of the names of county seats: Fairfax,
not Fairfax C. H.
Spell Center, not Centre.
Accented letters are not used, except in rare instances, as Curaçao;
Réunion; St. François.
ABBREVIATIONS.
1. Follow Postal-Guide contractions for States and Territories
(except Oregon, for which use Oreg.) after names of forts,
barracks, arsenals, navy-yards, naval stations, post-offices,
counties, military or Indian reservations, and Indian agencies.
Note the following examples:
Fort Barrancas, Fla.
Vancouver Barracks, Wash.
Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.
League Island Navy-Yard, Pa.
Key West Naval Station, Fla.
Albany, N. Y.
Hudson County, N. J.
Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nev.
Pine Ridge Agency, S. Dak.
Springfield Armory, Mass.
Fort Myer Military Reservation, Va.
POSTAL-GUIDE CONTRACTIONS.
Alabama Ala.
Alaska Territory Alaska
Arizona Territory Ariz.
Arkansas Ark.
California Cal.
Colorado Colo.
Connecticut Conn.
Delaware Del.
District of Columbia D. C.
Florida Fla.
Georgia Ga.
Idaho Idaho
Illinois Ill.
Indiana Ind.
Indian Territory Ind. T.
Iowa Iowa
Kansas Kans.
Kentucky Ky.
Louisiana La.
Maine Me.
Maryland Md.
Massachusetts Mass.
Michigan Mich.
Minnesota Minn.
Mississippi Miss.
Missouri Mo.
Montana Mont.
Nebraska Nebr.
Nevada Nev.
New Hampshire N. H.
New Jersey N. J.
New Mexico Territory N. Mex.
New York N. Y.
North Carolina N. C.
North Dakota N. Dak.
Ohio Ohio
Oklahoma Territory Okla.
Oregon Oregon
Pennsylvania Pa.
Rhode Island R. I.
South Carolina S. C.
South Dakota S. Dak.
Tennessee Tenn.
Texas Tex.
Utah Territory Utah
Vermont Vt.
Virginia Va.
Washington Wash.
West Virginia W. Va.
Wisconsin Wis.
Wyoming Wyo.
2. Titles of courtesy and professional titles preceding names will
be contracted or spelled according to the following list:
Mr.
Messrs.
Mrs.
Dr.
Professor (with surname)
Prof. (with Christian name)
Rev. (the Reverend)
Right Rev.
Very Rev.
Hon. (the Honorable)
Right Hon.
* M. (monsieur)
* MM. (messieurs)
* Mme. (madame)
* Mlle. (mademoiselle)
* Mgr. (monsignor)
* Sig. (signor)
* Signora
* Signorita
* Señor
* Señorita
* Señora
* Herr
NOTE.--When any of the titles marked with an asterisk, with or
without the Christian name, precedes “de,” use lower-case “d;”
otherwise use capital “D.” This rule applies also to “du,” “von,”
“van,” etc.
3. Military and official titles preceding names will be spelled
out in text when the Christian name or initial is not used, but in
tabular work and where the Christian name or initial is used the
annexed list will be the guide:
President
Governor
Supt.
Bvt. (brevet)
Army titles:
Gen.
Lieut. Gen.
Maj. Gen.
Brig. Gen.
Adjt. Gen.
Surg. Gen.
Judge-Advocate-Gen.
Insp. Gen.
Com. Gen.
Q. M. Gen.
P. M. Gen.
Col.
Lieut. Col.
Maj.
Surg.
Chaplain
Capt.
Asst. Surg.
First Lieut.
Second Lieut.
Sergt. Maj.
Hosp. Steward
Com. Sergt.
Q. M. Sergt.
Ord. (ordnance) Sergt.
Sergt.
First Sergt.
Second Sergt.
Orderly-Sergt.
Corpl.
Private
Musician
Navy titles:
Admiral
Vice-Admiral
Rear-Admiral
Commodore
Capt.
Commander
Lieut. Commander
Lieut.
Lieut. (Junior Grade)
Ensign
Surg.
P. A. Surg., etc.
Asst. Surg.
Chief Engineer
Chaplain
4. Distinguishing titles and college degrees, following names, will
always be contracted, as jr., sr., esq.; Ph. D., LL. D.; U. S. A.,
U. S. N. (See also under “CAPITALIZATION.”)
NOTE.--The contractions “U. S. A.” and “U. S. N.,” for United
States Army and United States Navy will be used when so written.
When written “U. S. Army” or “U. S. Navy,” spell in full, as--
John L. Worden, U. S. N.
R. W. Meade, United States Navy.
N. A. Miles, U. S. A.
G. G. Crook, United States Army.
5. In parenthetic references to books use “p.” and “pp.” for page
and pages, and “sec.” and “secs.” for section and sections.
6. “St.” will be used for Saint, but Fort and Mount will not be
abbreviated.
7. Use “etc.” instead of “&c.” Use the character “&” in firm names,
but not in titles of companies having geographic or commercial
words as part of the corporate name, nor in literary, scientific,
artistic, or musical companionships. Examples:
Smith & Brown.
George W. Johnson & Co.
William Greene & Bro.
Wigton Bros. & Co.
Harlan & Hollingsworth Company.
Brown & Jones Mining and Milling Company.
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.
Washington and Norfolk Steamboat Company.
Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.
Washington Flour and Feed Company.
Eastern and Western Transportation Company.
Gilbert and Sullivan.
Cuvier and Valenciennes.
Hay and Nicolay.
8. Comprehensive examples of the use of the word “Company” and its
contraction “Co.” are given above. (See also “Contractions” under
“TABULAR WORK.”)
9. Do not use abbreviation “U. S.” except in connection with naval
and other vessels of the Government, as U. S. S. _Kearsarge_, U.
S. gunboat _Katahdin_, U. S. monitor _Miantonomoh_, U. S. torpedo
boat _Ericsson_, U. S. light-house tender _Maple_, etc.; but the
contraction may be used in signature and address lines where
extreme length makes it desirable.
10. Set references to scriptural texts as follows: Genesis xv, 24;
II Samuel viii, 9-13; St. Matthew vii, 5.
11. Streets of the District of Columbia: Fifth street NW.; Florida
avenue NE.; Four-and-a-half street SW.
12. Where compass directions are contracted, use the forms NE.,
NNW., etc.
13. Use “F.” for Fahrenheit and “C.” for centigrade when
temperatures are given.
14. Use “Pl.” and “Fig.” for plate and figure before roman
numerals, as Pl. VI, Fig. XII; “pl.” and “fig.” before figures, as
pl. 6, fig. 12.
15. Use “Rev. Stat.” for Revised Statutes, and “Stat. L.” for
Statutes at Large, in citations.
16. Set abbreviations for section, township, range, etc., thus: SE.
¼ sec. 5, T. 9 N., R. 2 E.
17. Use “loc. cit.” for loco citato; “op. cit.” for opere citato;
“sp. gr.” for specific gravity, and “sp. nov.” for species nova.
18. Where the metric system of weights and measures is used, follow
copy, and where contractions occur use roman lower-case or superior
letters, according to indicated preference, as “cm. or ^{cm},” for
centimeter; “mm. or ^{mm},” for millimeter; “c. c. or ^{cc},” for
cubic centimeter.
19. After “per cent” and “viz” omit the period.
20. References to Congressional documents: House Ex. Doc. No. 6,
Forty-seventh Congress, second session; Senate Mis. Doc. No. 10,
Forty-sixth Congress, first session.
21. Use “_v._” (_versus_) in all cases except “fol.” and “fol. lit.”
22. The symbol “m/n,” used in connection with South American
financial statements, will be spelled “national money,” in
parentheses, immediately following the amount, as $146 (national
money); Rs. 146 (national money).
23. English money will be expressed by the use of the symbols “£”
“s.” “d.” when amounts are given, as £227 14s. 6d.
(See also “Contractions” under “TABULAR WORK,” “Supreme Court
records,” and “Court of Claims opinions, briefs, and decisions.”)
CAPITALIZATION.
1. Use caps for roman numerals designating pages, chapters,
articles, or plates.
2. Use caps for college degrees, viz, D. D., Ph. D., LL. D., A. M.,
B. A., etc.
3. Use lower-case “r” in Sr. and Jr., and “sq.” in Esq. in
addresses and signatures.
4. Capitalize, both singular and plural, “department,” “bureau,”
“survey,” “corps,” and “service,” when referring to an Executive
Department or important bureau, of the United States Government;
“congress,” referring to the United States Congress; “house,”
referring to the United States Senate or House of Representatives.
5. Capitalize, singular and plural, Senator, Representative,
Delegate, and Member of the United States Congress and the
principal officers of both Houses. Observe the following:
Architect of the Capitol
President
Secretary
Chaplain
Sergeant-at-Arms
Speaker
Clerk
Doorkeeper
6. Capitalize the legislative bodies, with their sections, of
Governments:
Parliament
House of Lords
House of Commons
the Lords
the Commons
the Reichstag
Rigsdag
Reichsrath
National Assembly
Corps Législatif
Bundesrath
Skupshtina
Cortes
Legislature (Hawaii)
the Right
the Center
the Left
States-General (Holland)
7. The words “president,” “king,” “queen,” “czar,” “emperor,” etc.,
when used definitely and referring to rulers of countries, should
be capitalized, as the President, the Emperor, the Emperor of
China, the Chinese Emperor, etc.
8. Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation. Example:
Solomon says, “Pride goeth before destruction.” Do not capitalize
such indirect quotations as “a wise man says that pride goeth
before destruction.”
9. Capitalize the first word of such indirect quotations as the
following, but do not quote:
The orator’s chief thought was, How shall we pay the debt?
The penitent’s cry was, What shall I do to be saved?
The subject for debate was, Which is the greater, the pen or the
sword?
10. Capitalize all commissions and boards authorized by act
of Congress when given in full, singular and plural, as Fish
Commission, Civil Service Commission, Mississippi River Commission,
District of Columbia Board of Commissioners, Light-House Board,
etc.; also the words “commission,” “commissioner,” and “board”
where standing alone and referring to the above.
11. Capitalize all words denoting the Deity; “Reformation” (the),
“Revolution” (1776), “Revolutionary war,” “French Revolution.”
12. Capitalize the words “army” and “navy” only when they mean the
entire Army and Navy of the United States, and lower-case when used
as adjectives. Examples:
The troops were supplied with army saddles and blankets.
The army before Nashville was commanded by General Thomas.
He spoke for the Army and Navy, as well as the Administration.
Their clothes were made of navy cloth, and their general appearance
was that of navy officials.
He is at the head of the American Navy and conversant with
everything pertaining to navy affairs.
13. When any word is used specifically as a synonym for
“Government” and refers to any nation, as “crown,” “empire,”
“kingdom,” “republic,” “administration,” or “state,” capitalize it,
singular or plural. When indefinite or applied to dependencies,
lower-case it. Examples:
The Government of the United States, which Government is the best
of Governments.
President Cleveland’s Administration compared favorably with
preceding Administrations.
His estates were forfeited to the Crown, and his jewels were used
to adorn the King’s crown.
Upon the fall of the French Empire, the Empire of Germany was
proclaimed.
France, as a republic, strengthened the Republics of the world;
as an empire, it weakened them.
14. Capitalize “state,” “territory,” “district” (applied to a
Federal district, as District of Alaska, District of Columbia),
“canton” (in Switzerland), “province” (in Canada and Australia),
etc., both singular and plural, when referring to administrative
divisions of any country.
15. When the word “state” is used in contradistinction to “church,”
lower-case it, as “A union of church and state;” also “secretary of
state of New York,” “state policy,” “affairs of state,” etc.
16. Capitalize heads of Departments and Bureaus (of the United
States Government only), but lower-case division and section
officers.
17. Capitalize names of political parties: Republicans, Democrats,
Tories, Home Rulers, Populists, People’s Party, Prohibition party,
Prohibitionists, Farmers’ Alliance, Liberals, etc.
18. Capitalize names of societies: Odd Fellows, B’nai B’rith, etc.
19. Capitalize names of geological ages, eras, and periods:
Ages:
Archæan
Paleozoic
Cenozoic
Eras:
Lower Silurian
Upper Silurian
Devonian
Carboniferous
Mesozoic
Jura-Trias
Jurassic--
Lias
Oolite
Purbeck
Triassic--
Lower
Middle
Upper
Rhætic
Cretaceous--
Lower
Tertiary
Quaternary
Post-Tertiary
Azoic
Ezoic
Cambrian
Periods:
Calciferous
Chazy
Corniferous
Subcarboniferous
Carboniferous
Permian
Eocene
Oligocene
Miocene
Pliocene
Glacial
Recent
20. Capitalize all designations in connection with capital letters
or roman numerals, as Title XV, Schedule C, Finding VI, Exhibit K,
Statement B, Article IV, Art. V, Chapter IX, Chap. XI, Volume XX,
Vol. X, Section VII, Sec. VI, etc.; but lower-case when used with
figures, as chapter 10, volume 5, chap. 8, vol. 2, etc. “Exhibit,”
“Appendix,” and “Table” will be capitalized in all cases when
preceding numerals or figures.
21. Capitalize the principal words in full titles of books, plays,
and pictures, but do not quote. Also short titles of books, when
in the singular, as Brown’s Grammar, Bancroft’s History, Webster’s
Dictionary, etc. When referring to a subject in a book, quote, but
capitalize only the first word.
22. Capitalize “Presidential,” “Congressional,” “Senatorial,” and
“Territorial,” referring to the President, Congress, Senate, and a
Territory of the United States.
23. Signature and address names will be set in caps and small caps,
with title or direction following in italics, in the same line if
not over half the line is used for the purpose; otherwise hanging
two ems or more. Capitalize principal words in lines connected with
signatures and addresses. Make signatures and addresses compact,
using partially filled lines where the contiguous matter is open
enough to give a signature proper prominence. It is well to have a
white line between text and signature, but this is not imperative;
general appearance must govern. Signatures are placed at the right
of the page, indented 1, 3, or 5 ems from the right, as may be
necessary; addresses are placed to the left, flush if at the top of
a paper, indented one em if at the bottom, italic lines following
indented as much as necessary to a good appearance. Do not use
slugs to separate dash lines from signature or address lines where
the dash will bear off one or more blank lines if solid. The
following examples cover the most common forms:
the Clerk of the House of Representatives on the 4th day of December,
A. D. 1893.
▢▢▢Very respectfully, JAMES KERR,▢▢▢
_Clerk of the House of Representatives_.▢
▢Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP,
▢▢▢_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
▢▢▢I am, very respectfully, yours, etc.,
JOHN RANDOLPH,▢▢▢
_Assistant Clerk Court of Claims_.▢
disposed of, both as a record of the fact and as a limitation of the
authority conferred.
▢▢▢(Signed) JOHN S. HENDERSON,▢▢▢
JNO. A. CALDWELL,
_Committee on the part of the House of Representatives_.▢
[Observe lead.] WM. F. VILAS,
JAMES MCMILLAN,
_Committee on the part of the Senate_.▢
bia, on account of the sewer debt of the District of Columbia to the
United States.
▢▢▢Very respectfully,
A. C. MATTHEWS,▢▢▢
_Comptroller_.
By J. R. GARRISON,
_Deputy Comptroller_.▢
▢JOHN JAY, _Washington, D. C._
report, which has been received, and is herewith transmitted with my
concurrence.
▢▢▢Respectfully, yours,
J. G. CARLISLE, _Secretary_.
▢Hon. GEORGE D. WISE,
▢▢▢_Chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
House of Representatives_.
Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY,
▢▢_Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C._
▢DEAR SIR:
* * * * *
of Maryland, this 28th day of May, A. D. 1885.
▢[SEAL.] T. WATKINS LIGON.▢
▢By the governor:
▢▢▢NATHANIEL COX, _Secretary of State_.
the day and year first above written.
J. M. WILBUR. [SEAL.]▢
BARTLETT, ROBINS & CO.▢[SEAL.]▢
▢In presence of--
▢▢▢A. T. BROWN.
A. B. W. DEW.
▢▢▢I am, General, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
C. G. SAWTELLE,▢▢▢
_Colonel and Chief Quartermaster Military Division of the Gulf_.▢
▢Maj. Gen. M. C. MEIGS,
▢▢▢_Quartermaster-General United States Army, Washington, D. C._
▢▢▢I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
S. P. LANGLEY, _Secretary_.▢
NOTE.--In cases like the two preceding observe use of lead between
text line and signature.
24. Titles preceding names will always be capitalized: Senior
Warden Brown; Grand Master Williamson; Master Workman Sovereign;
Sergeant Murphy; Private O’Donnell; Boatswain Given; Tinsmith
Harris, etc.
25. Lower-case participles derived from proper names, such as
anglicized, frenchified, romanized, gallicized; also adjective or
qualifying nouns indirectly derived from and compounded with proper
names, as tropical, arctic, transatlantic, etc.
26. Geographic zones or sections of the world, when used as proper
nouns, take the capital, as the Tropics, the Arctics, the Levant,
the Orient. When used as adjectives, use lower-case, as antarctic
ice, tropical plants, oriental customs, levantine silk, morocco
or russia leather, china or wedgwood pottery. Such words as india
rubber, india ink, paris green, london purple, prussian blue,
venetian red, roman type, gothic letter (but Gothic architecture),
that describe things and are also used as nouns, do not take the
capital, although they are, or are derived from, proper names.
27. Capitalize titles clearly intended as synonyms of proper names.
Examples:
You will go, Major, to New York.
I am anxious about our friend, the Captain.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to a point of order.
I am, General, your obedient servant.
28. Titles not clearly used as synonyms, or when used in a general
way, will not be capitalized. Examples:
He was taken before the judge.
The captain was breveted.
29. Where the word “o’clock” occurs in phrases or headlines
involving the use of capitals, always set it “o’clock;” never use
the form o’Clock, O’Clock, or O’clock.
30. In caps-and-small-caps cross headings, or headings of any kind
in which capitals are used, capitalize principal words. [Copy
preparers will take full responsibility for uniformity in this
matter and mark copy plainly.]
31. In tables of contents which are set in small caps capitalize
only the first word and proper names.
32. Capitalize the titles of standing and select committees of the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States and the
different forms of the same, both singular and plural, as Committee
on Ways and Means; Ways and Means Committees. The following list
gives the official nomenclature of Congressional committees, with
the proper capitalization:
HOUSE.
Committee on--
Elections.
Ways and Means.
Appropriations.
the Judiciary.
Banking and Currency.
Coinage, Weights, and Measures.
Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Rivers and Harbors.
Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Agriculture.
Foreign Affairs.
Military Affairs.
Naval Affairs.
the Post-Office and Post-Roads.
the Public Lands.
Indian Affairs.
the Territories.
Railways and Canals.
Manufactures.
Mines and Mining.
Public Buildings and Grounds.
the Pacific Railroads.
Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River.
Education.
Labor.
the Militia.
Patents.
Invalid Pensions.
Pensions.
Claims.
War Claims.
Private Land Claims.
the District of Columbia.
the Revision of the Laws.
Reform in the Civil Service.
Election of President and Vice-President and Representatives
in Congress.
Alcoholic Liquor Traffic.
Irrigation of Arid Lands.
Immigration and Naturalization.
Ventilation and Acoustics.
Expenditures in the State Department.
Expenditures in the Treasury Department.
Expenditures in the War Department.
Expenditures in the Navy Department.
Expenditures in the Post-Office Department.
Expenditures in the Interior Department.
Expenditures in the Department of Justice.
Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture.
Expenditures on Public Buildings.
Rules.
Accounts.
Mileage.
the Library (also Joint Committee on).
Printing (also Joint Committee on).
Enrolled Bills (also Joint Committee on).
Joint Commission of Congress to Inquire into the Status of Laws
Organizing the Executive Departments.
Joint Commission on Disposition of Useless Papers in Executive
Departments.
SENATE.
Committee--
on Agriculture and Forestry.
on Appropriations.
to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate.
on the Census.
on Civil Service and Retrenchment.
on Claims.
on Coast Defenses.
on Commerce.
on the District of Columbia.
on Education and Labor.
on Engrossed Bills.
on Enrolled Bills.
on Epidemic Diseases.
to Examine the Several Branches of the Civil Service.
on Finance.
on Fisheries.
on Foreign Relations.
on Immigration.
on Improvement of the Mississippi River and its Tributaries.
on Indian Affairs.
on Indian Depredations.
on Interstate Commerce.
on Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands.
on the Judiciary.
on the Library.
on Manufactures.
on Military Affairs.
on Mines and Mining.
on Naval Affairs.
on Organization, Conduct, and Expenditures of the Executive
Departments.
on Pacific Railroads.
on Patents.
on Pensions.
on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.
on Printing.
on Private Land Claims.
on Privileges and Elections.
on Public Buildings and Grounds.
on Public Lands.
on Railroads.
on Relations with Canada.
on the Revision of the Laws of the United States.
on Revolutionary Claims.
on Rules.
on Territories.
on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard.
Select Committee--
to Investigate the Condition of the Potomac River Front of
Washington.
to Inquire into all Claims of Citizens of the United States
against the Government of Nicaragua.
on Woman Suffrage.
on Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress.
on the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians.
on Transportation and Sale of Meat Products.
to Establish the University of the United States.
on the Quadro-Centennial.
to Investigate the Geological Survey.
on National Banks.
on Forest Reservations.
on Corporations in the District of Columbia.
to Investigate Trespassers upon Indian Lands.
on Ford Theater Disaster.
33. Capitalize “county,” “township,” and “ward” (singular form
only), when used with the proper name.
34. Capitalize “river,” “bay,” “cape,” “harbor,” “mount,” “island,”
etc. (singular form only), when used with the proper name.
35. Capitalize such words as “building,” “asylum,” “bridge,”
“bank,” “school,” “hospital,” etc. (singular form only), when used
with the proper name.
36. The following list will be found convenient as a guide to
capitalization:
Absentee Shawnees.
Act, Thurman, Tucker, etc.
Acting Secretary of the Senate.
Acting Secretary of State, etc.
Administration (National).
Admiral.
Admiralty (British).
Agency, Chippewa, etc.
Agricultural Report.
Albany Penitentiary.
Appendix IV.
Appendix A.
Appointment Office.
Aqueduct, Washington, etc.
Aqueduct Bridge.
Army Gun Factory.
Army:
General of the
Lieutenant-General of the
Major-General Commanding the
Adjutant-General (’s Office).
Inspector-General (’s Office).
Judge-Advocate-General.
Quartermaster-General (’s Office).
Commissary-General of Subsistence.
Surgeon-General (’s Office).
Paymaster-General (’s Office).
Chief of Engineers.
Chief Signal Officer.
Chief of Ordnance.
Regular Army.
Volunteer Army.
Army Medical Museum.
army officer, nurse, wagon, etc.
Architect of the Capitol.
Architect of the Treasury Department.
Armory (Springfield).
Arsenal, Rock Island, etc.
Articles of War.
article of war, sixty-second.
Artillery School (United States).
assembly, Pennsylvania
Assistant Attorney-General (United States).
Assistant Commissioner of the General Land Office.
Assistant Commissioner of Patents.
Assistant Postmaster-General, First, Second, etc.
Assistant Secretary of the Interior, etc.
Associated Press.
Atlantic Slope, Coast, and Seaboard (section of country).
Attorney-General.
Auditor, First, Second, etc.
Auditor of Railroad Accounts.
Band, Eastern, etc., of Cherokees.
Bank, Central, etc.
Bay, Chesapeake, etc.
Bethlehem Iron Works.
Bible or Scriptures.
Black Friday.
Board (when definite).
Board of Engineers.
Board of General Appraisers.
Board of Ordnance and Fortification.
board of public works (District of Columbia).
Board of Underwriters (New York).
Board of Managers of the Soldiers’ Home.
Board of Trade of Philadelphia, etc.
Board on Geographic Names.
Book of Estimates.
Botanist, the (Agr. Dept.)
Botanic Garden.
Bowman Act.
Building, Winder, etc.
buildings, Winder and Logan
building, Treasury, etc.
Bureau (when definite).
Bureau of Accounts (and all other bureaus of the Navy Department).
Cabinet, the
Calendar, the
Calendar of Bills and Resolutions.
Calendar, Private.
Capitol Grounds.
Capitol, the
Capitol police.
Carnegie Steel Works.
Cavalry and Infantry School (United States).
Census Bulletin No. 420.
Census, Tenth, Eleventh, etc.
central Ohio.
Chairman (Committee of the Whole).
Chairman of the Light-House Board.
Chamber (of House or Senate).
Charles II of England.
Chemist, the (Agr. Dept.)
Cherokee Strip or Outlet.
Chief of the Bureau of, etc.
Chief Clerk, House or Senate.
Chief Intelligence Officer.
Chief of the Record and Pension Division.
Chief Justice (of United States Supreme Court).
Chief Magistrate.
Christian.
Christianity.
Christendom.
Christianize.
Church, the Methodist, etc. (denomination)
Church, St. Aloysius, etc. (congregation)
church, St. Paul’s (building)
Circle, Iowa, etc. (as a park)
cisatlantic, etc.
City of Mexico.
Civil Service Commission (ers).
Clerk of the House.
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Code, the Mississippi
College, Columbia, etc.
Colonel Commandant (Marine Corps).
Commissioner of Patents, etc.
Commissioners of District of Columbia.
Comptroller, First, Second, etc.
Comptroller of the Currency.
Confederate States.
Consular Bureau.
Congressional.
Congressional Directory.
Congressional Library.
Constitution (United States).
Continent, the (Europe)
Contract Office.
Corps of Engineers.
Corps of Judge-Advocates.
Council, Choctaw.
County, Clarion, etc.
Court of Claims.
Court of Private Land Claims.
Court of St. James.
court of appeals.
Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims.
Crown (referring to Government).
Dalles, The
Dam No. 4.
Day, Thanksgiving, Independence, Memorial, etc.
Dead-Letter Office.
Delegate (in Congress).
Democrat.
Department of Justice.
Deputy Second Auditor, etc.
Diplomatic Bureau.
Director of the Geological Survey, etc.
district:
First assembly
Fifth Congressional
Third light-house
District of Columbia Jail.
Dome (of Capitol).
Dominion of Canada.
Du Pont Powder Works.
Eastern States, the
Eastern Continent.
Eastern Hemisphere.
eastern New York, etc.
Electoral Commission.
Engine No. 6.
Engineer in Chief.
Engineer Corps.
Engineer Department.
Entomologist, the (Agr. Dept.)
Evangelical Alliance.
Executive, the
Executive order.
Executive Departments.
executive department (one of the three coordinate departments of
the Government).
Executive Document No. 95.
Federal Government.
Fish Commission (er).
Forty-seventh Congress.
Fourth of July.
Freedman’s Savings Bank.
General Government.
Gentile.
General Assembly (Presbyterian Church).
General Superintendent of Life-Saving Service.
Geological Survey.
gospel.
governor.
Government:
Imperial
Royal
Federal
General
National
British, etc.
Government of Great Britain.
Government Hospital for the Insane.
Governor-General (of Canada).
Grand Army post. (But Post No. 63, etc.)
Great Lakes.
Gulf Coast (section of country).
Gulf, the (Gulf of Mexico)
Hague, The
Hall (of the House).
Hall, Statuary (of Capitol)
Harbor, Boston, etc.
Headquarters of the Army.
Health Bureau.
Her Majesty the Queen.
His Excellency the President.
His Excellency Li Hung Chang.
his excellency the governor.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
Home and Branch (singular or plural, referring to Soldiers’ Home).
Hospital, Providence, etc.
Hotel, Metropolitan, etc.
House Calendar.
House Executive Document No. 12.
House, Ebbitt, etc.
Howard University.
Hydrographic Office.
imperial edict.
india rubber.
Isthmus, the (of Panama)
Journal Clerk.
Journal of the House (or Senate).
Lafayette, General
la Fayette, Marquis de
Lafayette County.
Lakes Erie and Huron.
legislature, Connecticut, etc.
Lake Michigan.
Librarian of Congress.
Library of Congress.
Life-Saving Service.
Light-House Board.
light-house district, Fourth, etc.
Line, Cunard, etc.
london purple.
Long Bridge.
lower House of Congress.
Lower Mississippi.
Mall, the
Marine Corps.
Marine-Hospital Service.
Medical Corps.
Medical Department (Army or Navy).
Members and Delegates.
Merino (sheep).
merino (goods, wool, etc.).
Metropolitan police.
Microscopist, the (Agr. Dept.)
middle Tennessee.
Military Academy (United States).
Mikado.
Miscellaneous Document No. 2.
Mississippi Delta.
Mississippi River:
Pass
Passes
Head of Passes
Money-Order Office (of P. O. Dept.).
Monument Lot.
Mormon.
Nation, Choctaw, etc.
National Board of Health.
National Cemetery, Arlington, etc.
national cemetery at Arlington.
National Guard.
National Legislature.
National Government.
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.
National Medical Museum.
National Park, Yellowstone, etc.
national park in California.
Naval Academy.
Naval Asylum.
Naval Militia (the entire body).
Naval Observatory.
Naval Reserves.
Navy, the
Navy-Yard, New York, etc.
Netherlands, the
New World.
New York City.
North, the
North Pole.
northern Illinois.
Northwest, the
Office of Experiment Stations.
Office of Steamboat Inspection.
Old World.
One hundred and twenty-fifth street.
Order of Business No. 56.
Ordnance Department.
Pacific coast (the sea line).
Pacific Slope, Coast, and Seaboard (section of country).
paris green.
Parish, Caddo
Park, Jackson, etc.
Pay Corps.
Pay Department.
Penitentiary, Albany, etc.
Pension Bureau.
Pension Office.
People’s Party.
plaster of paris.
Populist.
Postal Union.
Postmaster-General.
Post-Office appropriation bill.
Presidential.
Prince of Monaco.
prussian blue.
Public Land Strip.
Public Printer.
Quartermaster’s Department.
Railway Mail Service.
Record and Pension Office (or Division).
Reform School of District of Columbia.
Reform School, Girls’
Reformatory, Elmira, etc.
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
Register of the Treasury.
Regular Army.
Regular Navy.
Reporter of the Senate.
Republican.
Reservation, Sioux, etc.
Revenue-Cutter Service.
Revenue-Marine Service.
Revolutionary war.
Revised Statutes.
River, Ohio, etc.
Rotunda (of Capitol).
royal command.
Rule XXI.
Rules and Articles of War.
Schedule B.
schedule 6.
School, Peabody, etc.
schools, Peabody and Brent
Scriptures (the Bible).
Secretary of State, etc. (United States).
Senate Chamber.
Sergeant-at-Arms.
Signal Corps.
Signal Office.
Signal Service.
Six Companies (Chinese).
Smithsonian Institution.
Solicitor-General.
Solicitor of Internal Revenue.
Solicitor of the Treasury.
Solicitor for the Department of State.
Sound, the (referring to Long Island or Puget Sound)
South, the
Southern States, the
southern Illinois.
Southwest, the
Square, Madison, etc. (as a park)
square, Lafayette, etc. (as a street)
star route.
Stars and Stripes.
Statistician, the (Agr. Dept.)
Statistical Abstract.
Statutes at Large.
Straits of Magellan, etc.
Streets, etc.:
New York avenue.
First street (northeast, etc.).
Jackson alley.
Phillips court.
Mount Vernon place (as a street).
Iowa circle (as a street).
Pudding lane.
Bennings road.
Lafayette square (as a street).
Subsistence Department.
Superintendent of the Census.
Superintendent of Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Superintendent of Foreign Mails.
Superintendent of Immigration.
Superintendent of the Money-Order System.
Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac.
Superintendent of the Naval Observatory.
Supervising Architect’s Office.
Supervising Architect of the Treasury.
Supervising Inspector-General of Steam Vessels.
Supervising Surgeon-General United States Marine-Hospital Service.
Supplement to Revised Statutes.
Supreme Bench.
Supreme Court (United States).
supreme court (District of Columbia or of a State).
surveyor-general.
Survey, Geological, etc.
Territorial assembly.
Territorial legislature.
transmississippi.
transatlantic.
Treasurer of the United States.
Treasury building.
Treasury Cattle Commission.
Treasury (National).
United Press.
Upper Mississippi.
Valley, Mississippi, etc.
Vice-President (of United States).
Vice-Admiral.
war, Mexican
war of the rebellion.
Washington Aqueduct.
Washington’s Headquarters.
Western Continent.
Western Hemisphere.
White Lot.
COMPOUNDING.
1. In compounding words the International Dictionary will be
followed, with but few exceptions.
2. The following words are so common in the work of this office
that the usage of many years will be continued:
post-office
court-house
custom-house
light-house
navy-yard
attorney-general, etc.
consul-general
vice-consul
lieutenant-general, etc.
sergeant-major
quartermaster-sergeant, etc.
color-corporal
lieutenant-commander
rear-admiral
flag-officer
judge-advocate-general
provost-marshal
provost-marshal-general
3. Make one word of horsepower, candlepower, and hundredweight, and
use adjectively as laid down in the succeeding paragraph.
4. Compound adjectives take the hyphen: A 2-foot rule,
10-horsepower engine, 16-candlepower light, 6-hundredweight
load, many-colored coat, light-armed soldier, asked-for opinion,
fine-grained wood, light-green color, etc.
5. Compound the following:
mid-channel
double-loader
single-loader
pleuro-pneumonia
national-bank notes
re-treat (to treat again)
ante-mortem
micro-organism
micro-millimeter
micro-photograph
acre-foot (plural acre-feet)
foot-acre (plural foot-acres)
pound-foot (plural pound-feet)
post-mortem
foot-pound (plural foot-pounds)
foot-poundal (plural foot-poundals)
foot-second (plural foot-seconds)
second-foot (plural second-feet)
foot-ton (plural foot-tons)
pound-degree (plural pound-degrees)
6. Follow compounding, etc., in the appended list of fishes and
fishery appliances:
alewife
amber-fish
angel-fish
bag seine
bass net
bellows-fish
black bass
black-cod
blackfish
black perch
blue crab
bluefish
boat fishermen
boat-steerer
bomb-gun
bottom-feeding fish
bowhead whale
boxfish
brook trout
buffalo-fish
bullhead
bull’s-eye mackerel
buoy line
butter-fish
candle-fish
catboat
catfish
cigar-fish
coast line
codfish
codfish fishery
cod fishery
cod fishing
cod line
crampfish
crawfish
crayfish
crayfish pot
cultus-cod
cutting-in (of a whale)
datefish
dealfish
devil-fish
dingey
doctor-fish
dogfish
dollar-fish
drag net
drag seine
drift net
drumfish
fat-head
fiddler-crab
finback whale
fish-culture
fish eggs
fishing-camp
fishing-ground
fishing-place
fish roe
fish-wheel
flake-yard
flatfish
flying-fish
food-fish
frostfish
garfish
gill net
gill-net fishing
goldfish
goosefish
green crab
greenfish
ground line
hagfish
hair seal
hand lance
harbor porpoise
harpoon gun
hermit-crab
hickory-jack
hogfish
hoop net
horsefish
horse-mackerel
horseshoe-crab
houndfish
humpback whale
jackfish
jelly-fish
jewfish
jonah-crab
kelp-crab
kelpfish
kingfish
lady-crab
lady-fish
land-crab
landlocked salmon
live-car
lobster pot
lumpfish
mollusk
monkfish
moonfish
mossbunker
mud-crab
mudfish
muskellunge
mussel-crab
mutton-fish
nigger-fish
nursefish
oyster bed
oyster-crab
paddle-fish
pan-fish
parrot-fish
peacock-fish
pigfish
pilot-fish
pipefish
purse seine
ratfish
red crab
red-eye
redfish
red grouper
red-horse
red perch
red snapper
rock-bass
rock-cod
rock-crab
rockfish
rock lobster
rose-fish
round-fish
rowboat
rudder-fish
salmon canning
salmon-canning industry
salmon trout
sand-crab
sawfish
scallop
sea bass
sea-cucumber
sea-horse
seal oil
seal skin
sea moss
sea mullet
sea-urchin
seaweed
seine-haul
seine-reach
set net
sheat-fish
sheepshead
shellfish
shore-crab
skipjack
smelt net
snake-fish
snapping mackerel
soft crab
Spanish mackerel
spearfish
spider-crab
squeteague
squirrel-fish
starfish
steelhead
stingray
stone-crab
striped bass
sulphur-bottom whale
sunfish
swordfish
tautog
threadfish
tilefish
toadfish
tomcod
trammel net
trawl basket
trawling-ground
treefish
trigger-fish
trumpet-fish
trying-out (of a whale)
try-works
tubfish
weakfish
whaleboat
whalebone
whale line
whistling buoy
whitefish
wolf-fish
yellow-tail
7. Fractions, when spelled, will be compounded: One twenty-first,
one-fifth, eighty-one one-hundredths, one one-hundredth, the
one-hundredth part.
8. The words “well,” “so,” and “ill” will be used as follows:
He is an ill-tempered man; he is very ill tempered. Well-meant
intentions; his intentions are well meant. His so-called poem; his
poem (so called) is, etc. But generally adverbs are not compounded
with adjectives which they qualify: A divinely inspired book; a
finely modeled statue; a nicely kept lawn.
USE OF FIGURES.
1. Where figures are used to express the time of day, use the
period to separate the hours and minutes: It was 5.30 p. m.; 10.02
a. m.
2. Use degree and minute marks after figures in all cases referring
to degrees and minutes, and where whole numbers and decimals are
used place the marks after the decimals, as 14.25°; 13.5′; 24.36″.
3. In straight matter and reading columns of tables, where decimal
fractions occur without a unit, put a cipher in the unit’s place:
0.38; but a .38-caliber revolver.
4. Omit the comma in serial numbers: No. 165473; section 2436.
5. Use inferior figures in all chemical symbols, and omit spaces
between the letters and signs.
6. Use superior figures in connection with reference letters, as
A^1, A^2, _a_^1, _a_^2.
7. It is impossible to give definite rules that will govern in all
cases as to what should go in figures and what should be spelled
out. It is a question which must be left to the judgment of the
workman. General rules which will serve as a guide to the tendency
of the style follow:
PUT IN FIGURES--
=Distances=: 50 miles; 17 yards; 8 leagues.
=Clock time=: 10.25 p. m.; 12 o’clock and 30 minutes; half past 9.
=Weights=: 12 pounds of beef; 4 hundredweight of stone; 8 centals
of wheat; 2 grams of powder.
=Measures=: 40 bushels of wheat; 1 gallon of wine; 15 knots; 6
acres; 9 hectares.
=Degrees, etc.=: 17° 24′ 17″; 10° below zero; in longitude 46°
west (but tenth meridian of longitude, sixth degree of latitude,
etc.).
=Dimensions=: 16 feet square; 24 by (not x) 12 feet; 2 by 6 inch
plank; 4 kilometers square.
=Percentage=: 15 per cent; 27.4 per cent; but one-half of 1 per
cent, etc.
=Money=: $2 per 100 pounds; $1.37½ per bale; 35 cents apiece; a
25-cent piece; 20 francs.
=Age=: My age is 52 years and 6 months; a boy 6 years old;
3-year-old colt; 3-months-old child; wine 8 years old (but a
boy about six years old; wine four or five years old--where
indefinite and isolated, spell out).
=Population=: The population of Chicago is 1,000,000, of whom
150,000 are voters; a hamlet of 18 persons. (But see paragraphs 9
and 10 under “Spell out.”)
=Bonds or stocks=: Gold is 109; Metropolitan Railroad, 109;
5-20 bonds; 10-40 bonds; 7.30 bonds; 3.65 bonds; 4½ per cent
bonds; 3 per cent bonds; 3½ percents; 4 percents. Where the word
“bonds” does not follow the designating expression, spell out, as
five-twenties, ten-forties, three-sixty-fives, four-and-a-halfs,
threes, etc.
=Votes, ballots, etc.=: 75 votes; 50 ballots; 300 voters; 167
Democrats; 14 majority.
=Definite enumerations= (when of a statistical character): 275
persons, 6 sleek horses, 20 head of sheep, 9 dusty travelers; 43
reports, covering 109 pages. (But see paragraph 9 under “Spell
out.”)
=Dates=: June 29, A. D. 1882; December 6, 1846; the 1st of
January, 1883; June 12; the 5th instant; the 20th day of March;
the 1st (day) of the month. July 4, 1776, was the great day which
gave to the world the celebrated Declaration of Independence,
and now our Fourth of July is something to be remembered by all
patriotic Americans; 4th of July claims.
=Serial numbers=: Section 3; No. 1728; paragraph 247; page 125;
volume 6 (or Volume VI, as written); 1536 Ninth street; Route No.
17342; clerk of class 3.
SPELL OUT--
1. Length of time: It lasted fifteen years; we were three days on
the way; four hours and ten minutes.
2. Amounts or numbers larger than 1,000, if spelled, are expressed
thus: One thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars; A. D. eighteen
hundred and fifty; number seventeen hundred and twenty-two. But
in serial numbers, where even multiples of one thousand occur, use
the word “thousand,” as section two thousand and four (not twenty
hundred and four); paragraph seven thousand and sixty-nine.
3. When beginning a sentence: Five million dollars’ worth; in other
cases, $5,000,000 worth.
4. All amounts beginning sentences or paragraphs, except when, in
testimony, an answer begins with a serial or complex number, in
which case use figures. Examples:
Q. In what year was that?--A. 1876.
Q. What was the amount involved?--A. $101.50.
Q. How much was the sum?--A. Five (or fifteen, or sixty-seven)
dollars.
5. Numbered streets of all cities, except in tabular matter.
6. Regimental numbers of United States Regular or Volunteer Army,
as Eighth Infantry, One hundred and ninth Ohio Regiment, Third
Massachusetts Cavalry.
7. Sums of money, when they are referred to in a general way, as
“four or five millions,” or “I would not contribute one dollar to
such a purpose.” [This is not to be construed as meaning round
numbers, but simply a general or indefinite statement.]
8. Isolated fractions not connected with whole numbers, as
one-fourth, three-tenths.