  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 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 Capitalize the first word of such indirect quotations as the following, but do not quote: The orator’s chief thought was, How shall we pay the debt?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. James Kerr,??? ?Hon. Charles F. Crisp, ???I am, very respectfully, yours, etc., John Randolph,??? disposed of, both as a record of the fact and as a limitation of the authority conferred. John S. Henderson,??? [Observe lead.] Wm. F. Vilas, bia, on account of the sewer debt of the District of Columbia to the United States. A. C. Matthews,??? ?John Jay, Washington, D.C. report, which has been received, and is herewith transmitted with my concurrence. J. G. Carlisle, Secretary. ?Hon. George D. Wise, Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Casey, ******* of Maryland, this 28th day of May, A.D.1885. T. Watkins Ligon.? ?By the governor: the day and year first above written. J. M. Wilbur.[SEAL.]? ?In presence of— ???I am, General, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, C. G. Sawtelle,??? ?Maj. Gen. M. C. Meigs, ???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. |
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