Once, at least, an American high official, just before leaving the country
to which he had been accredited, accepted, without permission, a decoration,
knowing, that if he had asked for the consent of Congress,
he would not have been allowed to receive it.
It is human nature to love change and variety, and for every person
to be designated "Mister" is too tame and flat for the go-ahead Americans.
Hence many of the people whom you meet daily have some prefix to their names,
such as General, Colonel, Major, President, Judge, etc.
You will not be far wrong to call a man "Judge" when he is a lawyer;
or "General" or "Colonel" if he has served in the army;
or "Admiral" or "Captain" if he has been in the navy. Though neither
the Federal nor the State Government has power to confer titles,
the magnates do so. They see that dukes and other peers are created
in Europe, and that the partners in the big, wealthy firms over there,
are called "merchant princes", and so to outdo them,
they arrogate to themselves a still higher title. Hence there are
railroad kings, copper kings, tobacco kings, etc. It is, however,
manifestly improper and incongruous that the people should possess
a higher title than their President, who is the head of the nation.
To make it even, I would suggest that the title "President"
be changed to "Emperor", for the following reasons: First,
it would not only do away with the impropriety of the chief magistrate
of the nation assuming a name below that of some of his people,
but it would place him on a level with the highest ruler of any nation
on the face of the earth.
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