Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-28
SOCIETY AT THE CAPITAL.
A Writer Who Sees Great Possibilities Re-
sponsibility of the Resident Population.

A Writer Who Sees Great PossibiIitics-Re-
sponsibility of the Resident Population.
ITO new conner in Washington" says Miss
L. Halstead in an article in the North Aperi-
can Rerie1e, the social possibilities are delight
fully suggestive. Where else, indeed. in our
country are SO many men Of diverse powers
congregRted? And where else do such men
mingle freely in society They are Of every
shade OF political opinion. of course, as well as
representative of every interest in the country;
for II the drawing room is hardly as yet neutral
ground it offers a certain degree of hospitality
TO friend and to foe. and will do so with more
and moro cordially it is realized that So
ciety, like patriotism. unites those whom poll
tics divides
TO forward such harmony is to work in
good cause, and not only can this be done, but
. true society can be formed which shall create
ana be created by a standard of taste whole
somely American. The foundation is already
laid here as nowhere else in the United States
Tor society that shall include both sexes, the
only kind worth having that can be perma-
nentIy maintained; a society that understands
some thing of the importance of etiquette-a
form OF culture as necessary TO good society ne
grammar Is to language: a society, finally, in
which persons one would 60 half across the
continent to meet. rub shoulders with the hum
blest IN the crush of Presidents reception or
Ut the house OF cabinet officer. But what is the
result One cannot deny that as vet il is entirely
inadequate. Society an end does not pro-
duce results commensurate with the means en-
ployed, and society as a means Ii not society in
IN the true sense at all. 1t is. like any other
transitory gathering at theater or hotel, with
out cohesion or significance. 1t gives birth to
no esprit de corps, and failing In this any or
ganization lacks persistence and loyalty. The
individual SIMPLY loses his individuality and is
he wh hacnmas 4 m n
OF grapes that have lost their Wilderness as fruit
and have not vet become wine.
AT present. whatever lasts beyond the day
of an entertainment almost wholly of an utili-
tartan character. People must do this aud that
in order not to offend. in order TO propitiate
in order to gain votes for the party or influence
for a Cause, or what not. that utilities society
for some other end than its own; whereas So
ciety should be the artistic product OF dis
eliminating people through the means Of refined
companionship.
This does not at all signify an attempt TO
initiate the French salon. One might as well
try to reviv, the megatherium. The salon as
France had it was product of the times, which
have changed in almost every detail since then.
What America needs is form Of society that
shall attract and preserve the best social mate
rial Of course the form must be democratic. for
that Is the spirit Of our age and peoples but TO be
democratic does not signify that all men are
alike either by nature or culture. Society can
not regard them. as the ballot does solely from
the standpoint of quantity; it must take cog
nizance also of quality"
Regarding the social reforms Miss Halstead
has in yiew she says:
''The responsibility rests with the resident
population of the capital. The society of official
life is necessarily superficial and impotent to
make distinctions. 1t cannot choose whom it
will exclude or receive, for officials are not
only public servants, but are looked upon as
public property. Moreover, they are here to-
day and az the antipodes tomorrow, and can,
therefore, have no adequate esprit de corps.
If then a dozen or twenty househ lids.
already well established. and posseSsors Of both
courage and a discriminating social taste,
would form league as quietly as might be TO
choose carefully whom they would invite and
whom they would ignore, being guided solely
by the motive of establishing a worthy social
nucleus in the capital Of the nation, they
would create permanent good, capable of
growth and OF incaicuiable refining and puri-
tying influence on the future of the republic.
1t should base itself on a sound simplicity, SO
far as material things are concerned. in order
that expense need be of little moment, and on
acute social sense of the congeniality of indi-
yiduals and the temper of gathering as a
whole 1t is said that in regard to eloquence
the taste of the house of commons is higher
than that of the man of greatest taste within
it, So it is with society. The refinement of
attrition with equal minds the wisdom that re-
suits from the blending of knowledge, the
grace that comes from universal courtesy and
the easy assurance of those not afraid of COM
hitting blunder-these are some of the gains
such a social form would give to those capable
of entering il. For it should not be exclusive
except Of what would destroy it, 1t should be
inclusive Of all the good in the stream of peo-
pie constantly flowing through the country.
And what stream this is to draw FRONT No
other city offers us such advantages"