The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-04-06
DIPLOMATIC DINNER ETIQUETTE

| On this point etiquette Is as liked ane
immutable al the law of Modes anc
PersianA Neither the president mol
the secretary Of state. though the lat
ter has the power Of premier in fal
greater things-even 10 the enthronina
Of monarchs-oan command or request
any deviation from this law of Ell
| quette, which Is strictly observed
throughout the whole diplomatic ser
| vice.
OF course the sharply drawn line bar.
out all secretaries of embassies and le
Cations No secretary, a. secretary, Is
ever asked to the diplomatic dinner
If, in the absence Of an ambassador OF
minister. the secretary 10 left In charge
of the embassy Or legation, he canno,
represent either one or the other at the
dinner. To do this hs must be the &C
credited charge d'afaiFes and acting
| minister; in other woYdA b minister
! ed interim. This gives him the same
recognition On al Official occasions and
the place at the dinner to which the
minister himself is entitled. The tenn
porary or brief absence of . minister
does not call for the appointment Of a
charge d'afaires It is only when tho
minister is out Of the country for q
stated or indefinite period that secre-
tary is made charge d'affaireS and for
the time is the official representative OF
hisgovernment
Seldom or never has the diplomatic
corps been SO fully represented at q
dinner as at the dinner given recently
Every government having an accred-
tied representative at Washington was
represented at the dinner except four
Portugal, Hayti, Hawaii and Siam.
Siam has had from the first . charge
d'affaires, who on this occasion was
absent The minister of Portugal met
with an accident few hours before
tho dinner and was una bic to be present
The minister of Hsyti has his legation
in New York. and this gave him oppor-
tunity to send regrets II he had no mind
to come to the dinner. The minister
Of Hawaii, though on his return from
flying visit to Hawaii, did not reach
Washington until two or three days
after the dinner. Tho attitude of the
administration toward the Hawaiian
government gave rise to much criticism
on the absence Of the secretary of that
legation from the dinner. 1t was said
that Mr.. Hastings had not bsen asked
TO the dinner, though the secretary Of
the Corean legation and the secretary
OF the Columbian legation were asked
and represented their governments at
the dinner. But. as a matter of fact,
the minister OF Corea, who presented
his credentials in January. 1898, re-
manned in this country less than a
year, when he went heme, and the
first secretary was appointed charge
d'affaires The minister of Colombia
Is on indefinite leave of absence, and
that government is represented by
charge d'affaires. At NO time has the
Hawaiian government bean represented
by a charge d'affaires in the absence of
the minister. The legation was simply
left in the care of the secretary. His
presence at the dinner was not a mat
ter to be determined by the president.
Had Mr.. Hastings been charge DAT
flares he must have been included
in the dinner company. As he
was only secretary OF the lega-
ton. he could not be.
The strictness with which this law
Of etiquette is enforced has caused en-
barrassmeuts, which presidents on
more than one occasion have a point
to remove. Il was IN President Arthur's
administration that great efforts were
made to ameliorate the solitary condi-
81 - IL
dinner 10 the diplomatic corps His
celestial excellency could speak no
language but Chinese, and no other
guest coula speak Chinese. The presi-
dents desire was the general enjoy
ment of the company. aaa the diplo-
macy of the state department was
brought to bear on the minister OF
China Etiquette would not permit
one Of the minister's secretaries, who
spoke Engllsh huently. to occupy a
seat at the table The situation was
explained to the minister along with
the presidents desire to make him
happy. and the suggestion was made
that the secretary should stand be-
hind the minister's chair to act as in
terpretcr. Though the suggestion was
made in the most delicate manner pos
sible, it came near making serious
trouble. as both the minister and the
secretary regarded the place as that of
4 mental The suggestion was not en-
tertained for a moment but was re-
sented by the minister and his whole
legation. He had q solitary slime OF it
at the dinner. Just as his successors in
turn have had No attempt has been
made from that day TO this to give the
minister of China chance TO talk az
the diplomatic dinner
Out of the diplomatic circle the line
is also strictly drzwn-the department
of state. the committee on foreign rela-
tons of the senate and the committee
on foreign affairs Of the house alone
being represented This limits the
presidents invitations TO omcial guests,
to the secretary Of state and his wife,
and one or more members of each COM
mittee and their wives No other
official guests are asked, though per-
sonal friends NAV bsinvited, and often
are, 10 take the place OF diplomats who
for some reason OK other drop out 81
the last moment Sometimes tEis
causes hitch and there must be re-
Of the list AZ the ain1cr
this season when II <As found that the
company would be three short, three
yonng women the daughters OF ssa-
stors, we're asked A. tAe Las. noSoe1s
the Iniscap 20 the minister OF PItnSa.
called for an0s6er substitute aca
fourth ysuaz woman was asked 70 tho
dinner Naturally these Young wcDep