Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-04-30
THE QUESTION OF DRESS,

man was known by the tie of his era
vat, seems to have been superseded by
a more extended sine qua non of what
constitutes the dress of gentleman.
The matter arose from the refusal of
J. B. Bailey, the leader of the Demo-
cratic forces of the House, of an invi-
tation to a Presidential dinner-a
marked breach of custom-principally
because he had no spike-tailed coat to
wear. The affair made great sensa-
ton and the newspapers took it up
and devoted columns to it.
Mr.. Bailey, in reply to all the crit
icism, wrote to the New York Journal
his views on the matter, in the latter
paragraph of which he seems to take
a fling at our perfumed Representative.
He says: considered purely and
entirely as matter of taste, each man
is entitled to dress as he pleases, and
SO long as he keeps himself clean and
decent no other man can have any
just cause to complain. 1t may be
true that when man goes into society
he ought to conform even in the
matter of dress to the regulations
which society has prescribed; but
man who does not 60 into society and
who despises its forms ought to be
exempt from its criticism.
az am more liberal than my critics
in respect to these matters. l do not
criticise them because they accept
invitations to dinner and wear dress
suits; and yet they do criticise me
because decline invitations to dinner
and do not wear dress suit.
"The question of whether will
wear dress suit or not is question
of time, as we'll as question of taste
with me. know very we'll that those
who choose to participate in the social
life of Washington City will find it
extremely pleasant, but 1 know also
that it consumes a vast deal of valua-
BILE time. Many gentlemen consider
the pleasure worth the time it costs,
but do not. If l prefer to spend my
time in less pleasant though more
profitable pursuits I have the right so
to do, and the half humorous raillery
in which the newspapers have INDUCED
in will not be apt to change my opin-
ion or my conduct.
al cannot understand why great
newspapers should devote columns to
such trifling matter, but if their
editors and correspondents find pleas
ure in writing about it, or if they
think that their patrons will find any
amusement in reading about it l shall
not complain. The phase of the COM
ments which must seriously resent
is the assertion that am trying to
increase my popularity at home. /
resent that, not so much because it
imputes discreditable motive on me,
as because it assumes that my constit-
uents can be influenced by such a
small consideration.
"The truth is that not one man out
of every hundred in my district cares
anything about my clothes so long as
they are clean and not fantastic. My
constituents are just as far from being
ruffians as they are from being dudes.
"They have long since passed that
stage of civilization where sixshooters
and spurs are considered personal
adornments, but I am glad to say that
they have not reached that other
stage of civilization where the men
use perfume and wear corsets, and the
women smoke cigarettes and wear
boomers. They are wholesome, sem
sible Americans who care infinitely
more about what their Representative
thinks than they do about what he
wears. JOSEPH w. BAILEY"
A BEAUTIFUL custom in Sweden,
where the lives of birds are held more