The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-03-15

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dents. guide, as authoritative as pos
aible, to proper official conduct in
Washing trn fulltttttIuns. nfi'il1s memo
tA1duaah, though Incomplete, was sed
~ Mt. and Mrs. Foster, and was h!aad-a.
ed to Mr.. Olney when Mr.. Cleveland
came into power. Mr. Olney declined
to have it made public, and although
he himself used it for his own Informa-
ton, he refused to give 1t official rec
ognition. And yet, there Is no really
on1cial sanction to this set Of rules, but
they have been followed for eight or
ten years by the various Secretaries of
State, and thus, by usage, claim the
right to official recognition.
Shortly after President Mckinley
came into power there arose con-
troversy between the late Vice Presi-
dent Hobart and Sir Julian Paunce-
tote, the British Ambassador, as to
which of them preceded the other at
social and diplomatic functions. The
argument became SO heated that Sec
rotary Hay received personal let
ter from Mr.. Mckinley asking him to
obtain from the proper English au-
thorities a definition OF the stand
ing and rank of Sir Julian from the
point Of view of the social authors
ties Of his own government. 1t de-
veloped that the British authorities
did not consider Sir Julian's conten-
ton proper and note was dispatch
ed to him with the result that
next morning the Ambassador called
upon the Vice President at his home,
and the matter was amicably settled.
Under President Cleveland the
Vice President, Stevenson, declined
to assert his prerogative, and when
the men met the Vice President gave
way. There was much correspond
ence, and the matter was finally COM
promised. At the house of foreign
iier the Secretary of State took prece-
!dence at dinners, and at the house OF
an American the highest foreign of1lc-
ials had the place of honor.
It Is interesting to know that the
code of official presidency at present
used in Washington is based mainly
upon an act Of Congress, approved Jan.
10, 1896, providing for the succession
In the event of the disability of both
the President and Vice President of the
United States.
The order Of precedence is as fol-
lows: The President. the Vice Presi-
dent, Ambassadors of foreign Powers
In the order OF their formal recogni-
ton by the government, the Secretary
Of State, the Secretary Of War. the
Attorney General, the Postmaster Gen.
eral, the Secretaries of Navy, Interior
and Agriculture, the Chief Justice OF
the United States, the Associate JUS
tices in; order Of appointment. the Gov
errors of the States of the Union In
order of their admission, and SO on
through the list of Senators and Rep
.resentatives, in order OF their election,
down to the Assistant Secretaries OF
< the various departments, in the same
order as heads of departments.
The order of precedence for ladies OF
the official circle is the same as that
provided for the officials themselves
In cases where the officials are unmar-
ried their nearest relative, should she
preside over the household, has by
courtesy the precedence which would
be given the wife of the official. At
functions given by the officials Of for
eign Governments at the Capital the
wife Of the Secretary OF State takes
precedence over the wives Of Ambas-
sadors. including the wife OF the Dean
q the Diplomatic Corps