The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-02-22
SOCIAL PRECEDENCE ROW.
A QUESTION OF SEATING AT
TABLE,
Speaker Henderson Claims Precedence
Senate-Chinese Minister'S Acumen.

WASHINGTON, February 5.-The
controversy among the ambassadors
over rank and precedence begins to be
contagious, for Speaker Henderson has
asserted his social prerogatives and de-
mands the second place at the presi-
dents table and the seat of honor at
all other social functions. 1t should be
said at the beginning that Col. Hender-
son does this, not from personal pride,
for he believes with other Scotchmen
that wherever McGregor sits is always
the head of the table, but he feels It HIS
duty to defend and vindlcate the office
to which he has been elected. 1t came
about in this way:
When President Mckinley gave a
state dinner in honor of the cabinet the
other day, he placed Mrs. Frye, the
wife of the president pro TEN. of the
senate, in the place of honor, aHd- Mr..
Frye was asked to escort Mrs. McKin-
ley to the table Speaker Henderson
escorted Mrs. Hay and had the second
place, while Secretary Hay escorted
Mrs. Henderson. This arrangement
was made after a cabinet consultation
and upon the recommendation of Sec
rotary Hay, who waived his own claims
to precedence, which most people be-
lieve are stronger than those of either
,
derson made no objection to the seat
ing arrangements at the time, but i'm
mediately after the dinner sent a friend
to the president to explain the social
status, which he claimed, not for him
self personally, but for the office he
holds, and expressed the hope that here
after he might be given the seat to
which his rank entitled him.
Shortly after Mr.. and Mrs. Frye and
Mr.. and Mrs. Henderson were invited
to dine with Senator Elkins, and the
latter, learning of the incident, consult
ed the president of the senate about
the arrangement of the table. Mr..
Frye insisted that by virtue of his office
he should have the first place. Mr.. Ell
kins then went to Col. Henderson, who
insisted that he should have the first
place, but, rather than embarrass his
host, withdrew his acceptance to the
dinner.
The next occasion was at a dinner
given by the Chinese minister, who
solved the problem very much as Solo
mon decided the baby case, by splitting
the difference. He, as the host, took
Mrs. Frye to the table and placed her
upon his right hand, while he asked
Col. Henderson to escort his wife. Thus
the Speaker of the house sat upon the
right of the hostess and the president
of the senate upon her felt, while the
wife of the president of the senate sat
at the right of the host and the wife
of the speaker at his left.
President Mckinley has declined to
decide this question and the officials in
charge of the functions at the white
house will simply evade it by arrang-
| ing that Mr.. and Mrs. Frye and Mr..
and Mrs. Henderson shall not be in
| vited at the same time hereafter, but
nevertheless it will continue to be an
| frri faff Vnrr ffpva To-, 4
-tinguished people are brought together,
as must continually be the case on So
cial and ceremonial occasions.
The law seems perfectly clear, pro-
Vided that the social status of the par
ties in question is the same as their
official rank and if the order of sue
| cession to the presidency as fixed by
congress is to be accepted both Mr.. and
Mrs. Frye and Col. and Mrs. Hender-
son follow instead of precede all of the
members of the cabinet except the sec
rotary of agriculture, who was not a
member of the cabinet when the law
of succession was enacted. Formerly
the order was different. Section LAG of
| the revised statutes, passed in 1892
provides that " in case of removal,
death, resignation or inability of both
the president and vice-president of the
| United States the president pro tenn
pore of the senate-or, if there is none
then the speaker of the house of rep
resentatives-shall act as president I'M
! til the disability of the president is re-
moved or a president is elected"
AS long as this statute was in force
the president pro tempore of the senate
ranked the speaker of the house Hence
Col. Henderson's claim to official pri-
GRITTY cannot rest upon that law. But
in 1886 it was repealed and both the
president of the senate and the speaker
of the house were dropped from the
presidential succession. By an act APP
proved on January 10, 1886, the secre-
tary of state was made the lineal sue.
cessor to the presidency after the vice.
president, and in case there should bt
no secretary of state the secretary OF
the treasury, the secretary of war, the
attorney general, the postmaster-gen.
eral, the secretary of the navy and the
secretary of the interior inherit the
presidential office in the order named
which is the chronological order of the
establishment of the departments owe
which they preside.