Arizona republican., 1907-10-14
MATTER OF PRECEDENCE
 AT NATIONAL CAPITAL
4 Peculiar Phase O: Life Responsible for Many Social Upheavals.

Washington. Oct. &-(Special corre- spondence of The Republican )-Prece- dence, to quote the dictionary, signi- fies superior rank; pre-eminence; pre- ference; priority; but here. in Wash ington. where precedence is an eX- ceedingly ticklish matter, it means so- cial tumults; red-tape; qualifications; rows--and riots, one is tempted to add
 This choleric, chaotic condition of things is caused by the fact that we have no cut and dried rule. no con- stitutionary basis for regulating the social moves of the official set, as in the capital cities of other countries, where a similar state of unrest would be impossible: no code for establish ing the social status of the govern ment representative and of settling his disputes-or, to be exact. her disputes, as it is usually the wife of the official who causes most of the trouble.
 The average woman in Washington society. though lovely to look at and as charming and seductive as her sis ters in other large cities, is not one half as clever as she ought to be in order to cope with the unusual social conditions existing at the capital, and to maintain the relative position of her clever husband, father or brother.
 In the old days, when Washington was a city of muddy, unpaved dis tances, and it was the evident aim of every stranger who arrived here to get away as quickly as possible, the social exigencies of the town were not very great; but now that it has be- come one of the most attractive resi- dential cities of the country, when all roads lead toward the seat of govern ment, more than ever the center of in- terest to the nation as well as to the whole world, the social customs and obligations have become exceedingly complex and its population more and more cosmopolitan.
 Here are intermingled ambitious schemers, constantly watching the trend of legislation; aggressive mill lionaires, seeking social recognition only too frequently denied them at home; government representatives. not always as well fitted for the re- Quiremants of society as for the per- formance of their official duties-and who are ofttimes too ignorant to be aware of this solemn fact: representa- tives from all the kingdoms of the earth who, though with us. are not of us, and a plentiful sprinkling of naval and army officers, scientific men. gov ernment employees, and 'cave-dwell- ers' as the old residents are known.
 The official element, however, pre- dominates, and upon the men who rep resent the mechanism of the state rests also. the responsibility of the so- cial code of the national capital. but who, through negligence or indiffer- ence, have permitted 1t to remain numbered among the unwritten laws.
 It is this peculiar phase of life which leads to such perplexing questions and cause SD many social upheavals. Cray est affairs of state have become com- plicated by the seeming trivialities of every day life; and everyone familiar with the past social history of Wash ington is aware of the various occa- sions in which animosities have been engendered by the little sins of omis- sion or commission, and the certain requirements of one person ignored, through ignorance or indifference, by another
 This lack of a well defined and fixed rule governing social usages leaves the administration reverse the customs of his predeces- sOr and start a little social revolution of his own, if he so desire, as in the case of Thomas Jefferson who depart ed, to a great extent, from the dignity and ceremony inaugurated and main tained by President Washington. and which was entirely obliterated in the time of Jackson and. in the present instance, where President Roosevelt has endeavored to do away with some of the "Jeffersonian simplicity which has. more or less. characterized off, cial functions ever since.
 In recognizing the social life of the capital. MT. Roosevelt has added greatly to the dignity of the nation, and. at the same time. preserved the democratic principles of the republic.
 Upon Mrs. Roosevelt, however, whose path during the early days of the ad- ministration was anything but smooth, has fallen the greater burden of the new regime.
 Paving inherited her official family fl n the late Mrs. Mckinley. who, on account of invalidism, took no part in social affairs, it was doubly hard for the new chatelaine of the White House to establish her position as the first lady of the land" That she did suc- ceed in asserting her right to pre- eminence was demonstrated by subse- quent events.
 One high priestess of conventional- ity withdrew almost entirely from the social life at the capital, appearing only when her duties as the wife of an official demanded her presence; while the husband of another resigned his portfolio, on account, on dit, of the disputatious disposition of his wife.
 About this time an unfortunate con- troversy arose between Miss Wilson, daughter of the Secretary of Agricul- ture, and Miss Hay, daughter of the Secretary of State. over the matter of precedence. which was finally settled in favor of Miss Wilson on the ground that she is the head of Mir Wilson's family-taking the place of her moth er-while Mrs. Hay occupied the full position to which her husbands rank entitled her, leaving Miss Hay. like other young women in cabinet circles. unprovided for in the same sense as Miss Wilson.