The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-01-30
Mrs. Taft, Mrs. Sherman,
and Miss Cannon Re-
markedly Well Adapted
for the Social Duties
They Have Been Called
Upon to Perform
By CHARLOTTE NJ. CONGER.

The obligations of an empress are as
nothing compared TO those OF the wife OF
q President OF the United States. Every
duty is laid down for the former every
convention prescribed by written or I'M
written law. Her days are planned from
the moment she awakes IN the morning
until she goes to bed at night. and TO
attain the good will OF the people, TO
achieve popularity. she has only to do
the duties allotted to her graciously and
amiably. II an occasion arises for which
there is no fixed rule, the court cham
berlain ferrets through the court records,
finds a precedent on which to base her
conduct. or, guided by tradition and Gus
tom, makes a new rule, from which there
is no appeal Moreover, an empress is
trained for her position from the day she
Is born. for her guardians are aware
that she will one day occupy throne.
and she Is disciplined and educated with
this end in view.
There are, on the contrary, no set
rules, no prescribed conventions. no es-
tablished tribunal to which she can ap-
peal in social dilemmas for the wife Of
the President Of the United States. and,
as a rule, she had had only the educa-
ton and training that the average Amer
lean girl receives, supplemented by some
experience, large or small. as may be.
in official life; for a man has never yet
been taken direct from the plough to
rule in the White House, but has served
an apprenticeship in some Office prior 10
his election to the Presidency.
A few Unwritten laws, a few tradi-
tions, are all that the wife Of the Presi-
dent has to go on when she takes up
her duties as the first lady in the land.
There is no permanent secretary in the
White House nor in the Department OF
State TO act as a coach. She must alone
and unaided master the duties that per-
tain TO the position she assumes. unaided
save for the advice Of friends. who are
as uninstructed in the mysteries Of the
position as she IS, and know it only as
lookers-on or occasional guests at the
White House.
Has Unusual Training.
1t happens now and then, however, that
NcAAAtAal ~ lLlAS ll46A IbSt Aiaa AleiA
unusual training for it's duties, as in the
case OF Mrs. Taft, who was introduced to
life at the White House when she was
little girl and her fathers former law
partner. Mr.. Hayes, was President IN
later years she has been a Cabinet host
ess at the head of the governors man
sion in the Philippines, and had train
ing and experience surprising that of
most and equal to that of any of her
predecessors, and to this she adds a sound
education in literature. music, along do
nestle lines, and wide cultivation.
Mrs. Taft's inspiration in her present
role is obviously Mrs. Hayes. who was
Aunt Lucy to her as a little girl, and
whose character she came to understand
and appreciate when she visited the White
House as very young woman when she
had the privilege of a child of the fam
fly and with the keen perception Of a
young person saw its workings from the
inside. Mrs. Taft has too Independent a
spirit TO set up any one as model, but
her intimacy with Mrs. Hayes has sug-
gested many things 10 her, and there IS
no better source from which she could
draw for Mrs, Hayes was the most gra-
cious, tactful, and dignltied hostess the
White House has had within the memory
OF the writer