The Washington herald., 1911-01-08
By CHARLOTTE N. CoNGEB
(wntt0 for Tho Washington Herald.)

By CHARLOTTE n. C0NGER.
(Wrtt0 for The Washington Hesald)
Newcomers to the Capital already are
beginning to trouble their heads over
problems in social and oficial etiquette
The matter Of precedence Is a block over
which nearly everybody will stumble un-
til Congress shall pass . law controlling
1t. This would have been done long ago
save that such a proceeding would have
raised cries Of '.snobbery." "aping foreign
courts" what will become of democratic
simplicityr' and the like. There Is an
unwritten law of precedence based
upon Official position which has been
SO long observed that 1t has come
to be regarded as Official: but even
this Is from time to time disputed.
and again and again high officials.
believing that their place on the list was
not where it should be. have refused to
take part in any function where they
were not accorded the rank to which they
assumed they were entitled.
The Supreme Court left the White
House in high dudgeon a few years back
because they were not received before the
diplomatic corps. and neither Mr.. Reed nor
Mr.. Henderson would accept invitations
where they knew they would not be ac-
corded the place they held was their
right. The quarrel between the British
Ambassador. Lord Pauncefote and Vice
President Hobart and that between Gen.
Miles and Admiral Dewey, regarding their
relative rank. have become historic.
British Foreign Office Decides.
The difference between Vice President
Hobart and Lord Pauhcefote was deemed
so important that our Ambassador at
London was asked to obtain from the
British foreign office an opinion Of the
subject. This Office confirmed Mr.. Ho-
bart's contention that he ranked next to
the President and before the foreign am
bassadors.
The code of precedence generally ac-
cepted in Official and social circles Of the
Capital is as follows: The President. the
Vice President. foreign ambassadors ac-
credited to the United States, the Secre-
tary OF State. foreign ENJOYS plenipoten.
tiary. the Chief Justice, the president pro
tenn. Of the Senate, the Speaker OF the
House, Cabinet Secretaries other than the
Secretary Of State. foreign ministers resi-
dent; associate justices of the Supreme
Court. the Admiral Of the Navy. Senators.
governors Of States. Representatives in
Congress, the Chief of STAFF Of the army,
foreign charges d d'affaires. major generals
Of the army, rear admirais, foreign secre-
taries OF embassies and legations. Assist
ant Secretaries of the executive depart
ments, judges of the Court Of Claims,
Secretary OF the Smithsonian Institution.
District Commissioners, judges OF the
District Court OF Appeals, judges Of the
District Supreme Court. brigadier gen.
erals, captains in the navy. director of
Bureau of American Republics. army and
navy officers below army brigadierS and
navy captains. foreign guests in private
life untitled, American guests in private
life
This list is the best We have. but 1t is
not logical For instance. the Senators
are placed after the judges of the Su-
preme Court and the members of the
Cabinet. which. according to the custom
of other countries and to their actual po-
stion in the government. would not seem
to be their proper place, and the Senate
has always maintained that, because it
confirms the judges Of the Supreme Court
and the members OF the Cabinet, it out
ranks them. and the members OF the
Supreme Court and OF the Cabinet cir
cles must make the first call upon the
members of the Senate and their fam
lilies.
Call on President Only.
Members of the Senate of the First
Congress agreed. not officially. but pri-
vately. to pay first visit to no person
except the President Of the United States
This rule did not of course. imply that
other officials must visit them, but they
succeeded by a rigid adherence to their
own agreement in forcing other officials
to visit them, and to this day the women
Of the Cabinet and the Supreme Court
grudgingly. but conscientiously. at the be-
ginning of the season call on the women
of the Senate.
The members of the House. however,
do not get this attention from the Su-
preme Court and the Cabinet. The MEM
bers of the House, indeed. outside Of the
Speaker. rate very little in a social way
that is, their position carries with it
little social prestige-and when any of
them shine in the social world it is
through their own efforts. This is a sur
prise to the new members and the women
OF their families, who have generally
taken it for granted that their position
as members of the House would entitle
them to every social honor.
1t is difficult, the breaking in of a new
member to the social traces, but 1t is
worth while. for his usefulness in Con-
gress is multiplied many times by the
position he holds in society, let him who
will sneer or doubt it, This breaking in
has been made easier in the past few
seasons by the existence Of the Congress
sional Club, which has done much to
bring out of their seclusion those Off
cials and their families who, either
through want of interest or the lack of
knowledge to go about it, had taken no
part in society. Some one has aptly dub