The Washington herald., 1913-02-17
SOCIAL ARbITER
Being CHOSEN
Speculation as to Who Will
Be Next Third Assistant
Secretary Of State.
MUST BE DIPLOMATIC
Present Of6eial l. Chandler Hale, Son
Of the Former Senator from
Maine.

| When the amateur Cabinet forecasters,
have worked out by the theory Of arith-
metical progression whether William
Jennings Bryan Is to be Secretary Of
State or not and who Is to be given the
portfolio OF Secretary of the Treasury
they may turn their talents TO even a
more abstruse problem-who is to sue
ceed Chandler Hale. son of the former
Senator from Maine, in the Office of the
Third Assistant Secretary OF State.
| Third Assistant, of course, sounds as IL
the Office We're far removed from the real
sphere of activity in the State Depart
ment, but this is far from the case. The
present Third Assistant is a busy and
an important unit in the department. He
| is the social arbiter OF the United States,
the man who is called in to settle the del
icate points OF international etiquette, to
say what shall be the order at the diff
ferent social functions Of the nation. He
is. in fact, the What's Proper and Why"
Of the United States
Society was without guide in the diff
ficulties of calling etiquette until the days
Of Secretary Hay, or rather of Mrs. Hay.
For II was the wife OF the head of the
State Department who solved problems
which. up to her advent. had remained
unsOlved. She decreed that the wives OF
Cabinet members should make the initial
call on the wives OF Ambassadors.
She also insisted. and her word became
law. that wives of members OF the Su-
preme Court and wives OF Senators
should in their turn make the first call
on Ambassadors wives. The wife of
Re preventative has the biggest task Of
ALL for she must not only make frSt
calls on the wives of Ambassadors, Sem
ators. and Supreme Court Justices but
| She must also visit the wives of foreign
Tit,fC b.. Of ,HnrS Of
the House whose period of service ante
dates that of her husband before those
persons call on her
OmciaI Arbiter Appointed.
1t was not. however. until Senator
Knox became a member of Mr.. Taft's
Cabinet that the whole matter of State
etiquette was officially taken In hand
and a man appointed to the arbtership.
Before this. ii is true, book OF forms
had been prepared by direction OF Secre-
tary Root: but Mr.. Hale's appointment
made it possible to appeal to him rulings
In special cases not covered in the writ
ten word.
When foreigner of parts sets forth
for America. Mr.. Hale Immediately be-
gins work on this particular case. He
wades through his record and finds out
everything TO he known about the posi-
ton and official history of the prospec-
tive visitor. Then he begins to put the
machinery of the State Department into
operation and LIIravels lot OF tangled
red-tape. Through the State Department
he reaches the Treasury Department and
then the Customs Office in New York.
thus smoothing the path OF the visitor.
arranging that his baggage is passed un-
molested BY inspectors. and making sure
in advance that he will receive every
courtesy in landing.
II the visitor is a man of great i'm
portance in his home government Mr..
Hale himself meets him at the pier and
sometimes accompanies him on his visit
10 other cities. Mr.. Hale was very close
to Admiral Count Togo when that gen.
tleman visited here in 1871. and he ar
ranged the famous hundred dollar
a-cover dinner given i'll the admirafs
honor at the knckerboCker. When
Prince Tsai Sun, OF China, visited here
in 1910 Mr. Hale was here TO welcome
him. He was one of the first to greet
the Duke of Connaught when the latter
came to America last year.
Then. it is Chandler Hale who looks
after the seating of the Presidents
guests at White House dinners. This
requires careful diplomacy and a wide
knowledge of the personal relations OF
the guests: for the whole dinner would
be spoiled and a social war precipitated
by making the wrong persons dinner
partners.
Mr.. Hale is son of the former Sena-
tor from Maine. He is a Harvard man
of the class of 1900, and before his ap-
pontment in 1909 as Third Assistant
Secretary of State he had spent many
years abroad. hobnobbing with royalty
and other society experts. So great have
grown the labors of his position as social
arbiter that he has an assistant, e. l..
Cooke, who is kept busy, too
or course there are numerous social
secretaries in Washington. All persons
of importance have one. but since the
days of Mrs. John Hay the Secretary
of State has dominated the field and
fixed the rules of social etiquette. Close
ly associated with Mr.. Hale and Mr.
Cooke in their work is the social sec
retary of the wife OF the Secretary of
state. In Mrs. knox's case this is Miss
Marsh.
Mrs. Wilson has already announced
that Miss Isabella Hagner will be her
social secretary. Miss Hagner has al
ready had experience In the White House
as Mrs. Roosevelt's secretary for seven
years She is now connected with the
60.