Etiquette of Social Life in Washington (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Etiquette of Social Life in WashingtonPrecedence at the dinner table is the grand subject of social wrangling in Washington, and the need of a fixed rule is here so painfully apparent, that those who have been taught to be careful by sad experience, will simply avoid asking those func tionaries to meet each other whose claims may con¿ict. Yet the Vice President, the chiefjustice, the Speaker, the General of the Army, the Admiral of the Navy, Foreign Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and Senators, they and their wives ought to be able to meet, and dine in peace together! Let a social congress or woman's parliament be convened, composed of these ladies, where, after all the arguments and respective claims have been duly weighed, some positive rules may be agreed upon. It is surprising what natural aristocrats women are. In the army and navy, for example, the wives of officers adhere more rigidly to designated and relative social rank, than the officers do themselves nor do our American women object to bear foreign titles of distinction. Indeed, in this they reason wisely, for in countries where class distinctions exist, these usually imply respectable lineage.We would here remark, that Cabinet officers are addressed as Mr. Secretary. We do not like this, for it designates the lowest rather than the highest functions which these officials fill. They are in one sense Secretaries of the President, ap pointed by the Executive Head and confirmed by the U. S. Senate but at the same time they are active, if not responsi ble heads of vast departments of the government, with a power, patronage and in¿uence, which, if it were permanent, would exceed that of many petty potentates of other countries. Names oecome things in history, and we believe if Mr. Sec retary were changed to Mr. Minister, The Premier, and so on, it would help to adjust the matter of social prece dence.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.