AMBASSADOR’S CALVES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 233, 1 October 1929, Page 12

AMBASSADOR’S CALVES

PROBLEM OF ETIQUETTE BUCKINGHAM PALACE COURT GENERAL DAWES’ TROUSERS KNEE-BREECHES CONTROVERSY “The mystery of the Ambassador’s calves” has lately been the subject of considerable mirth and good-natured badinage in American newspapers at the expense of General Charles G. Dawes, the new United States Ambassador at the Court of St. James in London. One writer says:—‘‘The Queen was in the parlour, not eating bread and honey, but receiving the elaborate obeisances of fluttering debutantes, match-making mammas, foreign envoys, and other bigwigs of London society. For the ‘parlour’ in this case was the grand hall room of Buckingham Palace, and it was ablaze with all the splendour of jewels, decorations, nodding plumes, knee-breeches, gold braid, silk stockings, fans, coronets, and other gewgaws which contribute to the glitter of the British court. Ambitious and ‘arrived’ Americans were there with their overjoyed daughters, and everybody was looking forward with piquant interest to the first court appearance of the now American Ambassador.

“That unterrified son of prairie democracy had been questioned, before his departure from American shores, as to whether he would wear silk kneebreeches to court. It will have to be admitted, however, as the Pittsburgh Post Gazette remarked in recalling the incident, that when the reporters approached him on the subject it was with considerable trepidation, and his response showed that they were well advised. ‘That’s my business/ was his diplomatic reply. Orthodox Evening-Dress \

‘ ‘ But now the question was about to be answered before the eyes of Royalty itself, and the answer came when the Ambassador’s name was announced and he marched into the presence of the Queen in orthodox evening dress, with trousers all the way down to his patent-leather shoes. Nor did the Queen faint, or tittef behind her fan. In fact, it’s dollars to doughnuts than Her Majesty hadn’t expected to see our Ambassador’s calves, for he had obtained a dispensation from the Lord Chamberlaiq, making it possible for him to keep their curves muffled, contrary to British court custom, and the L«rd Chamberlain would naturally consult the Queen about such a very, veryprofound problem of etiquette.” And so it happened. A New York Times cablegram stated:—“Ambassador Dawes was the only man at the season’s third Royal court at Buckingham Palace to-night who wore long trousers instead of the traditional silk knee-breeches. His plain evening clothes were in such striking contrast with the medieval splendour of the uniforms and costumes of other diplomats and dignitaries that it caused him to be singled out for attention. “Queen Mary, in a gown of green and gold, again was a central figure at the scene of splendour. For the third time this season she stood in front of a single golden throne in the great ballroom of Buckingham Palace while debutantes from many lands curtsied before her. Around her were grouped members of her family, with the Prince of Wales in the scarlet uniform of a colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Prince George in a naval uniform, and with them Princess Ingrid of Sweden, a youthful figure in a dress of a sort pastel shade. Comment in the Press “Owing to the accession to 4 >ower of the Labour Ministry, the diplomatic presentations were made by Mrs Arthur Henderson, wife of the Foreign Secretary., One of her first duties was to present' Mrs Dawes, who wore a gown of white crepe beaute, heavily embroidered with diamante, and a silver tissue train.” Considerable comment was made in the London press on Ambassador Dawes’ garb at court. The Daily Chronicle said: —“This is another record the General has achieved. Only a few days ago it was ■ announced that while General Dawes was in residence the Embassy would go dry. His preference for long trousers is another point on which the new Ambassador has shown insistence. “In the United States it has always been a matter for discussion that when their Ambassador goes to soe Royalty here he should have to attire himself in a pair of knee-breeches. As CL leral Dawes was leaving New York, someone asked him whether he had put breeches in his grip. He replied, ‘That

is my business.’ No bags were opened, and it appears that the General had only an evening ; ’- ?ss-suit in them.” General Dawes is reported as having said that he had no intention of establishing a precedent by his dress at the Palace. “One Hundred Per Cent. American” The IDaily Express remarked that General Dawes is maintaining a reputation as a ‘‘loo-per-cent. American.” The newspaper added: —“It was Ms first court, and he wore black trousers, while the other members of the United States Embassy staff wore kneebreeches, as heretofore. There was nearly an international incident seven years ago, when Colonel George Harvey stirred up a section of the American press because he wore court dress to Princess. Mary’s wedding. Alanson B. Houghton, the General’s immediate predecessor, wore knee-breeches at court during his ambassadorship here.” That “vigorous personality” which the British press so unanimously attributed to Ambassador Dawes when it was first announced that he was going to London already has given evidence of its vigour, comments Mr Joseph B. Phillips in a message to the New York Herald Tribune. He said:—“The matter of how an American should dress when appearing before an Old World court has since the very earliest days of the United States been an unsettled question. Colonial history is full of it. No subject aroused the wrath of colonial editors more than the way high society of Philadelphia and New York ‘aped the fatuities of Britain ’ in dress and social decorum. “Perhaps it was Franklin who first started the tradition of ‘democratic simplicity’ of dress as a contrast to the ostentation of Old World courts. And perhaps it was not done as altruistically as the schoolbook history has made it appear. Even this age of specialised ‘public relations experts’ has produced few who were more astute in the art of publicity than Franklin. English People Remain Calm

* ‘When Franklin appeared in plain brown velvet before the King of France, he was flatteringly compared to a ‘sturdy democrat from the Age of Cato.’ When he wore the same costume before the English Privy Council, the adjectives were less battering. ‘An uncouth person’ was the term applied to him. “The tradition he started, if not steadily maintained, has cropped ap with great frequency in the careers of American diplomats in the English court. But the English viewpoint on the matter has entirely changed. If Americans wish to maintain the tradition of the ‘sturdy democrat from the Age of Cato/ the English refuse to lose their calm.

“Even in the case of the late Ambassador Harvey’s appearance at a Royal wedding in knee-breeches, it was principally the American press which inflated the incident. And Ambassador Dawes’ reward for appearance in full-length trousers is nothing but praise. ‘General Dawes is probably right/ said the newspapers the day after the court. At Rome one does as Rome does, within limits. We see no reason why an American diplomat should change the costume in which be would wait upon his own President for the fancy dress of the country to which he is accredited.’ That, incidentally, was the theory upon which Ambassador Dawes refused to wear knee-breeches.”

The official explanation at the Embassy was that full-length trousers were part of the costume of State affairs in Washington, and, consequently, should be the costume of Washington’s representative abroad. Had the Ambassador been a general on active duty he would have worn the uniform of his country instead of adopting that of a foreign land. From one point of view there is also an analogy between the days of Franklin and General Dawes’ announcement that no liquor would be served at the Embassy during his tenancy. That announcement—the first concerning personal matters after his arrival—was of necessity dealt with cautiously by the British press. Their own Sir Esme Howard in Washington had too recently installed prohibition in his own domain.

London found no answer to that except that it was His Excellency’s privilege, and when General Dawes followed suit, the same was indicated. Consequently, prohibition at the American Embassy was a much livelier topic with American Embassies in other countries, where wine is a more important part of the entertainment than it is in London.

As the knee-breeches controversy may be said to date back to the time of Franklin, so does the question of drinking water. Every historian knows how, in younger days, Franklin used to incur unpopularity among British workmen by preaching against their daily beer. Franklin with his water drinking and extreme simplicity was reviled.

To-day the Englishman adhors with equal intensity prohibition and radical taste in dress. Yet Ambassador Dawes to-day is praised as ‘‘a vigorous personality” for the peculiarities for which Frtnklin was criticised. The incident of Ambassador Dawes’ pantaloons has been seized upon by the press of America, too, for much lively comment of a varied character. Some editorials praise the Ambassador for his independence end common sense, some scold him for what they consider a needless discourtesy to his hosts, and a third group hints that the envoy’s sartorial conservatism may be due to a conviction that his calves are not of the tvpe that would look well in silk stockings.