Many of our well-dressed friends were surprised earlier this year when they found themselves casting their Presidential ballots for a man who had shown himself capable of leaping atop a freshly Simonized limousine, grabbing a bull horn and shouting hoarsely, "Y' all come to the speakin'!"

And indeed, things seem to be retrogressing so rapidly these days that the differences in style between Lyndon Johnson and Andrew Jackson grow ever less noteworthy. Old Hickory, it will be remembered, used to invite crowds off the street to come into the White House and drink corn whisky.

Now, President Johnson proposes to attend his inauguration in a business suit instead of the morning clothes traditionally favored on such occasions. One can only ask, respectfully but firmly, whether this departure from the practices of the past would be altogether a Good Thing.