The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-09-27 00:00:00

CO•OPER&TIVE HOUSEKEEPING.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Britieh Association
at Bradford, in the department of Economical
Science, Alm King (an American lady) read a paper on
" Cvnfederated Homes and Co-operative Housekeep-
ing."

ire. King began by referring to clubs, balls, and club-
house., in proof that the supposed attachment of English
people to their homes he not very deep and does not
exteat to all Wanes of society. She mentioned the
miserable imitation of home alfordet to the untainted
by b dolga and boarding.houses, and the trouble owe-
slotted by domestic servants, which she attributed to She
gene-al Ignorance and perversity of society. Servants
she dentibel as to semi slavery, and the insisted on
their right to enjoy the society of men. The remedy she
proposed was that the home of the employer should not be
also the home of the employed and to substitute for isolated
bonds and separate establishments confederated homes
and cc-operative housekeeping. But, Instead of one un-
fortunate set of women dragging over long hours of toil,
the hours of labour should be divided and distributed to
different workers; one set coming at, say, six In the mono
ing, and remaining till one or two o'clock, a second set
remoMing till nine or ten o'clock, and one or two
night guardiaus remaining till the following morning.
Theogh the number of servants daily employed would be
inernibeed, the cost would probably be diminished. A re
ducoon was sure to be effitend when labour was performed
in combination, and many who could nit °therein leave
their home. would obeli, engage in a few hours' reissues-
retina work, while when the system became general and
oontederated homes were established for poor at well as
I rich, many girl. could be spared to work in the
' horn's of the rkher class, returning afterwards to the core
' of their parents. tinny, too, who would never dream of
' putting themselves under the petty tyranny of a reddens
or waster might accept service under these altered condi-
tion., and by thin attracting people of sapertor minds and
man-,, re, a greo t adoauce would be made both in the work
I done, and in the character and social status of the workers.
The present tyetom of d mestio servitude In isolated homes
was .1. failure, and, with the direction In which society was
now 'eutline, the failure was likely to prove more conspicuoug,
e must have real slaves or every lady most be her
own c k or housemaid, or we mu.t reform our whole sy s-
tern by • copibluatlon of work bringffeg ordr and harmony
out ot the chaos in which femele domestic labour now
I remained. The attempt to found schools of cookery was
I • sir-p in advance from the slipshod, Laphezard way in
who it all matters relating to house work had been con-
aid-red od practie .1, but the direction in which the pro-
moters of these schools was acting was • mistaken one.
They were not eo much intended for cooks as for nee-ling
ladles t play with trying-pans. As long as the mistress
was eine °red to know toe setvaut's work, the servant
never woul Ibe properly tia.ned. if servants knew that
they alone were expected to know their own work, aod
I could get n051014,01' union they had the requisite train-
ing, there would soon be trebled servants obtatuable. hor-
nets would not perform their work diligently and care-
fully without beteg directed, but the director of any work
should be the one most thoroughly acquainted with it;
whereas MOD, even those most in love with the domestic wife
ideal, only affirmed that • wife should understand enough
of ',mastic work to enable her to direct her servants,
this "enough' being jest that amount of superficial know-
ledge to impart which schools of cookery wore Instituted.
Borne women have not the requisite talent for directing and
controlling a household, while others had it in • remark-
able degree; and possib'y owing to the want of • wide
snot gh midge for the exercise of this talent women of
this divination often became bullies and scolds at home.
Women such ao these at the head of the prof emlon of house-
keeping would superintend the &meat r mgemente of
100 confederated homes and keep in obit . whole army of
is. With combination in cooking we
could afford to have an artist to guide and direct the staff of
inferior cooks, and much the same might be said with respect
to the science and art of housework Each material requires
a different treatment for Its preservation and cleansing
' By rough, awkward handling materials of all sorts were
Injured and defaced In attempts at cleansing them.
Toe diniculty in establishing schools for teaching domestic
work wee that tin, instruction could only be given where

the wuk Wet t, ha7r:e .6.1.1 be DO
school, of c.otery where there wrre no Stoners to be eaten
and no schrrols far house work where there wr re no hon..-
hard.. Lectures coulo no more teach taro. things than
they could teach playing the piano. In a cooperatree
e t.bliehmeni the te.t morns of giving ttebulcal edit.
cal to tu damestlc work would he aft gded
or a;prett:ces could he taken in with but little
teconAnteme, and wren a should pay for their
, daughters teent.tton in these trade., as Ihry row pay for
their song' Itirtractlon In their tiordes. Besidei the greater
eMeleacy the whew glee would be gnat The waste el

food in cooking for small famine' was only exceeded by the
waste of fuel. What we want in cur confederated horns a
I. a plan by which the necessities of daily Life shall be best
supplied, and the difficulties we now have to contend with re.
moved and overcome by the name means which have over
come dinlcultlea, supplied wants, and multiplied a hundred.
fold our comfort and luxury in every other department of if e's
work. A clearly scientific hash a can be shown for the system
I propose. No work should be taken Into the homes which
had to • certain extent been organized outside the home,.
such as laundry work, bread making, or brewing, or in any
way making actors where goods could be bought and sold. nor
would she attempt to grasp at luxuries. The building plan
need not comprehend libraries, billiard-rooms, and such
Lb., for these could eashy be found outside Hot
and 'old water °mast to be obtainable in every room
where required at the will of the person who requires them.
I By machinery all waste matter should be sent out of the
room by a turn of the hand of the occupier of the room
Speaking tubes or some other method of communicatiog
, messages would be of great use in diminishing, by exactly
I one hall, the labour of stair journeys over the house. Of
course English people could not be made eoclable
they would net be sociable. But it would add go e shy to
the cheerfulness and pleasure of the inhabitauts of the
confederated homes if they would promote a neighbourly
hitercourse with one another. In united homes the want
which young men and young women felt of social intercourse
and due variety of amusement would be met naturally and
healthily. Thais banding' in London called " mansions"
where the system of combination had been in any way
adopted have proved eminently successful. A gentleman to
whom she wrote for information respecting the Beigrave
Mallllooll answered. "They are no far a financial success, that
they are always full. They are not the social success they
ought to be only because they are managed In the interests of
the proprietors, for the sake of profit ; Instead of, as they
ought to be, In the interest of the residents but the
residents are powerless against the proprietors, they must
either stay and bear it or turn out to let another at once
take their place." There were two other kindred buildings,
Grosvenor Mansions and Albert Mansions, in Victoria-street,
both let at high rentals, but neither of them had lifts or ser-
vantsin common, while the Belgrave Mansions had both.
The arrangements for the housework were, however, very
defective. The weak point—viz., the servants—was weak
only because it was a weak point in every house, and in every
mansion it would remain a weak point until domestic labour
was organised upon a prover system.
The diactualoc was opened by Mr. De Machin, who con-
tended that servants were well off, being free from csre and
well fed and clothed. In large houses they had not enough
to do, being too numerous. He regretted that modern life
entirely severed the husband from wife in matters of
business. If the latter resumed her position as assistant
and adviser there would be Ism extravagance and gambling
In business.

S titngton us TW on advocated more kindly intercourse,
as in France, between employers and servants. and looked to
education to effect an improvement Lufkin matter. Unselfish-
ness on both sides would make this country a spectacle of
concord and goodwill.
. . .

Mies Becker (Manchester) liked gentlemen who had
devoted time to the organisation of labour which was
not domestic to afford women the advantages that might
be gained from men's wider experience in the organisation
of their labour. By means of proper combination •
great deal of domestic dtudgery might be spared, and
the principle of the division of labour was not sufficiently
applied in domettic work. Women were expected with
their own hands to make the clothes of the family.
This WU most uneconomical employment of labour. In
termer times all the thread spun in the country was spun
by the hand with spindle and distaff ; then the spinning-
:envy alta introduced, and at last we got to ipineing in
factories. In regard to this work we were yet in the spindle
and distaff stage The introduction of the sewing machine
was blind g um to the 'planing-jenny stage, but we had yet
to go forward to the factory stage. in which it would be
thought to be uneconomical employment of the brain and
muscle of a woman to set her to turn even • sewing
machine Clothes should be cut out by a competent person
and moo e in factories.

Mrs. King agreed that in some oases servants were• great I
deal ton well off. The remedy was to let servants work
thoroughly while they were at work, and then let them have
plenty ot time to play the piano or anything she. It was her ,
object nut to permit idleness, bulb get more work done, and
work of a better quality.
The Preeident (Mr. W. E. Ponder, said the section
was under an obligation to Mrs. King for • remarkably able
paper containing suggestions which, whether they could be
carried out or not, were worthy of consideration. Re did
not agree with the gentleman who said thaSdomertic servants
generally were over-paid or over-comfortable compared with
our labourer. Many maids-of-all work had • very hard
and severe life. The effect of the paper wag to make all
masters and mistresses remember that they ought to try
to save the labour of female servants as much as they could,
and put themselves a little In the places of their servants.
It would have a very good practical effect. There was some-
thing very suggestive In Mies Becker's remarks with regard to
the saving of female labour by mechanical contrivances. He
had um erstood Mrs King almost to give up hoped servants
being comfortable under the present system. Ile did not give
it up at all, and there were many households in
, which a mistress tried to act the part of protector
and helper to female servants. (Cheer.) Many a
respectable mother thought It the best thing she could
do to place her daughter under such • lady's care.
There was no duty more incumbent than the duty assumed
by the mlstress of the establishment. It Mrs. King could
get ladles and gentlemen who agree with her to found a
confederate I one, he saw no reason why one should not he
slated, and he should ue glad to see the experiment tried.
He bad arrived at such an age that he wrs afraid he should
be to Conservrtive to Join in such an experiment. He
shanid prefer his own isolated home. (Laughter ) This was
a time for experiments, and such an experiment must be very
metal. lie was arta' t the s,ll.ma would he foal, more
dllflcrci than it appeared, bet, after all, this surgestion wee
one of those which could only be tested by experiment.