New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-02-27
Neb Orleans 1ailp Crtsfent.
II RIP T. E-S H Il E i
CALIFORNIA THE PARADISE or SERVANTS
MONDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY n. 1860.

", i
CALIFORNIA THE PARADISE or SERVANTS
The San Francisco papers continue to publish
the complaints Of honsekeepers at the seareity O
female domestics in California, and the extraya-
giant wages that the few there demand, when COM
pared with the services they render and the prices
paid for the same in other parts Of the world.
g II ii a curious feature Of California domestic
economy,'' says the San Francisco Bulletin, that
a woman il paid for her labor just as handsomely
as a man is.r This being the case, our readers
will readily believe that ordinary servant girls,
such as hire themselves here for from s 70 SO
per MONTH demand there from s25 to s35; and
female cooks and other frstclass servants charge
from s55 I'd so per month. OF course the effect Of
this is to force many families Of limited means TO
dispense with domestic servants altogether; thus
throwing an undue amount of work upon delicate
wives and mothers not accustomed 70 rude
labor; and also, to compel many other families 70
resort to boarding, in preference to !. keeping
house with the contingency Of doing all their
own work.
Both these results are the fruitful sources OF
much social dissatisfaction and unhappiness In
| California. Wives forced 10 cook and scrub, be-
| come disgnsted with California life and pine for
their Eastern homes where their existence vas
| one Of greater liberty and ease. While those who
board in large hotels, on the other hand, and pass
their days in utter listlessness and incidence either
! grow weary from inanition and sick with hypaeon-
dria or corrupted and vicious through bad exam
Pile and constant temptation. It. then, il no small
object with the social economists of the Pacific to
bring about q reduction Of the wages of d0mestlcs
| in the new States there springing mp.
How is this to be done In answering the ques-
! ton, Of course the first step was to ascertain to
| what cause is owing the present extraFagant
prices Of servants wages. This is stated to be the
inadequateness of the supply Of dome5tics to fill
| the demand. The peopling Of California was done
| in manner wholly exceptional. When the news
Of the rich gold discoveries there reached the East,
horde Of male adYenturers rushed off for that fr
distant land and there pitched their tents and built
| their houses At nrst there was scarcely o Wo-
man to be seen; after a little while. a few females
yentured to cross the ocean, or the desert to join
husbands or lovers who had preceded them Then
more and more, journeFed westward, until now,
when the cities, valleys and mountains Of that al
most magic land are everywhere dotted with
happy homes, and echo TO the music Of Women's
voices mingled with the prattling of children.
Still the disparity between the sexes is very great
Those who oughtto know, say there are seven men
to one woman in California-while in Washington
and Oregon the disparity il even greater.
In such state Of society, The woman must be in
great demand. Her work is at premium and
consequently her wages continue to be nordinately
high. For. whatever shortsghted people, and
womans rights advocates may say to the contrary,
that is not healthy state Of society where
woman can earn as much as man; first, because
cannot acenmnlish lsor
as the man; and second, because the support of
the family falls should fall principally upon the
husband and father. The anguish Of bearing and
the duty of nourshing children fall upon the
mother These detract from her strength, and re-
duce her capacity to labor, while the fact of pater-
nifty does not impair The efficiency of the man for
work. Thus nature clearly indicates; it is upon
the male that falls the duty of earning bread for
the family And in aseertaining what is a just
compensation for mans work, account must be
taken of what is necessary to maintain q family.
But the same rule does not apply in fixing women's
wages, who, as rule should not be burdened
with the support of families, because that response
bility should attach to the husband In individual
cases, such as widows, ETC.. it is ditferent-but ne
do not expect to find general principles that will
cover every exceptional case.
Il
tant wages Of the domestic servants in California,
the remedy clearly lies in encouraging female emf
grafton to that State. When the one hundred
thousand men in California left the Eastern States
for the far West, their absence caused a certain
disparity between the sexes at their old homes.
But the disparity was of an opposite sort to that
which exists in California for instead Of men. the
women were left to pFeaominate. Now ifthe surplus
f1rE
the true equilibrium between the sexes in both see
tons would be established, and the comfort pros
perity and morality Of all would be immensely bene.
fitted What prevent such an emigration? Moth
ing, not within the power Of energy and courage to
control. II we can believe the Northern papers.
there are thousands of girls in New England de-
sirous Of finding employment at from three to
eight dollars per month. Such could readily ret.
in San Francisco, from fifteen to twenty-five dol.
lars-and to reach San Francisco would cost them
say seventy five dollars each. But, it will be
urged, :. how are such girls to get seyenty-6ye
/ dollars?i'
In reply, We will only suggest that we never vet
| saw young person in this country, unencnmbered
by family, but who could lay up SIS in two or three
years, if they maae such the object OF their life
and to get out TO new country, where their wages
| VIII pc tf6plGu, hnu tnGlI CllanceS Tor forming a
good matrimonial connection increased q hundred
fold, we think is worthy of being made the object
of q young Wonan's life, who finds herself in mn,
circumstances, and forced to work for IS or Al nor
month. But we think that . better way might be
found than even that. There are, we feel nm.
tdent, hundreds of families in San Francisco who
would willingly advance the price Of passage Il
California, provided a well recommended g;r,
would bind herself to work ii out, after sba -.
there or, say from sl5 to so per month till maid
We have heard Of cases in which similar arranga.
ments were made-and those desirons Of emiprat.
ing would do well to endeavor to do tile same Al
any rate, :. where there's will there's a wav ),
and we feel assured, if a thousand girls shonla
make up their minds firmly to 60 to California
nine hundred and fifty Of them would be landed IN
San Francisco in six months. Be this az It may
we are certain that should large emigration If
women westward take place, it would be a great
benefit to the Pacific States, to the women them.
selves, and to the country generally California is
a paradise for servant girls. Let them 90 in 4
body and take possession of it.
i THE GREAT STRIKE.--The SIoemaker's str;l5a Z.
Massachusetts,, has led to general Suspension nf
business there, Manufacturers had been nnft;nfr
out aoo,a nipJf fhnItsa nd f,airs NJ sh,.,. g