, 1873-06-15
. THE SERVANT QUESTION.
consoling Remarks for House.
keepers.
uos;enation and Submission Their
Only Resource.
the True Mistress Of tie Family.

the True Mistress Of tie Family.
One lady meeting another the other day, On
stfeet-car, said to her, after the ordinary ques-
tiops concerning health, etc, that she was on
hsr way to an intelEgence-ofice to get servant.
The one she had WAS to 1eare the next day.
Then abe went on to speak Of the 'ingratitude ="
of this girl : how she expectedher mistress to do
iii the work ; how she WAS forward and imperti-
psnt and how she Was leaving good homo with
Tie chances Of finding as easy one again rather
against her It ia more thnn likely that
this is not the only conversation
Of the kind which took place
thst day. Change the names, and slightly alter
the wording, and we will have what Was eaid in
thousand homes. 4 thousand women we're
more or less wretched, and IN equal number Of
. households demoralized. 4 Thousand husbands
had to listen to q great deal OF useless fussing
about things which it was out Of theie power to
ramedy.
There is but one kind Of labor -where the en-
ployers are in the habit o: using the word "1n~
gratitude, and few other sentimental express
sions in discussing their relations with tner
employees. Elsewhere it is rarely heard Brick
Levers. carpenters, printers, and tourneymen
ta1o1s are constantly leaving, Jet their bosses
nr 1naaters never speak OF them as "ungrate-
ful."' Clerks in banks and stores change their
situations, and even il the old employer
Is tstemporarily incommoded by their~departure,
still lie does not ta1 them with ingratitude,
and be does not tell his friends wha% he did to
make the labor Of his employees pleasant. what
privileges he gave them, and how unk1nd it was
Of them to leave him. It is 3 generally accepted
MAXIM in all branches OF labor, except domestic
eer7ice, that il b man can get hlgh:r pay else
xhere, greater conveniences or less work, he
has right to 60, unquestoned- II he chooses
to lesye his place merely because hs wishes to,
Kince he is tired Of it, since he wants change
for sny or for no reason,-itis his own business.
The employer may think him fool, but he does
nst think him ungratefuL The relations be-
fSsen employer and employed are practical;
fheye is nothing sentimental about them. It is,
nerhsps, better for both sides that they are 80.
The exclusion Of sentimentality from the
minds Of male employers, and their rare tendency
10 groan over the unkindness of their labor, is
70 business, and greatly to the fact that the de-
psrture of one man, clerk, mason, OF shoemaker,
tss7es vacancy for which there are q hundred
applicants, each as good as the one who left. 1t
ties Of an employer to be learned.
tbs rules Of the shop or store have to be
understood and obeyed, business must be
done thus and so. But these rules are simple,
and are easily learned Since failure to COM
ply with them brings discharge they are faith
FULLY observed. But one common laborer is as
good Is another. The boss Of the gang has no
special instructions to give new hand II he
ran do his work to satisfy one employer, he can
do it to satisfy all. 4 boss bricklayer does not
continually say to his men, "You must : lsy
bricks sos s'Take 30 much MORTAR" "Hold
your trowel different way" etc.
Nor are -nen in the habit OF complaining OF
the " "forwardness Of the labor they employed.
1nilarities. They are not disturbed about what
their men do when they ara not at work They
ere Indifferent as to whether they dress better
than themselves. II the grocer finds one Of bus
worry him. and he does not talk Of the time
when employees would not dream OF dressing
Ike their masters, nor Of the uppish ways Of
modern clerks.
Kinds in dozen ways. While controlled BY the
samo economic laws, yet it is greatly complicated
BY the fact that it is q matter between WOMEN
end woman, that the contracting parties are
elsewhere, and that there still remain, to ham
per the intercourse Of employer and employed, 4
lot OF entiquated and yet powerful IDEAS
It does not give one high idea Of the busi
they fail in the only branch Of contract-making
which they have to deal with. The matter Of
employing and managing certain kind OF labor
has been left solely to them, and they seem to
aE have ~ failed ai in it, though Of course thoy
Yet men fighting against the annoyances
OF strikes, Of trades-union regula-
hons, and hundred minor ills,
have succeeded in getting along with the labor
they employ, even when It is not used for abso-
tutely necessary services, end when they have
not the stimulus women possess, whose house.
bold work has to be done somehow. It is i'm
1etatiye. Part OF it cannot be delayed. None
ot it does itself. Il masons strike, a build
bold labor admits Of no such neglect.
Certaln needs OF the household are absolute
1te1e must be cooking, and the dishes must be
washed It is hot, greasy, hand-disfguring
keep bachelor hall, summarized his experience
n n the remark that no man Of genius could wash
dshes. It is generally true, and there are also
great many fools who arc unable to do it. But
IN hot water.
The work Of house, even Of one OF people in
very moderate circumstances, has increased i'm |
mensely within half a century. It has grown ut |
ing, etc. This is inevitable. It is due to the |
growth OF civilization and higher ideas Of COM
fort There is none Of it which can be cut OF |
without cauaing greater pain than the inoonveni-
ance resulting from retaining it. The dresses OF
nchlld, in making and in washing, create twenty |
times the work they once did, but no |
mother would let her child 70 dress:
ID differently from others. Sooner all |
possible servant girl-1oub1es than thai. Each
"onan must dress like others. With an income
OF s1,No she tries to ape the drssB Of . woman
with an income Of $4,000, and then b1a1nes .
servant, who gets 500 q year, for having the
lady.
But the cAnacitr ~ xonnap n IN this ;nrrassad |
work has not Increased with che Eork itself. Il
has perhaps diminished; not that the average
nesth OF women has materially worsened, but
11a1 70 they have more claims upon their time.
Ihey must do certain amount OF yisiting-that
unnecessary sewing. It is true that their
must Is really the equivalent Of 81 think
oaght to but the last expression is imperative,
. = feminine mind when clothing is concerned
1tney must. or onght, to read, to idle,