Thomas County cat., 1886-11-25
SERVANTS WAGES.

A Plan Which Would Improve the Con-
dition of Both Mistress and Maid.
1t must be admitted that all dealings
with female house servants are in
trusted to women. They, then, are re-
sponsible for the prices paid for the
work they have to offer; and it is
equally clear that they are paying for
it at a ratio with which nothing else in
the labor market is comparable. Are
female servants scarce? Certainly not.
Look at the crowded benches in our
so-calied Intelligence (Heaven save
the mark!) offices" glance at the long
line Of steerage passengers as they de-
file into Castle Garden from the
crowded decks of our emigrant ships.
Hundreds of women and girls are
fastening to our shores from every
part of Europe. asking for places in
our kitchens. Is it that most of these
are ignorant and valueless to the
housekeeper who must have skilled la
Dor? No. Ignorant most of them
certainly are; yet the Irish girl who, if
employed in Dublin, would consider
herself we'll paid for her labor by flO.
or at most t12, per annum, no sooner
presses her foot upon American soil
than she demands $500.
More than any class of women in the
world. if we except the indolent Asiat-
ic, do American women need servants.
We have not the robust frame nor the
sturdy strength of the British matron
or the German Haustrdu. Our climate
is eXhausting. our lives are varied and
excited, our frames are slight and our
nerves weak. We can do much with
our heads-much planning and think
ing, much arranging and directing. To
supplement this we need the strong
arms, the tireless backs of the peas
ant women of the Old World. If we
were wise and sensible enough to pay
them moderately but fairly, to make
them dress suitably and live plainly,
in every case where we now
can have but one pair OF hands
to assist in the household work.
while we make shift to do the
rest. we might have two. Yes. there
is no question that if the maid-of-all-
work, who now receives sixteen dollars
per month. and is fed like one of the
family" were to receive the same
wages that an English housekeeper
would pay. to eat what English ser
wants are given to eat instead of our
broils and roasts and dainty luXuries
in the way of desserts. the jaded fe-
male head of our smaller American
households would find that she could
'keep two girls" without adding dol
lar to her yearly expenses.
And why can not this be dones Is
it not positive wrong that it should
not be done? The poor of Europe are
crowding to our shores. demanding
work, and there is none for them; beg
ging for food and shelter. and suffering
misery and lapsing into sin for want
of decent homes and honest labor. Are
not our women blind to their duty in
giving one what is abundant for two,
in keeping up an unnatural and un-
reasonable scale of prices for the ben
eft of few? We have not waited for
our employees to press the boycott upon
us; we have boycotted ourselves.
Without reason, without outside press
ure, in defiance of common sense, and
to their detriment and ours, we insist
upon state of affairs that is sarcasm
upon our judgment and convincing
proof that, whatever we may attain to
in the future, men are very right yet
in saying that we lack business knowl-
edge and capacity. and show ourselves
singularly rnintelligent in regard %
the conduct Of affairs.-AtlasstI