Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-12-09
No end to the variety of Christ
mas slippers at Penhallegon's
Servants Wages,

II must be admitted that all dealings
with female house servants are entrust-
ed to women. They. then are response
bic for the prices paid for the work they
have to offer; and it is equally clear
that they are paying for it at the ratio
with which nothing else in the labor
market is comparable. Are female serv-
ants scarce? Certainly not. Look at
the crowded benches in our so-called
intelligence Heaven save the mark!]
Offices" glance at the long line of steer
ace passengers, as they defle ut 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
nlaoes in our kitchens, Is il that most
Of these are ignorant, and valueless to
the iiousekeeper who must have skilled
labor? No. Ignorant most of them
certainly are, and many seem incapa-
bic of learning. yet the Irish girl who,
Il employed in Dublin, would consider
herself well paid for her labor by f10,
or at most fl2, per annum. no sooner
presses her foot upon American soil
than she demands SZUO.
More than any class of women in the
world, if we except the INDECENT Asatic,
do American women need servants.
We have not the rubust frame nor the
sturdy strength of the British matron or
the German HanSfr0u. Our climate is
exhausting, our lives are varied and ex-
citing, our frames are slight, and our
nerves weak. We can do much with our
heads, much planning and thinking,
much arranging and directing. To sup-
nlement this we need the strong arms,
the tireless backs, of the peasant women
of the old world. If we were wise and
sensible enough to pay them moderate
" but fairly, to make them dress suita-
Div and live plainly, in every case where
we now can have but one pair of hands
10 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 mad-of-all- work. who now
receives sixteen dollars per month, and
is fed like one of the family" were to
receive tine same wages that an English
housekeeper would pay, to eat what
English servants are given to eat instead
of our broils and roasts and dainty lux
urieS in the way of desserts, the faded
female head of our smaller American
households would find that she could
keep two girls without adding dol
lar to her yearly expenses.
And why cannot this be donep Is it
not positive wrong that it should not
be done? The poor of Europe are
crowding our shores, demanding work,
and there is none for them; begging 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 unreasonable scale
Of prices for the benefit of few? We
have not waited for our employees to
impress the boycott upon us; we have
boycotted ourselves. Without reason,
without outside pressure, in defiance of
common sense, and to their detriment
and ours, we insist upon Il state OF af-
fairs that is 2 sarcasm upon our iudg-
ment and Il convincing proof that,
whatever we may attain to in the fut-
ure, men are very right vet in saying
that we lack business knowledge and
capacity, and show ourselves sin gularly
nnsIgent in regard to the conduct
| Vi affairs. NOUember atlantic.