Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-01-14
DOMESTIC DIFFlCULTIES.
Competent and Honest Servants Needed
10 Make Housekeeping Popular.

To the Editor of The EVENING STAR:
A reporter In last Saturdays STAR says that one
whom he interviewed complained that Washington
people were driven into boarding houses because
house rents were too high for men OF moderate
means. Ii is very true that great many people
In Washington are ''driven into boarding houses
probably larger proportion of its citizens than
any other city In the whole country can show-but
experience and observation will aSCribe this state
or things, we think. TO another cause than high
house rent and that Is to the difficulty OF getting
good and honest servants To keep house with
dishonest servants is more expensive than paying
high rents To keep house without any servant Is
apt 10 be very expensive to the health, especially
TO the young mother whose baby may require at
tentl0n at the same moment that the memorable
dOor-beil Is ringing its most frantic peal We know
women who have tried housekeeping under the
conditions which exist here until they were quite
willing 10 accept seat at anOther'S table and a
shelter In some other persons house with humble
gratitude. And I'm many cases there is very good
reason for gratitude for the comfort attainable In
6oardlng-houSeS In this city, where the compe T.
ton Is so great that only the excellent succeed in
mNking living. Between the good boarding
noases, the numerous restaurants, and the caterers
who carry In hot tin-Ett chen the well-cOoked food
TO every house that asks for Them there is prOba-
bly, n' city in this country better fed the amount
OF money given than mis-.
Yet III spite OF all these convenient ways of living
In other peoples houses there remains q class
who musa have their own house whatever the con-
dltlons- While the answer to all applications To
boarding and lodging houses Is 1--WE don't take
children tdose who have them must hunt for
houses To live In, and we see no alienation for the
parents but TO seek TO establish better reputation
for Young America by insisting ON more orderly
ana quiet behavior In the children. AS the case
now often IS. none but parents can be expected to
tolerate them Apartment houses are being erected
in this city, as well as In many Others, and living
In nat, or living in rooms, partly aleviates the
servant dficulty. Although sympathlzing with
the lady who advertised last winter In THE STAR
that she would rent her rooms for "any legitimate
purpose under heaven except light housekerp ping,
We Know that light housekeeping can be done In
rooms neatly, and be comfortable TO all parties
The present abundance OF canned food makes
cooking light, while gas stoves &C.. and perhaps
In the near future electricity certainly promise
remove the dirt and smut which has hitherto
attended the appropriation Of food. The expense
attending the'care or pavementS, and the nuisance
OF he doOr-bell. are all saved TO the dweller in
fats or rooms. The abundance OF laundresses In
Washington has banished the horror OF washing
day TO most hOuSekeepers here. Whether American
ingenuity viii overcome the domestic difficulty
BY contrtvances which will enable 10 do without
servants altogether, or whether our industrial
training and moral ingenuity will succeed In pro-
ducing good and honest servants is an Interesting
but as yet an unsolved problem. H.C.I.
Congressional Committees are Too
Large.
To the Editor of THE EVENING STAR:
Is there not a reform needed in the matter OF
the committees OF Congress? The committees of
the Senate generally comprise nine or eleven men,
bers, and those II the House OF Representatives
thirteen or fifteen. These numbers are entirely
too large and the committees are too unwieldy
Inc result Is tnat IL Is Oten dlfficult to procure
the attendance OF quorum, and important bust
ness must frequently be postponed and finally be
neglected by reason OF such failure on the part of
members to attend the sessions This failure is
not generally the result OF negligence or careless
ness on the part OF members, but Is the natural
consequence OF conflicting duties when the same
members are on several committees whose meet
lngs are contempOraneous. IL may be said that
this difficulty Is in a measure obv1ated by the
division OF the several committees into Subcom-
mittees OF three or five persoas. Experience shows
that this IS not the case. And, moreover, this
very fact OF subdivision OF the several committees
INTO subordinate committees Is proof that the
comnitteeS themselves too large and is In
Itself violation OF the trust reposed in the whole
committee, and which the committee has no right
10 delegate.
Lawyers know that the best courts are those
which are composed of three or five Judges; and
the same reasons would dictate that legislative
committees should be no larger. When a court or
cate; IL openly or cOvertly delegates It's function TO
some one or more members; and the caprceS and
the dangers OF the One-Inan power are very much
greater In The larger than in the smaller organiZ-
tlon ne last senate had forty -eight committees,
OF which thirty-nine were the regular standing
committees Several OF the committees could well
have been abolished. and their duties confided tO
other committees or the body; and each Commit
Tee should De composed only OF three members.
and as far as possible no Senator should be placed
on TWO committees. In the House Of Representa-
ives, nve members might well be assigned to each
conmittee-Seyen possibly TO a few OF the more
Important ones; and as there are nearly sixty
committees and nearly three hundred Represent a.
tiyeSs, each member could be assigned to one com
inlltee, AMI only 10 one. IL does not require much
/ tholSnt 10 perceive how much better committee
work, and the work OF each House, could be done
under this system than under the present ARRANGE
ment. Certainly for the continuance on tine nres
ent arrangement no good reason can be suggested
NJ