The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-11-14
PRICE 5 CENTS.
CORRESPONDENCE.
We do not hold ourselves responsible for the
statements made. or opinions expressed by our
cores ndents.

statements MADE or OPINIONS expressed bs our
correspondents.
The woman's side of the Question.
Mr.. EDITOR: | have read with
great interest, and with an interest
born of anxiety all the discussions
on the labor question. l can see
there that the interest of every
body concerned has been consid-
cred except the interest of the
housekeeper, Now, as there seems
to be no one in the Legislature
mindful of us, 1 want to speak as IA
house wife, and ask, If the China
man is going to be deported and
not allowed to return, and If those
to be brought here are to come
only as agricultural laborers and
speedily sent away on the expira-
ton of their contracts, where are
we to get our domestic servants,
our cooks, stewards and yard boys?
| presume to speak upon the sub
ject of servants as one knowing
more of it than any member of
the Legislature, and l can say from
an experience of twenty-five years,
there are no servants in the coun-
try who can compare in excellence
with the Chinaman. In fact there
are very few of any other nation
ality here, and gradually to deport
the Chinese now here, is to raise
the wages of domestic service
above the high price it already
commands, and to bring discom-
fort into many and many house
hold. especially into those homes
where the income is lowest. 1t
would be impossible to make the
Portuguese take the place of tho
Chinese in the kitchen and house.
They are neither as clear nor
as honest as the Chinese. The
Portuguese men would prefer
outdoor work - the Portuguese
woman very soon comes to think
more of fashion and dress than of
work.
Before so many Chinese were in
troduced into this country, DOM
este servants were greatly inferior
to those we now have. The SER
vice was unreliable and irrespon-
sible. The housekeeper of twenty
five years ago never knew Of wax
ing liz the morning whether she
had COOK to get her breakfast, or
whether she must do it herself. AS
rule, the Chinese cook himself
now provides a substitute when he
wishes to leave his situation. They
are on the whole industrious, pa
tient and clean, and often the
faulty ways they may fall into are
more to the blame of the easy mis-
tress than of themselves they are
natural cooks, and learn our ways
with little trouble.
There has lately been scarcity
in the supply of cooks, and good
cooks are harder and harder to
obtain, and when found they are
asking higher wages. l suppose
the planter would never be at any
loss for domestic service, for he
can take some of his "agricultur-
alists" for this work, but how
about the others of us who live in
towns, and have no plantation, only
a shop, or store or office? 1t may
be | write in a woman's ignorance
of " affairs" but if the planter is to
be obliged to follow his "agricul-
tural laborer" up so close and
sharp with his photograph and his
registry and his bond, with his re-
ward for the apprehension of any
runaway, and the fine for any har-
boring of the same or the giving OF
employment to him, how is it ever
going to be possible for any weak
woman to get at him, bristling with
all these guards and defenses, to
make "a domestic servant out Of
him?
Except in the case of smuggling
y. a woman stands in wholesome awe
of the law. Now, if the laws the
legislators are just now making
are made to be kept, / forese,
nothing but shortly a great deartf
of domestic servants unless there
is door ayar for the housekeepel
in Section II, under the Specia
Residence Permit bill. do you cal
it. In this section the proper Min
lister may for cause shown by tn
person holding the permit, exteD'
the term of special residence 70
e five years.
Mr.. Editor, can you tell us,
there CLEAN of hope there for tn
! housewife? To one woman, at leas
it does seem as though the subJeo
Of domestic service for whole n:
ton, might be of lmportanc
enough to receive consideration !
. settling the labor question. No GU
side thing has so much to do wit
: the peace of the family as goo
E service. and the household servic
comes nearer to the heart of th
4 housewife than plantation labo
We have no voice in the Legisl
ture-" we haven't come to tia;
yet" Who will speak for us?
HoUsEK EEpER