, 1891-09-02

ohAy
Gated the oue.tIon-Turn on the Light.
Especial Correspondence.l
The literary world is again struggling
with the working woman" question,
domestic service" factory life," and
other phases of the one muddle c~iviliza-
ton has whirled itself into. During the
last half century, at short intervals,
epidemics of concern on these questions
have come up, run their course, and
passed away, leaving no noticeble re-
suits. For the questions cannot be
settled yet; the time has not come.
But the ever present troubles in the in
dustrial field compel the attention of
thoughtful men and women, while they
cannot hope to dispose of them; and so
the agitation GIBBS and flows. In this
western city the daily papers ave been
soliciting letters from women who hire
and women who are hired with some
interesting but contradictory conse-
quences. No two stories agree; but there
is a reason for this. Neither under
stands the others position, or even her
own
Before the age of steam a working
woman's question" was never dreamed
of-scarcely a woman question" except
as a fantastic idea in the brain of some
rank. Women had no place but home,
and within its domains nearly all the
wants of the members were provided
for. Blu machines followed steam, and
the factory disposed of the machines.
Whether willing or not, women were
forced out of their seclusion to become
adjuncts to them.
The advancement of science, the high
er enlightenment of the age and the
newer demands of humanity consequent
upon these ave seemed to plunge socie-
ty into a chaotic and perplexed state.
We are, in fact, in a confused condition
a transitional period in which remains
of feudalism, the customs of the present
commercial system and the faint fore
shadowings of some higher order are
strangely intermingled.
Out of this confusion questions arise
which are naturally taken up by the
press and rostrum, dealt with by peri
odicals on a more or less broad and
philosophic plane, by the daily journals
as every day facts which exist and must
be told of, with some vague purpose of
alternating miseries but not of changing
conditions. Still they furnish the data
for all discussions; philosophers must
AVE commonplace facts to classify be-
fore they can elaborate a theory of 80
ciety. The petty troubles of mistress
and maid that a recently taken so
much space in the papers are important
factors in the great industrial problems.
The %thronging of women toward fac
tories, the consequent destruction of
homes in the old sense, the effect on the
wages and employment of men, the
probable effect of this great strain of
exhaustive toll of the mothers of the
race on future generations, are other
factors and must all be taken into con
sideration.
And on the other hand there is the de-
mand for more of labor, the
opening Of the gates of every field of in
dustry that women are capable or can
become capable of filling; the demand
for greater freedom, more Independence
broader views, more usefulness for WON
en-. What has been gained for women
has, 30 far, only brought more complica-
tions into social and industrial questions;
various interests seem to clash terribly.
But we must remember that we are in a
transitional state; that out of it all will
come some more harmonious adjustment
of human affairs, and that i. is not a
wise plan to patch up old institutions
and alleviate the misery therefrom, but
rather to work and hope for new and
better arrangements.
The subject of domestic service, seem
ingly small, is really very important. So
much of daily happiness depends on the
work and arrangement of the home.
The mistress who complains of in
competent, lazy, saucy %ervants nave
no doubt a real grievance, and again the
girls who do their Homework are justi-
fed in complaining of tyranny and
heartlessness on the part of employers,
and of the general discomfort, loneliness
and WEAKNESS of their position. The ac-
tual trouble is that their relations are
out of joint with the times. Domestic
service is a relict of feudalism when ev-
cry household was a community in it
self. All hat was consumed by the
family was produced on the place. The
lines between classes were more strictly
drawn than now, perhaps, but the work
ers had their own social life among
themselves.
Their home and friends were there
where they lived and worked. They had
no interests elsewhere. They held a rec
ognized position with plenty of others like
them. Grown old and helpless, they could
not be cast away. The estate was their
home as long as they lived. Today the
average household contains no place for
servants. Many of the household wants
are provided for outside-in those very
factories that seem at once a curse and a
blessing. The inevitable work can be
performed usually by one or two women
in ten or at most twelve hours of the
day. No one in the house wants those
women after their work is done. No
body has any particular interest in them
or a social taste in common with them.
And yet custom has it that these women
are asked to come and live in the house,
to be always on hand when needed and
out of the way when not.
Their presence, as the constant pres
ence Of any stranger must be, is a nui-
sance; their personalities, tastes and
society are disagreeable, and in the en-
ployer's house there is no ROOM, no pro-
vision made for them. 1t is a situation
that makes the mistress irritable, domi-
neering and intolerant. But the servant
is no better off. She is asked to leave
such home as she may have had, all her
own society, her own interests, all former
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