The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-19
CARRIE CARELESS
ON THE COUNTESS OF ABERDEEN
AND THE SERVANTS CLUBS.
A Case Of Misguided Enthusiasm.
What We May Expect In the Future.


Sowing the Seed of D .scontent:
(Copyriaht)
NEW YORK, June 1S.-Were itnot that
know the countess OF Aberdeen to be at
heart one of the most lovable women in the
universe, 1 should be tempted to hold her
up to the execration Of our sex. Our
troubles with servants are already heavier
than we can bear, and now here she is de-
liberately increasing our burden by devot-
ing all her energies toward the oFEaniza-
ton Of servants clubs and servants unions.
Thanks to her misguided enthusiasm about
the matter, a number Of these clubs and
unions have been founded and are already
in full operation In England, while the inti-
mate connection Of the countess with the
weman's department. Of the worlds fair at
Chicago seems to have led to the extension
Of the movement to the WINDY City" In
course Of time suppose it will reach the
Atlantic seaboard, and I presume that
then we shall have to abandon all further
attempts to keep house, and be forced to
take en- masse to the hotels.
OF course, Lady Aberdeen proceeds on the
altogether mistaken ground that she is
ameliorating the condition OF che domestic
|
| doubt whether this Is likely to DO effected
by filing the heads Of the girls and men
whose education has been Of the most ele>
mentary character with semi-digested no.
tions OF 1bssnisn, Of art. chemistry aud
science, by inducing them 20 spend their
leisure hours in servants clubs, and by per.
suading them to form themselves into
unions and guilds.
All these methods cannot fail to Increase
the estrangsment and unfriendly feeling
that undoubtedly prevails between the en-
| ployers and the servants, between "high
! life" upstairs and "high lifen downstairs.
Imagine the pater-familias coming home 10
the evening and finding the dinner delayed
because the cook has been detained beyond
her usual hour at the club. Or picture to
yourself In sober earnest the parlormaid
refusing to answer the bell on the after
noon of your day at home because she con-
siders herself bound to attend a lee ture on
astronomy, Wagnerian music, or some
equally abstruse subject. And when,
finally, your chlldren's nurse rounds
on you and refuses to put her
! young charges to bed on the ground
| that the nurses union, to which she belongs,
prohibits its members under penalty Of fine
from doing a stroke of work or putting a
hand TO the baby after the eight-hour limit
has been passed, you feel that your CUP 10
indeed overlooking with bitterness and are
tempted, like Job. to sit down and curse.
not providence, but the Countess Of Aber-
| deem.
am perfectly aware that all these things
| have formed the theme of mirth- provoking
witticism and comic pictures in the comic
| papers Of both the new and the old world
But that which we have hitherto been
accustomed TO regard as a joke has now,
thanks to Lady Aberdeen and to her fellow
conspirators, developed into an exceedingly
grim reality which is far indeed from a
laughing matter-at least, for us. Servants
are already far too tenacious as 1t IT, of what
they are pleased to consider as their rights,
their privileges and, above all, their per-
quisites, to need any additional Indictment
thereto in the shape of unions and guilds.
| Thus the Domestic Servants Union Of Lon
don, which was founded through the instru-
mentality Of Lady Aberdeen, about four
months ago, and which now possesses
branches in almost every one Of the metro
polttan parishes, has instituted large num-
Der Of bylaws and regulations, almost
| every one OF which Is designed with the
avowed object of preventing employers
from "encroaching on the rights and privil-
eges" OF their domestics. There are rules
with regard to the number OF hours that
constitute days work. rules with regard
| to the number OF days and hours "out,"
| rules with regard 20 servants meals
and rules concerning the respective
work which may or may not be
done by tne psrlormaid, the nurse, the
cook, the footman, etc. walking dele
| gates" have not yet been appointed, but
| that ia only q matter OF hms, and suppose
1t will not be long before We have the
| privacy OF our households invaded at all
hours Of the day and night by delegates of
the Servan5s' Union, calling to ascertain
whether our nursery maids or che scullery
girl are Infringing any OF the rules aud by
| laws OF the order. Imagine walking dele
gate appearing in the kitchen OF, better
STILL in the hall Of your house on the night
| when you are giving a dinner party and
| ordering all your servants to "quit work."
IL she really desires to ameliorate the con-
dltion OF the domestic servant class, Lady
| Aberdeen would have done far better to
have directed her efforts toward rendering
| the more contented with their calling. Dis
| content on their part is at the root Of the
entire servant difficulty. Especially In this
| great and glorious country, where, theoreti-
cally at any rate, all are equal, the servants
| cannot bear the idea that they should wear
cottons when their mistresses wear silks:
that they should be forced to receive their
| visitors in the kitchen when
their employer welcome their guests
! in their salons and boudoirs.
| II only person who adopts the calling Of
| domestic service would start out with the
determination OF remaining content there
with, half of the servant difficulty would be
solved. This is difficult enough TO obtain in
the old world, and in the new 1t is well nigh
impossible.
For the major part of the domestics, par
ticularly east of the Rockylmountains, con-
sist of people who have emigrated from
Europe and who in many cases have
received their training there. These
strangers arrive here with the con-
viction that all people are not only polit~
ically, but also socially equal in the
United States, and having been oppressed
In their native country by those more adj
vantageously situated as regardssrank and
| fortune are particularly fond of airing their
new-hedged notions of personal independ-
ence and are eager to resent everything
that it can in any way be construed into an
| infringement thereon.
II, instead of encouraging our cooks, our
| chambermaids and our nurses TO learn to
play the piano, to draw and paint, or to
acquire smattering Of chemistry-which
is perilous science for cook-Lsdy Aber-
deem were to have devoted her energies
toward teaching them arts connected with
their calling, which would afterward en-
able them to demand and obtain higher
| yau aha hay ~