The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-03-19
DOMESTIC SERVICE.
DIFFICULTIES THEREIN WHICH MUST
BE uPRoOTED.
The One Employment In which tho La
borer Owns Not Moment OF Time
Privileges and Rights-To Secure Intelli'
gence 1t Must Be Respected.

gence 1t Must Be Respected.
Most women will tell you that their
maids make demands unsuitable To their
station in life, and that with every com
fort supplied them, kindness and consid-
Grafton constantly shown them, they ex-
hibit antagonism and ingratitudo toward
their employers. Few of them are faith
full, few of them well trained, none OF
them equal to the emergencies Of house
keeping without constant supervision
Yet whatever the fault OF the individual
servant may be, she caif find employment
usually with little difficulty and wages
out of all proportion TO her worth. The
demand for good services being larger
than the supply, this state of things Is
likely 20 grow steadily worse until tho
remedy is found, and the discussion of the
problem Is general, though the different
theories evolved are always ignored when
the housekeeper finds a servant she can re-
tain, and no effort is continued against
the next emergency. Women are suffering
kcenly from this state Of things, and their
sufferings will increase until they are
forced TO make % steadfast effort TO lind
the root of the difficulty
IL is the one employment in which ev-
cry part OF tho laborer's life, night and
day, Is under the control of the employer.
There is no hour of time, no portion OF
space that belongs to the employee. "A
kind mistress may accord them privileges,
but intelli, Z, mt, self respecting women re-
quiro rights.
In almost any other business the en-
ployee Is able TO turn her back on the
scene of her labors when the work of the
day Is finished, and the remaining time Is
her own. It may be that the time is un-
reasonably short, the surroundings un'
pleasant, but they are the abSolute proper
ty of the worker, and she knows that
there is always possibility that increased
ability will secure higher pay and more
leisure, giving her greater opportunity for
that pursuit OF happiness" which is her
most precious right, and which invariably
includes social intercourse.
Domestic service alone denies this right
Good housekeepers do not desire or allow
their servants to enjoy IL In their homes.
The women have no homes to which they
can take friends, and IL sufficiently intel
ligent TO enjoy music, lectures, the theater
and valuable companionship they would
not be allowed TO avail themselves of the
privileges. II they are not intelligent, as
have already said, they cannot relieve
housekeepers of tho pressure under which
they are sinking.
Ono constantly hears condemned the de-
mands of tho servants for opportunities TO
indulge tastes "out of keeping with their
positions" Yet no aspiration which is
elevatng In tendency should be 'out OF
keeping" with any position. The existing
system makes any desire for intellectual
-, i.to
will get no relief from their difficulties
until they recognize that such system Is
radically wrong. When reviewing the
matter, they steadily refuse 20 see that the
change must be from the foundation, and
that none of the expedients proposed touch
tho root of the difficulty. Atpresont IL the
true cause is brought TO their notice they
Immediately explain how the details OF
their lives are such that no change, under
any circumstances can possibly be made,
ignoring, as all unframed minds Insist on
doing, the fact that If the principle of O
system bo correct the details will slowly
work out Alright. Otherwise no amount ol
ability i'm handling detail will avail in the
long run.
Evolution must always DO slow and
gradual, and should women make a con
certed movement to free domestic service
from those conditions which now put q
social stigma upon it IL would be some
years before they could hope TO place it on
a basis that would induce women OF
reason and intelligence To enter it in large
numbers. In the end the housekeepcr's
relief must come through such change,
and her only choice lies between Fastening
or retarding IL.
For her TO consider whether or not she
likes the form of change proposed is sonse'
less, for whether sho desires 1t or not there
is ample indication that it must come.
Ono mistake many woman makes In
thinking Of this altered plan of housewors
is TO imagine that all the details of heI
effort must be radical changes from this
present system. Sho recognizes that some
of the work must be planned on a CO.
operative basis, and tho conditions of CO.
operation preclude her indulging I'm GER
tain personal eccentricitios Of taste, SO tina,
she rebels against the experiment But II
tho word concentrated" were substituted
for cooperative" her prejudice would be
less reused. She is not likely to reason
that all concentration is cooperative
Our conservative ancestors thought that
1t would take more brains TO control the
range than could bo supplied for the occa-
sion. Tho modern housewife must realize
that the sooner she places domestic service
on n plane where IL Is generally acknowl-
edged that il takes brains to carry on the
trnde tho sooner she will induce intelli-
gent women TO enter IL.
The housekeeper Is frequently over
whelmed with despair at tho apparent
hopelessness Of her outlook. She looks
with a certain envy on those who have not
her cares and worries. But she would feel
she had no cause for such envy could she
once know the heaviness of heart with
which those who have been laid aside
from active service realize that they Bee
the way clear TO bcttering the conditions,
that they really know part of what Is
radically wrong, and yet perceive that
they will not be listened To, cannot per-
suade one acquaintance TO try. even fee
lily, to work toward the solving of the prob
lem. There is "a deep pain in feeling tho
helplossness OF the thcorist in the face OF
the prejudice and shortsightednoss of tho
active strugglcr. Ii must be that zach
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