The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-05
ADDRESSING DoMEsTICs.

1t Is one of the most extraordinary in
conslstencies of democratic society
that the dressmaker, the mlliner. the
shop-woman may demand a certain re-
spectrum treatment, while the waitress
and the cook must accept the treatment
accorded only to menials Much of
this is explained by the traditions Of
feudal servlity, from which nearly all
classes of labor, except household SER
vice. have been emancipated A deeper
cause, however, is the liking Of human
nature to command its interiors. Wo-
men especially do not want intelligent
equals to serve them; they want an in
ferlor subordinate servant not an
employe. Compare the attitude of the
business man towards an employee, and
the attitude Of the mistress towards the
servant. Because there is this indefin-
able social stigma attaching to service,
intelligent self-respecting women shun
it; because self-respecting women shun
1t, the social stigma increases. Cause
and effect are reciprocal. The fact of
social inferlority is expressed in many
petty ways-by the use of the Christian
name, by the requirement Of livery
when not on duty, by servile manner,
and, more than all, by the social isoa-
ton. Every other class has its amuse-
ments, every other girl her opportunity
for suitable marriage; but the maid
servant must go out Of doors to be en-
tertained or to be courted Some of this
is due to the low social standard of do
mestics as a class; but much of 1t Is at
tributed to the notions of the mistress.
The social ban extends to every stratum
of society; the petty tradesban will
marry a sewing-girl, a shopg a tall
Dress, but not "hired" girl; the work.
ing-girls' clubs admit all kinds of re-
spectacle women to their membership,
except the domestic. Socially the do
nestle is tabooed, ignored, sighted by
every class except the day-laborer.
We are accustomed in the nited
States to think that social distinctions
are of consequence only among the
classes where wealth breeding and ed
ucation set the lines of demarcation.
The fact is, however, that the lower in
the scale of intelligence, the more
sharply marked are the lines, and the
more conventional the judgment. Who
is to change all this? Doubtless, the
maid herself, by efficiency. dignity and
good sense can climb to the upper
grade of her own class and may attain
to the society of sewing-girls and work.
of established position and
reputation More could be done by the |
intelligent mistress towards elevating |
the equality and character of domestic |
service, by respectful recognition of the
maids individuality and inspirations.
1t can cost the mistress, whose social |
position is known quantity, nothing |
but sympathetic appreciation, nothing |
but the effort of putting herself in the |
other woman's place. to help the maid |
to a place somewhat above the lowest |
in the social scale Would it in any
wise lower the dignity of the mistress to |
call the maid Mrs" or "Miss?" Is |
there any logical reason why the cap |
and the apron should not be removed as |
soon as the work Is done? The police |
man, the conductor, the porter and the |
waiter doff their uniforms as soon as |
work is done: yet some mattresses re-
qure the maid to wear her livery on the
street as a sort of a badge of servitude.
But more CALLING than all is that atti-
tude which is commonly called keep |
ing her in her place" by which it is
meant to say: Let no one suppose
that this person has anything in COM
mon With met" The atmosphere Of
is more intolerable than
any livery or any cognomen. This at
mcsphere is created by the employer,
and can onIy no diSpelled nv her IF
the employer treats the domestic re-
spectfully. very shortly ether people
will do likewise, One maid objected Sc
riously to being called by her first name
by every butchers and grocer's boy;
her mistress, approaching this sense of
referred to her in the pres
ance of tradesmen as Miss -"
Within three months the maid was
Miss" to all the people with whom she
lealt.-Forum.