The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-07
GENTLEMENs GOODS.

ly so interesting as then, as her sub
ject was largely statistical. Briefly
stated, her possible solution" lay in
the specialization of women's work, and
was based on a series of experiments
conducted in 1897 by the Boston branch
of the Collegiate Alumnae Association,
of which Mrs George was member.
The possessors of the house, said
she, divide themselves into provisions
for cleanliness, for food and for COM
fort, the former being the form of
! household work to lend itself first to
specialization. Cooked foods afford
another opportunity of organization,
and this offers q means of escape from
part of the discomfort caused by the
domestic problem. She compared the
cost of home and purchased foods, such
as bread, ham, beef, chicken, chicken
salad. chicken croquettes, cake and
| pie, drawing therefrom the conclusion
that the prices of the two Appropriated
where people were accustomed to buy
ing the article that where the price
was greater the quality was better, and
that as the sale of cooked foods in
creases, fictitious prices in the stores
are lessened. AS surely as we now
buy cheese and butter, the time will
come when the housekeeper will turn
to shops to supply her table"
Prof. Cummings viewed the subject
spoke at length of the family as the
ultimate unit of life, the institution
from which had evolved all the other
institutions of modern civilization.
Cooking and housekeeping are about all
that is left of the purely domestic
While the personal and cooperative
relations continue in the home, the i'm
personal and competitive prevail else
where; what is called the domestic pre-
blem is in part brought about by the
invasion of the home by the factory re-
lations
AS remedies, the speaker, suggested
first the minimizing of the need of do
mestic service. We must accept the his
torical tendency and change to the fac
tory basis, permitting all possible forms
of labor to organize on trades union
principles. In the second place, strict
business relations must be observed,
hours holidays, ETC., being as strictly
marked as with car conductors.
Prof. Cummings mentioned profit
sharing as a possible remedy, as it led
to a better understanding between mis-
tress and maid. Still another sugges-
ton was to abandon all familiarities
of speech, caps, gowns, the calling by
first names, etc, but this, he thought,
hardly went to the root.
Domestic discomfort is q part of the
general discomfort which women are
ness among them as among men, and
what is not generally understood is, the
maids want about the same things as
their mistresses, but this restlessness
is a sign of progress.
The true and permanent solution OF
the domestic problem lies in the moral
izing of the relations between mistress
and maid, when the former shall look
upon the latter as an integral part Of
the household and a fellow citizen.
(Applause.)
The last act of the meeting was the
adoption Of the following resolutions,
which were presented by Mrs. Electa
N. Walton, and will be sent to the
president, to the United States repre-
sentative at the peace conference at
The Hague, and to the car:
Resolved, that We commend the ac-
ton of our government in sending rep
resentatives to the peace conference
called by the ear at The Hague, and
that we are hopeful that the conference
VIII prove means of fastening the
time wheE nations shall have war no
more
Resolved. that we urge all men and
women. individually and in organiza-
lions. to use every means in their power
TO arouse and strengthen public senti-
ment in favor Of peace and the estab-
lishment of tribunals for settling in
ternational difficulties, with a view to
the final adjustment of all such differ
enceS in the spirit of mutual accom-
modatton. and by a resort to reason in
stead OF to force of arms