New-York tribune., 1901-03-23
DOMESTIC HELP PROBLEM.
WoMENs EDUCATIONAL AND INDUS
TRIAL UNION, OF BOSTON, SEEKING
A SOLUTION OF THE QUESTION

A practical effort to solve the vexed servant and
mistress problem is being made by the Domestic
Reform League Of the Womens Educational and
Industrial Union, of Boston. 1t has sent
womens clubs for wide distribution a circular let
ter asking cooperation and containing questions
under two heads-'-Can the Household Employe Be
Made TO Desire Training for Herseif?' and rs 1t
Possible TO Hire a Part of the Housework Done by
Persons Living Outside the House?"
Under the first Of these heads the following state
nnents made:
One Of the first remedies for the domestic SER
wee situation that suggests itself is that of a
training school where houSeworkers may be trained
TO do housework.
This experiment has been tried in a number of
cities, and in the majority of cases it has been
found that houseworkers themselves do de-
sire this training. The girls who come to train
ing school for houseworRers are in general very
young or in some way deficient, and they usual
These being the facts. the question naturally
arises: What inducements can De offered house
workers that shall be so strong as 10 cause them
to come voluntarily, to training school for house
some practical means TO suggest that the following
questions are asked:
provided competent trained service could be had
would you be willing TO pay for ii any more than
you now pay for household service?
Instead OF giving higher wage for trained ser
vice would you prefer 10 give certain privileges.
such as shorter hours or definite free time each
what inducements would you suggest that
should lead household employees themselves to de-
sire training for the sake OF its ultimate advan-
tages?"
Under the second head. regarding the hiring of
One way sometimes suggested to solve the do
mestic service problem is TO have all of
come by the hour day.
OF course, such an arrangement could not be
brought about suddenly: il must come, If IL comes
al al, as a result of slow change and growth and
could only be perfected by adapting houses and
methods Of housework meet the change In its
nnal development ii would have to he accompanied
rent Of the rossii1iIities Of nrenarinp food n pF
the house, and by less rigid adherence customs
ana fixed rules within the household.
IL Is hardly probable that at any time. so long as
the individual home stands, the individual house
Keeper could in every instance hire all her house
hold labor done by persons living outside her house
Particularly where there are small children in the
family IL would probably be necessary to hire some
one who should live in the house But is It not pos
by employees living in the house might be done
equally well by persons coming in by the hour or
be possible TO do away with the services one
two, provided their work could be supplemented
by labor from outside? And in time might not the
employer Of the general housework girl find it sim
pier, with the help Of outside labor laundries and
orally incompetent and irritating Jack Of all
not the want Of some one competent to answer
the be' and relieve the housekeeper from the ne
eessty of being tied down 10 her house al al hours
be met by hiring some young and intelligent person
for example, some student-to come in for stated
hours Of the day to do this task?
Under the existing of affairs the actual cost
Of labor hired from outside would be greater than
Is the cost where employees live in the house. How
ever, the present expense would be much decreased
Of food and the washing OF clothes outside the house
TO warrant their being done on larger scale than
at present Also, the apparent difference in cost of
laborers living in the house or hired from outside IS
greater than the actual difference: for the living
expenses Of an employe IN the house are generally
overlooked, and the cost of wear and tear for
which she Is responsible is commonly disregarded
Both living expenses and wear and tear would be
diminished. at least in part. entirely eliminated
n the case Of eEnploye coming in by the hour
Even were the enploye to in by the day, lv-
ing expenses would be reduced and and tear
would be lessened, because il is assumed that her
work would be increasingly supplemented by out
side agencies. such as 1aundres and prepared food
Following this is series Of exhaustive questions
which embody nearly all the difficulties in en-
poyng household help.