The St. Louis Republic., 1903-10-25

. : At least ten actual wording =
Q hours are REQUIRED. No callers on 0
e donestics allowed. Telephone is not =
. to be used BY servants except on q
= employer business =
9 !. Domes.lcs shall not be permit q
9 ted 10 wash and iron their oSn q
O clothes in the house OF their en- .
. pIoyer.
. 9. Wages to be determined solely q
= by agreement between employer and 9
. smploye. No minimum wage for =
= apprentices. y
= g . . 9 = 8 . . = = Q <%<< . 3
EEPUBLIC SPECIAL.
Boston, Oct. 24.-Into the burning tor -
it breakinE?) house-servant question trades
unionism has driven Its entering wedge,
In the West there have been several at
tempts to make the kitchen tho ally OF
the workshop bit It is in the conserva-
tive East that the alliance promises tc
remain a permanent factor.
An attempt 10 form a national union Of
houseWorkers vas made two years ago
by Miss Sophie Becker OF the Boot and
shoe Makers Union.
In Wisconsin the kitchen organizing
delegate has recently brought temporary
panic 20 housewives. But these move
gueuts have not done much except 10 give
the professional hunorlst fresh stock.
They we're not the legitimate outgrowth
Of the economic tendency Of the time.
In Holyoks. Mass. the gauntlet has a.
last been squarely thrown by the forTna-
ton OF a house servants' union 'oiticiaiIy
known as household employes) affiliated
with the Federation OF Labor.
- 4 charter has been granted, officers have
lheen elected and rules adopted which are
intended to bring every kitchen IN the
Paper City under the unions oonina-
ton. The president OF the Holyoke union
IS Miss Mary Walsh and the secretary
Miss Nellie Lynch.
II Is not an idle fancy OF some perni-
cious theorist, but the natural ouI6ro" III
OF the spirit OF the times
The movement toward unionlsm haS
been helped by every prominent lhNeSSt-
gator who has attempted 10 so'Ve ''ie
great American problem
SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY.
The first authority. perhaps. in this coun-
try Is Miss Gail Laughlin. LII B.. who
was commissioned last year by the United
States Industrial Commission 10 investi-
gate the Who'll. subject OF housework in
Her deductions might be summarized in
a vord-make housework a trade.
Purely economic law she writes:
cannot be applied TO the management OF
the home. but that the principles that ap-
A pIv 10 other industries will. to some
Awhat greater extent than is now the case
As applied 20 household labor is ineHitable-
Household labor has not been put on 4
business basis. Tho relation OF employer
and employe Is still regarded as largely
q personal relation.
THE vast majority o. household work-
ers are wives. who give their services on a
purely personal basis.
This fact has had a considerable enect
in making the relations OF hired housenoll
employees with their employers more per
41nal than economic To remove the so
rial stigma from domestic service and thus
10 attract into that service a larger num-
bs- of intelligent employees household Ia
hor must be established on business
bass. -,,-- -,,
the facts stated by those who come most
closely in touch with domestic labor seem
10 establish that In a large proportion OF
cases the service rendered by domestic
emnIoves is unsatisfactory and that the
supply Of competent domestic workers Is
FAR below the demand. In short: domestic
service IS largely in the hands OF un-
trained and Incompetent workers and IS
unpopular with the majority Of intelligent
women wage eaTners
QUESTION OF WAGES.
The reason for this is not found In the
wages paid. for It Is admitted that wages
IN SornsstIc service are all things consid-
Dsred. higher than the wages paid III many
s1 more popular lines OF work. -
HKeTaEe
America are: Men. s5.o3; women. S.t2D
The reason is found in other conoitlolls
which exist and, primarily. IN ths @ IaCI
that the domestic emplOye Is looked upOH
as "a personal servant rather than as an
snploye hired 10 perform speclnc service;
Because OF this there Is no fixed sianaalo ..a.I
the employees entire time Is subject to
the control Of the employer. -
The position Of the en2l9ySs 9n2sSsni m snS tn5
her social position Is that OF an inLerlor.,
ITO improve the character Of oomsstlC
service the supply OF inteiigent N0rHeTS s,,ISEIy
of Intelligent workers conditions must oe
80 modified as to make domestic service
conform TO as great an extent as possible
10 conditions existing in other industries
and especially so modified as 10 put the
social position OF the domestic emDloye on
nar WITH that OF other wage earners.
Tn other words. domestic service must
be put on a busiEess basis.
The evils existing in domestic service
arise chiefly from the failure to apply C
such service modern economic princlples
n then we are to accept Miss Laugh
Inns conclusions. unionisln the pro1oc{{, ~ 10 o
modern economic principles, is 20 i've
permanently in the kitchen of the future
A PROFTTIOUS SPOT.
IJnionism could not have chosen n NOR
rropitious spot than HolyOke to win IL
first victory in the kitchen.
The domestic problem is serious enough
AT anv time, in any town, but the situation
in a manufacturing city, where the mill:
offer ample work for every girl over schoo
age Is worthy OF serious discussion.
or the Holyoke girls interviewed by thI
writer nearly all answered the question
Why do. girls desert housework for fac
tory work. with because l have ny
SUNDAYS and evenings TO myself. At
o'clock my work is done until the mex
MANY girls prefer the factories becaus'
they have a definite routine Some sal
that in the mills II they, work overtim'
they get extra pay DID you eyer het
Of a cook getting extra pay for a late DIN
nerT' they ask.
Most of them rake d strong point OF tn
social position Of the housemaid- II SEEM
ridiculous that the ignorant mill opera
= tives. who can hardly read and write, VIII
fsvran talk no English or worse than none
- should be socially above the cleaner, bet
ter educated, better hammered cook Tn
poorer classes prefer dirt and their owl
kind 10 cleanlir ess, servitude and stran
gers
organizer of the Household Employees I'm
ion, said she realized that there was mucl
10 be said on both SIDES.
She feared. II she could afford to keel
help. that she would be q 'fussy'' mis-
Few houssmaids do their work as hon
esfly and thoroughly as the mill girls ar
Obliged TO DO theirs she said. The CIR
In a mill who becomes slow or careless !
docked. why shouldn't the same apply {
housework7' Many girls. she said. com
planned OF too saving mistress.
Doubtless there are many such. but o'
the other hand is the cook as careful o
adsms PROVISIONS as sns ne ,I Wou,1 9e
impossible tasks and misery rations- bu
these are the exceptions.
The gorl who lives at home mty be bet
ter on in the mills. but the girl who mus
board is much better on doing nouseWorh
where she VIII have clean, warm Toot
good to9d and: in many Ii instances som
''If / had to work I would rather d