The morning journal-courier., 1908-01-01
SERVANTS HOURS
Limited Working Day for Elm ployes of the Household Not
 Impossible.
TEN HOURS QUITE ENOUGH
The Conditions Which Ought to Gov crn Just Such Kind of
 Labor.

MT. Rubinow of1 the United States Department of Commerce and Labor has just given it as his opinion that women servants have right to ten hour day and every night in the week out; in his opinion the solution of the housewife's present trouble in securing competent help lies in relinquishng her insistence upon the right to man. age her servants morals and her ac- tions outside of her manner of accom- plishing her work There is consider able truth in what MT. Rubinow says, without doubt The old-time servant who made the interests of the family her own, and who expected that her mistress would in turn concern herself with her affairs, has practically dis appeared; servants resent aggressive ly any atfrslpt, however kindly meant, to guide their way of spending their time when they are away from the house where they are employed or even during the hours when they arc not working but are under the roof of their employer
 And there is a measure of justice in this attitude Factory employees are free to come and go as they will; the domestic servant not unnaturally rea- sons that her work is quite as honor- able-and much better paid-and she cannot see why she should be treated in a manner to curtail her personal liberty She considers that interference impertinence; and, though she may be conscious that she is receiving good advice when the mistress of the house suggests that such late hours are bad for her health, her desire to be "inde- pendent is so strong that she argues herself insutcd. Young girls are as ready to take offense-and French properly be supposed to know better what is wise for herself.
 Again, definite period for the working day is by no means the who'll ly impossible idea that many old-fash- 1 toned housekeepers have thought it to be. There is a sound principle back of such a clear understanding of require ments; in the end it will undoubtedly have to be recognized Persons who 1 are unwilling to attend to the door ] bell themselves at times out of the servants hours of employment must engage other help with different hours. 1 There seems to be no blinking this ! fact. Every indication of the present condition Of domestic service points to this conclusion.
 But there is one point which the ad- vocates of the servants absolute rb- erty In all but her working hours do not take into consideration. If she is 1 to find for herself a home Independent | of the one in which she works, then 1 her employer has, in truth, no right to pry into her habits or to control her in any way But no householder can per- init a person of whom he knows noth- i ing to come into his house at any hour i of the night which she may select as
 most suitable for the end of her visits
 to the outside world. So long as q ser
 want remains under the roof of ber
 employer the latter has the inalienabIe
 right to govern her actions to a certain
 extent A contrary supposition is un- just; it is even absurd. And this mani-
 fest right of the housekeeper must he placed side by side with the right oi the servant to have time free from
 work or responsibility of any kind in
 the cndeavor to recapitulate the jus.
 claims of both sides.-Providencc
 Journal