The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-10-19
THE '|VEXED" QUESTION AGAIN OBTRUDES.

them upon the scent OF the bogus aspirant
after social distinction. and runs her TO
earth 1t is the boast Of the lowest of the
cult that he or she e" knows a real lady or
gentleman " wherever found.
They amt got money, maybe. but they
are the real qualityp' was the verdict OF
a colored man of the old fashioned type.
when twitted with the poverty Of his en-
pIoyers.
To this subtle something they strive to
describe by quality they render involun-
taH-y homage. The woman who has been
used from childhood to managing a stan OF
domestics does not fear to speak kindly
and courteously to them. She is too sure
of her standing to dread the loss OF It. IL
is the parvenu who betrays by rudeness or
familiarity her ignorance of the unwritten
laws regulating intercourse with interiors.
And since there are millions of parvenus
in America, they have debased the basal
principles of domestic service.
:; 4
Pdvs Penalty of False Standards.
Like our bright, Travelled correspondent,
1 could write on and indefinitely with
out treating the vexed question - in all
it's ramihcadons.
For the present I content myself with
answering in part some of the queries ac-
dressed to me in the letters here published
J..
her maids that their works and ways are
not wholly satisfactory is paying the pen
atty of the false standards set by the mass
of her fellow housekeepers. If all were
firm in establishing and maintaining bust
ness methods " in the household, the evil
would cure itself in a few years. Johns
clerk knows that he must obey rules. or be
discharged; furthermore, that If sent about
his business for neglect of duty, inefficiency,
and impertinence, he will find great diff
Guilty in securing another situation.
>. The scarcity of maids of all work is
but one more result of the rage for spe-
cializlng - which is a sign of the times
1t is no longer true that " one man in
his time plays many parts" if the parts
have to do with wage earning. Each bit
of the social and commercial machinery
that carries progress forward has it's work
man, whose duty 1t is to do that, and that
alone Domestic service has caught the
contagion.
3. The woman who asks II We house
mothers have not ourselves to blame for the
existing irregularities in what should be
well ordered system puts her finger upon
what I have long believed to be the root OF
the evil in this whole matter. We az an order
are not true to ourselves and to one another.
When we learn by long and bitter trial OF
the wrong way that we must stand by our
sisters, and all work together; when each
recognizes and acts upon the simple fact
that If she takes a domestic out of her
neighbours house without her knowledge
and consent; if she engages one who has
been dismissed for just cause from her last
place without hearing and weighing the
reasons for that discharge; if she condones
insolence, dishonesty, and wastefulness as
reported by the former employer, she will
lose the respect of the comm unity, we
shall see the dawn of a better day for
the perplexed mistress and the establish
ment of just and practicable code for our
employees.
How this is to be brought about, naturally
and without violence, is a problem I submit
to intelligent readers and sufferers from
" the vexed question"