Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-03-19
THE SERVANT
IN THE HOUSE
Twenty-Four Per Cent of Woman
Bread Winners in Domestic
Service.
THREE-FOURTHS ARE OFFENDERS
The Subject Of The Woman Wage
Esrner Of Public Interest to All.


the recently published results of the
investigation Of the United States
| Commission of Labor that il is from
the domestic servant class that the
criminal class is mostly recruited.
Under the direction of Miss Con-
yington. on behalf of the Government,
| the relation between occupation and
crime was so thoroughly investi-
gated that the enormous number of
3.229 women serving sentence for
the infringement of some law were
examined. These all belonged to the
gainful occupation class-at the time
Of SHINING they were employed ia
some wage-e arning capacity. And 81
per cent. of the number belonged to
the supposed sheltered class of house
workers. while only IL per cent. We're
from the shop factory, mill or from
trade or profession.
Twenty-four per cent. of women
bread winners in his country are
engaged in domestic service, and this
occupation furnishes 40 per cent. of
the offenders in wcman's prisons.
While % per cent. or the women
workers in mills and factories as
gan ment workers and in fur and feath-
er and the so-called sweating trades
furnish but z per cent. of the offend
ers as against the above 20 per cent.
group of walters and servants of all
classes of domestic employment.
Women engaged in trade and
transportation, office. store, tele-
phone, telegraph, made an even bet
ter showing than their sisters in
mills and work rooms, for in the
opening years of this century they
constitute ID lG per cent. OF all the
women gsinfully employed and still
only 8 per cent. of the criminals came
from their ranks. This included cash
girls and cashiers, counter girls in
shops, where temptation to appro-
pirate the pretty articles and money
was ever before them, where it is
necessary to dress well, and the
means to do so di shonestly was ever
at,hand, still that per cent. shows
pretty high moral tone in the army
of young and supposedly, in many
cases, uniformed women. For these
workers are usually nearer sixteen
than twenty-five years of age.
Now who is to blame that the rec
ord as ainst the servant in our home
is so black? Can ii be ours? If the
time-honored remark about Satan
finding evil for idle hands to do were
revised to read idle brains" it might
give an inkling of the source of this
criminal stream. Anyone who has
worked with her fingers in the duties
pertaining to house work can testify
that the brain is very busy quite in
dependent of the attention put upon
the task in hand. The never-ending
task OF dish-washing requires very
little brain to do properly.
One may sweep beautifully, and
not have given more than ten out of
thousand of the thoughts that
coursed through her mind while
sweeping, to that task. Most of the
DIRE ariness of sewing is, that sad
th 1ughts run riot while the needle
flies Men cannot be supposed to
have discovered this, but any woman
will say it is so, and is it not charged
that sewing societies do more harm
in many cases than they do good,
because gossip is rift when women
are making garments. Gossip and
idle OF evil thought is very near
akin.
Nov, this being the case, what
has the servant in the house TO
think OF that is uplifting7 She is
nroho bfx, o,,+ 20 f~or, bor far,sl.v
She may be uneasy about some old
mother or sick child that needs deli
cacies. She may have ranking in
her mind some unjust comment from
the head of the house, some rudeness
from the pert young master, which
she dare not openly resent and which,
therefore, is thought of the more
Maybe she has had the cheerful idea
that she would get OF early. and some
plan or thoughtless change of plan
on the part of the mistress has wiped
out that hoped-for relief.
She broods while she works, night
comes. Can she forget in meeting
friends, noC many evenings out of the
seven. can shs go to her room and
read and thus forget. Well. if she
had been trained to find enjoyment,
which is doubtful, in this direction,
the chance is she will either be told
to put out her light, or to come do
something for some member of the
household-as long as a servant is
ithin reach most people think they
can be called upon to serve.
The servants have some time off,
of course. Where can they GO
dance halls, to sit on park benches,
stand on street corners, to entertain
their friends. What q dreary thing
his must be. Are not the poor girls
thrown into temptation just in this
way, but there are few kitchens
where q servant woul be willing to
see her friends, even if the mistress
permitted. Into the discontented
mind some evil seed is sure to tall,
and the sight of happiness in the
family she serves and yet has no part
in, certainly will not check the ger
min alton into evil deeds-the eternal
'why" is ever before this poor toiler.
Why have these people liberty,
love and comfort. while she has none
Of these. So the next step she re sch-
es out s5r what she thinks maybe
viii give her also life-and falls.
None of this contrast is before
the Office girl long enough to harm,
and in the accomplishment of the du-
ties falling to her in her trade or pro-