Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-28
WANTED: EXPERT HANDLING
OF THE SERVANT QUESTION
Haphazard Methods and Failure to R%e'
oenize the Significant Of Dometc
Labor Problem Emphasized
In Household Crisis

| hfe-and he was by many of our elders
civilization has ceased to exist. 1t could
! not, he maintained in those lines once so
gayly quoted, "do without cooks"
What therefore would he and all those
| contented Victorians on both sides of
! the Atlantic think of the world now when
household anarchy is so formidable that
not even the ambitious makers Of the
| Paris league pact dared to grapple with
its problems?
"They are the housewives" runs the
cant phrase. That she is the most direct
victim is incontestable, but it is the shal-
lowest of reasoning to deny the response
bility of the whole nation for the most
desperate of all its labor crises.
The servant shortage and the difficulty
borne by the average family in meeting
the wages demanded place in jeopardy
the most vital of all the units which com
| pose the nation--the home. Somewhere
there has been short-sightedness and
laundering, with perhaps the most signal
error arising from an attitude of mind
which is now bearing alarming fruit.
A nation habituated to exhaustive and
energetic investigation of nondomcstic
labor troubles and alertly self-conscious
of their significance has accustomed
itself to dismissng a major peril Face
tiousness has contributed its damaging
quota to the situation. The home with
out a maid has long been standardized
jest material. Doubtless its by-products
do make humorous capital, but neuras-
thenic wives do not. A great republic
tI1y cd hy hen tut
sorry spectacle.
Caroline Islanders may as yet be un-
acquainted with the use of the ballot, but
, there is no indication that their house
hold administration fails to conform to
| their other standards of living, such as
they are. Ours do. The home. which
should be the simplest of all economic
structures, has become the most battling
to regulate.
In the vanished age of Irish immigra-
tion comparatively smooth sailing pre-
vailed. Domestic workers of sufficient
intelligence to be easily drilled into COM
petence and of high standard of probity
we're available. But American miscon-
ception of the meaning which should
properly attach to the distinction "serv-
ant" soon played havoc with household
po,ity. Se!f-respect was held to be in
compatible with the title. Irish help of
the admirable old type began to be less
and less procurable.
The nationality of the migratory tides
changed. The Germans were followed by
the Swedes, the latter by the Poles. In
innumerable instances the impression
that domestic service carried with it little
Of the essential dignity of labor exerted
its disruptive influences upon the Amer-
can home.
Moral sentimentalists have naturally
dwelt extensively upon the theme of
capricious or. intolerant housekeepers.
Such types are, of course, eXtant, but
they are by no means the determining
cause of the muddle. Homes with the
kindest, most capable and intelligent of
mistresses are disorganized today. The
nerves and physical stamina of house
wives are undergoing a cruel strain.
The quickest relief is found in shelv-
ing the problem altogether. In many
cases homes are frankly listed among the
impossibilities. The alternative has
been apartment-house existence, which is
fast changing the structure of American
society. 1t has abundant merits, but the
legitimate thing to which one is driven
by pressure is assurediy out of harmony
with certain avowed and widely circu-
lated principles of self-determination."
The housewife who persists in cinging
to the old order has now the most limited
opportunities for maintaining the type
of home lauded by the much quoted John
Howard Payne. "The peace of mind
dearer than all' is indeed costly. 1t is
the announced intention of the National
Women's Trade Union League to stand
ardize domestic help with minimum of
eighteen dollars week for servants not
living in their employers homes and an
eight-hour day. Deducting the value of
| the board and lodging from the wages of
! those domestics living in the house in
which they work is authorized. In that
| case the weekly wage will not be greatly
in excess of that now paid.
No alleviaton is visible, however,
| since the wage scale is now abnormally
high. Good servants are worth good pay
by every principle of justice. That point,
however, is not germane to the chief
aspect of the situation. In fact, house
maids and cooks of the "old school"
undergo an unfair grading. Shiftess in
competents are demanding equal pay.
In Philadelphia the desperate house
wife is now often accepting class of
colored help which is totally unfit for its
| duties. Once again the distinction be-
tween the former times and the present
! must be drawn. Well-nigh Incompatible
|kxere some Of the dusky southern servz
'nts Of yore 1hf-,ere AS unfamiliar