THE DOMESTIC SERVANTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7821, 14 June 1909, Page 1

THE DOMESTIC SERVANTS

A RANGITATA LADY'S VIEW^

Mr James Allen, M.P., V&* principal speaker at the recent meatiurt in Dunedin of ladies to discuss the servant girl problem, r^l^^J^', lowing letter from Mrs G. E. Hawdta, of "■Underwood," llttngitata, CanterbUiyi4d yesterday in the OtagO Witness the spwdi you made to Ihe ladies wet to consider Ui.< floffiestic petition, and I hope thatyq^i ■ will .allow me to thank you warmly tof it, and nUo will pardon my wishing to discuss some points with.you (though lam unknown to you), bvCtixisß I was the originator of the scheme. As. I liJ6 « the country, I could not expect to he ' listened .to myself, so I called on sofflO of the leading ladies in Christchurch about .it, and. Mrs Cracroft Wilson and othVro decided to take the idea, up and call a meeting-, and since then I I have been working 'in 1 .ihe Geraldine district, and also helping by Correspondence with places where the ih'6tenient has dragged for want of an active leader. You opened your speech with a couple of quotations from our petition, which was drawn (tip by a local gentleman from the provisions winch we considered established by the discussion of our first Christchurch mooting. Since then so milch inform,')----tir-.i has been brought forward by nurses, doctors' wives, and charity workers generally, as to the injury caused to mothers and children by the lack of domestic help, that I think the facts may be taken as proved—the facts, I mean, that are referred to in those paragraphs you qtioted. t And, as I said to a member of Parliament who. objected that the working t class would iook on otir petition as interfering with their girls' rights, surely our legislators should pay. more regard to the needs of the nation's mothers than to the grievances or prejudices of those who wish for the monopoly of our service, though they are not able to supply the demand. : We were much disappointed at;the determination of the Dunedin ladies to petition for assisted rather thjan for free, immigrants; and I should much like to understand their reasons, and why you agree with them. The papers reported Mrs McLean as saying that free immigration would tend to pauperise, and, cause a lo^er class of girl to offer; but as the whole of the passage of an "assisted" domestic servant is usually paid by the Government and the employer between them, I fail to soo why the fact of ithe Government payinc all should be more derogatory to a girl's self-respect. And when we remember the hundreds! }of youno; women who came to this country free during the first 30 years (roughly sneaking), and the, excellent colonists the great majority of them 'nave made, I do not think the slur on free immigration is a just onp. I remember the days of the free immigration well, and I think that when bringing those large numbers of girls outfit was easier to keep them under the ptov>pt control which is so necessary, lest tho idle voyage should unsettle girls wlio before worn quite steady, than when some tfO "assisted" girls are brought i,n tho steerage with single mon and married couples—an arrangeimont that has already do.no mischief. You refer to the organisation necessary to be considered,, but do you not think tho simple machinery used before by tho provinces is as practical as. any, with, perhaps, the addition to the agent sent to manage the business details in England, of a lady agent from each province who could describe, as you suggest, tjje conditions of life. in the part of New Zealand she represented ? These ladies could also conduct the necessary, inquiries from ministers, etc., as to the characters.of the applicants, and finally act as matrons in charge of the different parties of girls brought out. Each of the chief towns would require, as in the early days, a barracks with a matron for the reception of the girls' till they were engaged. As, at Gisborne's suggestion, we are now arranging for each electorate- to send in their petition by their own member, instead of one monster petition being presented to Parliament, and Dunedin is the only applicant for assisted passages, it is probable that the Government will grant the prayer of the free immigration petitioners, if any. But, however, it is decided, I am sure you wjll agree with me in hoping that this difference of opinion will not prevent us from all persisting in some sort of effort till the '. crying want is supplied. I I agree with Mrs McLean that State organisation of immigration is more practicable than private; and also in I pointing out the mistake of bringing Highly-trained servants,' who do ;not easily accommodate themselves to pur ways, and who also are not easily obtainable in large numbers.. We hope to induce the agents to aim chiefly at such supplies of untrained . girls | as Canada gets from country parts of Scotland and Ireland, girls whom we can train into colonial .ways. Such girls prove, to my knowledge 3 .utost excellent material, but they.are m|>sl^ ly too poor to think,of paying any part of their passage jncmey. I was very glad that you expressed the opinion that the real cause of the, lack! of servants is not so much the cbnditijons of service as the fact of there not'being enough girls in the cduiitry. Tkat is the opinion of Mrs .Gardiner, the head teacher of cookery in' the Chrpichurch Technical Schools. She >-says that out of all the girls, who. have passed through her classes only'abou^ a dozen intended going into service. ] As to the point as to whether there is serious danger of a tendency to give up home life because of tjie difficulties of housekeeping, oriej.. 1 can only speak from personal' observation, .and iv Christchurch I know of many* families, even.- those with young" children, who have given up their pleasant'suburban homes and gardens, and are Jiving in boarding-houses, because of the harass to the mothers of being often unable to persuade servants ,to come a mile or two out of town. But the greatest sufferers of all' are the young mothers in town or country, and of all ranks, who can only afford one servant. The damage caused by the; lack of that ono, to the health of both mother and children, and to the happiness of the home, is undeniable, and should receive tho serious . consideration of a Government that has riot yet arrived at the Sosialist's ideal of cooperative homes. Speaking of co-oper-ation reminds me to say that I think tho mistresses, if they succeed in getting numerous girls brought 60 far from their homes to help in theirs, should feel themselves bound to cooperate in seeing that they are cared for when out of situations or requiring rest. In Christchurch in the early days the ladies instituted a home with a matron to supply this want; but now there are being built homes for' both the Girls' Friendly Society and the Young Women's Christian Assocation, and no doubt the other cities have like institutions, which would receive the girls if they were sufficiently' enlarged and maintained by subscription from tho League of Mistresses, which I suggest should be formed for this purpose.