MISTRESSES AND MAIDS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13738, 20 May 1910, Page 6

MISTRESSES AND MAIDS.

It is apparently inevitable that any discussion on tho scarcity of domestic workers shall provoke an attack on mistresses as a class. The present discussion is no exception to what appears to be a Axed rule. Some of our correspondents do not hesitate to attribute tho reluctance displayed by young women to enter domestic service to the tyranny of tho mistresses, ■ the unattra.ctiveneAS, if not tho downright discpmfort, of a servant's life, and the alleged fact that domestic servants arc

-looked down upon" by all other classes in the community. A great deal of this is exaggeration ; a good deal of it is quite untrue. It is untrue that the

average mistress is inconsiderate and neglectful of the comfort of those who work for her. There aro no doubt some who treat their . sorvants badly, but they form a very small proportion of the whole number. The average New Zealand housewife has more sense than to risk losing the services of a good help by working her too hard, or by want of consideration for her welfare. The domestic servant has necessarily to submit to certain rules and to the wishes of her employer, but the same may be said of the many thousands of men and women who work for wages or salary, and tho fact carries no sense of inferiority. Tho only workers who have any reason to feel inferiority are the incompetent workers, but it is to be feared that if they do feel it, it is only to put the blame on to their employers, instead of recognising that it arises from their own shortcomings. The artificial division of society into classes is earned to absurd lengths, very often without apparent reason, but it passes comprehension why a girl who works in a factory should look down on another vrho works in a private house. In many ways the latter is very much better off, her work is more healthful, she probably lives better, and what she earns she has for herself, instead of having to pay away a good part of it for board and lodging, as numbers of factory workers have to do. In addition to this, she is fitting herself for tue career to which most young women quite rightly look forward, that of matrimony. We quite recognise, however, that tho average New Zealand girl has a rooted objection to domestic service. But when shf- and her friends set to work to give reasons for this attitude they should at least be honest about it, and admit that it is tho greater liberty of factory work that attracts them. In a factory they know exactly when they have to begin, and how long they will have to work, and at the end of tho day their time is -their own. From their point of view, and wo need discuss no other just now, this undoubtedly gives them an advantage over the average servant, whose hours ot work tend to be longer nndi n ore- irregular than those of a factory worker. The difficulty is, of course, inseparable ;o soino extent from housework, especially in a home where there is a family, but it is not nearly so creat as it used to be. Any well-conducted domestic servant is fully entitled to a considerable amount of liberty, and can make certain of getting it. Her work, now it is true, is not fin-

ished" on the stroke of fire or six, but against this she enj«ys advantages, as we have shown, that other female workers do not poss*ss. The allegation thai the modern woman sacrifices home and children to !;*r love of "'keeping iup' appearances."' is the most sorry rubbish. The sverage luodern iwusewite, especially the woman v.1.0 can offord but eno servant, works as hard as her helper, and often harder. What she sacrifices is her health, and it is precisely because tho health of tho

nicxhers of Ne,v Zealand is a matter of vital importarxe to the community, that some effort is being made to awaken public opinion to the necessity of making her lot easier, if that is possible. The fact that so many New Zealand girls will not enter service is the solo reason, as it is the sole excuse, for urging that domestic servants should be sought elsewhere.