DEARTH OF DOMESTICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 531, 11 June 1909, Page 4

DEARTH OF DOMESTICS.

- —-4__— EFFECT ON HOME LIFE. PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT. Among the petitions which wore laid on the table of tho House yesterday wcro : a number from ladies in various parts of tho Dominion with reference to the need for the Government to encourage suitable young women at Home to settle in this country. In tho petition from Dunedin, which contained hundreds upon hundreds of signatures, tho Government was asked to grant assisted pasagss. Supporters of tho movomont in the other parts of the Dominion favoured the granting of froe passages. According to the petitioners, there has been, for some' years poet, a great decrease in tho number of girls and siuglo women ofronng themselves for domestic service, consequent upon a disinclination on their part' to follow, such avocation. It was alleged vliat the condition of things had been rendered more 'acute owing to tho increasing demand for women workers in the manufacture mg industries, an a result of the' coming into opration of the preferential tariff. Never m the history of Now Zealand had the want of strong, able, and. willing domestio workers been so pronounced as at the present time. Uwing to that fact, numbers oi women and mothers were daily called upon to bear bnrdohs almost top heavy for them. If tho con. ciitions complained of continued unremedied, & serious menace to the health of the women of flow Zealand would be occasioned, a further decline in the birth-rate might result, and tho physique and upbringing of succeeding generations might bo detrimentally oifooted. • Not only was tho health of the women and their children affected or threatened, but in many cases the peace and bappln£?s of tho homo were seriously affected. The petitioners wont on to say that they were aware of numbers who already given up housekeeping on that account, and tnoy viewed with apprehension the future of the home life of the country. It was not tho , wealthy; or well-to-do class' who suffered, the most ; acutely, ae tho members of that class could, by reason, of their . position, . obtain domestio workers by holding out inducements of increased salary, and other privileges" and .conditions which tho majority of housewives found it impossible to concede. Petitioners strongly disavowed any intention, of objecting to the present standard of wages for domestics, or of suggesting tiro adoption of any. measure which might directly or indirectly have the effect of reducing the wages, which vero regarded as ono of the chief attractions to the immigrant. Bottlers, even slightly rei moved from centres of . population, often found it impossible to procure that help which was essential in the case of a mother with a young family. Tho fact that the'returns showed that, on March 31, 190S, thero were. 61,000 more males than females in the Dominion was also emphasised. It was felt that the difficulty could be remedied, if net entirely removed, if.the Government adopted for a time a system of free immigration for single yonng womon suitable for domestic service. Strong, willing, and able, single women of good character, oven if without previous experience, iwouM at ones prove a great benefit while, by reason of tho girls ultimately marrying and settling in, the country, tho movoment must Juako for closer settlement, and the future prosperity of tho Dominion. It was desired that tho Gov-enrmont should establish bureaux, under women of experience, intimately acquainted with the condition of things obtaining in New Zealand, and that suitable immigrants be placed nndor efficient matrons immedlately prior to embarkation and remain under such supervision during the voyage, and until sncli time as suitable positions shall ba found for them. v i