THE SERVANT QUESTION. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume XXIII, Issue 62, 16 March 1882, Page 3

THE SERVANT QUESTION. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir — I thought I detected the oloven hoof in " Tabitha'a " lettor ; " Help " and " ObBerver" confirm my opinion that this is merely a sidewind to re-establish the hateful " assisted immigration." Sir, as a taxpayer, I object to be taxed to supply my wealthy neighbours with the luxury of servants. We might just as well be asked to import carpets, kitchen ranges, or domestic animals for their use. I believe the milk of human kindnoss is what is wanted more than female servants. "Tabitha" proves thiß, by requiring a dozen applicants for every one place. What would become of the eleven, Bhe neither knows or cares. I hope " Tabitha "is not female. At Homo, 1 believe, the law requires tho master to take charge of his domestio servant in oase of illnesß, but here, if a servant falls sick from overwork, as does occur, she is Bent to the Hospital, and tho Hospital authorities colleot any bal ano&of wages due to her from her employer. Of the feeling shown towards servants the following is a specimen :— In the family cf one of our merchant princes lived a servant maid, who had but one friend in Wellington, from whose house she went to serve this wealthy gentleman. One ovening, after being out for an hour or two, this girl went home, and was seized with nn acute and female disease. From the evening till the morning she lay in great agony. Her prinooly (in wealth) master sent for a dootor, who pronounced the case probably fatal, yet her maater could not spare one of his refcinuo to go and inform this poor dying girl's friend (a Mnd, motherly woman) of her condition, although it was but several hundred yards. From the morning till the evening she was dying ; at 6 p.m. she died. The next day Bhe was buried. After tho funeral one of the servants called to tell the friend of the death and bnrial. Ib this feeling general among the upper ten in Wellington? If bo, no wonder girls prefer any service to dpmeßtic seivico. If my communication is not too long, I would like to ask the "Tabithas," "Helps," and others where they. expect to get good servants from? They are very scarce in England ; the supply from whence they were obtained has been cut off, viz., the small farmers — as a class they are nearly extinct, and their daughters no longer form the staple of domestio servants. Tho girls from the country now are from manufacturing districts, and know no more of cooking than they do of drawing and painting. When a change is unavoidable, the new-comer has generally to be more or less instruotod by her mistress or someone else. My relatives at Home find that if they get a good cook they must put the washing out. A housemaid will undertake neither cooking nor washing, and good servants expeot their work to be done by dusk or 5 o'olook, if the family dine at G ; and their wages are 50 per cent, more than they were 20 years ago. I am, &c, Taxpayer.

An old wag asked a short young man who got married recently — " Say, doea it make a man any longer to get spliced?" He received a very Bhort answer. * ' It doea knot.' '