DOMESTIC HELP.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 10, 12 July 1910, Page 7

DOMESTIC HELP.

THE OVERWORKED MOTHERS UNSATISFACTORY STATE OF AFFAIRS. WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS PREPARED TO DO. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT BY SIR, JOSEPH WARD. A large deputation of members of Parliament, doctors, and ladies of Wellington waited on the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) to-day, to urge that the Government should assist in bringing something appioaphing an adequate supply of domestic servants to this country. Mr. G. W. Russell, M.P., said he had introduced a similar deputation to Sir Joseph Ward in Christchurch recently. The movement was rapidly extending. There was a very real necessity on the part of the Government to assist hardworked mothers. In recent years a great many girls had been absorbed by the factories, and the working classes were positively unable to obtain help. If the Government could give the assistance asked for, arrangements could be made to»get a suitable class of young women to conje to New Zealand, and act as domestics and good mothers' later on in life. He knew. of cases where women had been driven into premature graves and even insanity, owing to their being unable to obtain the assistance they required. „ A LADY DOCTOR'S STATEMENT. Dr. Platts-Mills, who said she oouldl speak as a doctor and a mother, said they were faced by two problems—limitaj tlon of families and iijfapt mortality. They offered a solution of the first preI bleni. When women were unable to get help they could not be expected to bripg, up large families when every child after two or three meant imprisonment ■ and! penal servitude for the mother. Women with four or five children could, not get domestic?. What was life to a woman left wjth. & family of little children? She briefly surveyed the work of the average mother and asked' if it was any wonder that women went to bed too tired! to steep. Was it any wonder that they, decided, after experiencing, great hardships that they would decide- not to have any more children. She could) tell Sir Joseph Ward, that as a doctor, ehe knew of women who never read the papers because they had not the time. She knew of babies that would have to die or be dragged through childhood; and pf men who haij been reduced to chronic invalids becauss of the trials of the home. She could' tell of children who were over wrought and of mothers who had not time to look after them. What time was left for moral training? What lime was left for motherhood in the true §ens& of the word? The deputation considered it was worth the while of the Government to encourage the spirit of motherhood. She claimed that our system of education was designed" for boys and not for girls, and that girls left the schools with a. smattering of i#>]ated"facfcs. TJiey were trained for nothing. The only thing they did was not to train for household work! Chiefly they went into tho factories. The members of the deputation did not ask for help 1 in order that they might get out to golf or bridge. They wanted to do their duty to th» State in a way that they could not possibly hope to do/Ainder the present circumstances. (Applause.) WHY WQMEN SHRINK. Mrs. Sprott said she had often, heard it said that it was- the 1 love of pleasure which made young women shrink from maternity. This was not so. They looked forward with utter dread and anxiety to the lacn cf help. She- had heard young women say : "Oh, if I had known what it was I would never have married !" <• A SPECIFIC CASE. Mrs. Moore said {-he previous speaker? had put the case very adequately. She quoted' the cage of & man (whose wife was partially paralysed) who was unable to get a "help"' at 30s per week, and that at a time when he employed a. charwoman to do general cleaning. Aa a result-, he had, -to employ a trained nurse for six weeks at- £3 3s per week, HE£,P FOR THE LABOURING CLASS. Mrs. A. R. Aj-kinspn emphasised that the deputation* was asking for help not for the rich,, but fqr those women whose husbands' earnings ranged from £2 to £5 per week. They did not want girls who would bo good parlour maids for the Hpbson-street people. They wanted girls who would be of real assistance ft>. the mothers of Wadestcwn or Brooklyn, for instance- Mrs. Atkinson also wish.cd to make it clear that they had no desire to foster a system of indentured labour. Strict regulations could bs> mado for conserving the interests of these girls, and the mothers in whose seivice they would be employed would take an interest in mothering them afterwards. Committees of advice could be set up to asfist the Government. Mi's. Bpwden thought the Government might endeavour to get some of those splendid Scandinavian girls such, as those wh.o had cpnie to N.ew Zealand some years ago. • She urged that there, should bp a medica' inspection of any girls impprteq" a* domestic servants. Tho mothers of New Zealand did no* want invalids. The case of mot Tiers i^ the country demanded attention. DOCTORS' VIEWS. Dr. Pollen endorsed all that had been said by the previous speakers. He was quite aware of the necessity for doing something. As to the servants who had been imposed in r-ecen£ yeaie, tfre minority were fit; the majority were just on the border-line. Of course, the inspection to-day was more strict than it used to be. Dr. Purdy said the evil was a crying one, and tho facts spoke for themselves.- The fact that the petition sent to Parliament asking for Government help in the direction asked by tho deputation was signed by every medical man in Wellington a«cl suburbs, was quite sufficient to indicate the need fpr action. Dr. Collins spoke, of the number of young Jiyes that were! lost practically before the children were born, owing to the absolute necessity of $he mothers having to work. ' s Dr. Kpinp declared that a great number of the gjrls who had come out from England tp work, here as domestics were anaemic and 111-QUod for their work. There was great need for strong, healthy young girls to assist tho mothers in the country. 1 MEMBERS' ENDORSEMENT. Sir William Steward, M.P., spoke as tho representative of a country constituency. The trouble was not a more local trouble. It affected the country districts particularly. Tho present state of things demanded an immediate remedy. Mr. A. L. Herdman, M.P., anticipated, having a regard for tho nature of the appeal made, that Sir Joseph Ward would not be deai to the facts which Had been put before him. There could bo no question that. an. Jmsatisfactotyj J

Btate of things existed. A policy of some nature that would provide domestic assistance - for r the women,' of thevcommunity who were in poor circumstances, was at once required. It was to be regretted that some poople looked vfpon domestic service as menial. That was not the viow of the deputation. (Hear, hear.) His own view was that domestic service ,was infinitely to be preferred to factory wofk. It was better for the girl in every way. (Hear, hear). Mr. A. Myers, M.P.; urged thattho Government could do something to raise the status of the girls in domestic service. The Government might, for instance, set . up a Department of Domestic Economy. ; SOME OBJECTIONS. Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., said that New Zealand was not in a peculiar position in regard to domestic help. In other countries the cry was also being raised, and he believed the remedy for the difficulty would be much harder to find than any oris 'imagined. 'The trouble was an economic one. The industrial methods of the day had thrown the old system out of . work. If girls were brought out in the way suggested it would be perilously near indentured labour. Then a medical examination of these girls had been ' suggested. That meant that to an extent they would be physically under - the control of the State. He did. not think the bringing out of the girls. would benefit the popvilation "one jofc. He did believe that it would load to better comforb in some homes, but there would still be many people in this country who would be unable to pay 8s per week for help. He •proposed to watch.' developments in this matter very jealously, particularly from, the poinb of view of Labour in this country. Afc the same iime everything that could be - done to assist mothers should be done. OTHER* MEMBERS. Mr. Fisher, M.P., said that, the legislative conditions under which we lived wire • calculated to bring about the troubles complained of. He asked it' it were not possible to set up a voltintary commission of medical men, and perhaps Judges of the Supreme Court, to" submit recommendations to. Parliament. The remedy suggested to-day V&uld offer a temporary relief only. They had to get to the root of the trouble. ZMrf j: P.' Luke, M.P., agreed that the Question of domestic help was a burning one in all countries — it was a very live question at Home. He would k \vatch the matter very closely. Mr. G. W. Russell, M.P., thought it .would be possible to get committees of ladies' to watch over the girls. : PREMIER IN REPLY. Sir Joseph Ward, in the course of a lciigthy reply, mentioned that the same tjaestion had been brought under his notice in Christchuixh, and he had there stated that the Government intended to do something better, in order to v get suitable girls to this country. Subsequently he submitted a proposal to" Cabinet, providing for a reduction of; £2 in the passage money, in order that -a -large number of girls might be bYonght out. This was adopted, .and representations had been made to the shipping companies to make_ a similar redaction." He" mentioned this to show tpat the Government, had not been oblivious to the necessities of the case. ~ NOT INDENTURED LABOUR. -Personally, he ■ did not . think the question of indentured labour could be imported into this question. If there ,Was an insufficiency of labour of the. ' class referred to by the deputation, how could there be any interference if girls ■vrere brought here ? He recognised Mr. Taylor's desire, and was -witn, him in seeing that there" should be no interference with labour here. At the same time, ha (Sir Joseph) realised the shortage, c •*-.•'-'"' NOT AN EASY MATTER. TEe-"question involved- did not by any iheans suggest the easy solution that some people might imagine. Canada, America, Australia, and the East were all trying to draw domestics, from the Old Country. .When he was at Homo 370t long" ago he knew of one country that had eighty touts out for the purpose of inducing a suitable class of girls to go abroad. Without similarly employing a suitable class of women it was not possible for the High Commissioner to get girls for this' country before they reached London. Then the medical examination would require to be carried out at the homes of the girls, or the orphanages, -whe,re it had been suggested supplies might be obtained. The suggestion that girls might be obtained from Scandinavia was fraught ■with difficulties. The inspection would nave to be made there by. New Zealand officials, and the cost involved would be so enormous that it, could not beapproached. Howeverj a great deal might be done, and he could assure the deputation that the High Commissioner had instructions to do all he could. THE SCHOOL SYLLABUS. He recognised the difficulty in regard to girls' training at school referred to by Dr. Platts-Mills, but he also recognised the difficulty of makingiany sweeping alteration. It called for an alteration in the teacher's certificate and for an alteration' in the syllabus, or for the •establishment of independent domestic technical schools. ' COMMISSION NOT WANTED. With all due deference to Mr. Fisher he did not think the causes of the trouble required to be investigated by a commission. The causes were quite apparent, and one of them was world- wide. In the last fifty years the development of fac- • tories had drawn thousands of women away from some of the courses they were formerly disposed to follow. A section of the people who were crying out was the factory proprietors themselves. This 6howed the tendency of the time. LIMITATION OF FAMILIES. On this subject he said it was a matter which had to be left to the higher education of the people. Then, as to the suggestion put forward by Mrs. Atkinson that committees of advice should be set up to guard the interests of the girls, Sir Joseph said that such a committee would . require to proceed with very great care, because in this country, as in others, there were a lot of women, who were very fond of putting their noses in other people's affairs. TIMES OF TROUBLE. He mentioned, as previously announced in the Governor's Speech, that legislation would be submitted to 'Parliament for the purpose of assisting the comparatively poorer classes '.n times of maternity. This assistance would apply to persons in receipt of less than iiilOO ' per year. It would mean a financial obligation, would sinoothen the pillow of many a mother, and would enable mothers to be recompensed for the time they were unable '-o earn their" own livirtc. ■ - SOME DIFFICULTIES. The Premier emphasised the drawbacks New Zealand had to suffer in comparison with other countries. Canada tor instance, provided for passage-- for domestics at £1 per head. New Zealand was under stupendous difficulties in the matter of rates and distances. SUGGESTED FREE PASSAGE. He was not smo whether, if it was found after a time that a,4.ufficient supply of girls was not obtained, for a while they should be biought out free. It

might pay to bring out a. few thousand girls by different steamers. In approaching the whole' matter a- great 4 degree of broadness should be brought to bear on it. Anything the Government could do would be done. The matter would have the utmost attention.