VANISHING. THE MUCH-WOOED MAID.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 74, 27 March 1912, Page 3

VANISHING. THE MUCH-WOOED MAID.

TOR HOUSEWORK^ MANY SOUGHT, FEW FOUND. (By Memor.) "Wellington's motto, "Suprenia a Situ," siriis the "general" and her skter, the "lady-help." The 'general" commands, and the mistress oboys menially, abjectly. Almost any place may be " caviare to the general." When, she condescends to take possession of a house the inmates are glad to surrender on any terms imposed by the conqueror. Ths household does not mark time for the new comniander-in-cliief ; she sets -the time for tho house, and often it is ra^-time, so moan and mourn the erstwhile mistresses. During the past few months many scores of women have not given, a decimal point of thought to the- " political situation." They have been too much bothered with the serious worries of the domestic situation to spare time for the trivialities of politics. Foe several years the "domestic-help problem" has vexed the community, in town and country, and strangely the more the girl i» tempted with good wages and* cosy conditions the less she succumbs. It is Hko the hunt for the huia. Beautiful sanctuaries, from which the vandal is banned, await that gentle bird, bat men explore the rugged Ruahine for him in vain. In old rough-and-tumble times, when domestic work was drqary djudgery for many an ill-paid girl, one did not hear to-day's lamentation — "I cannot get help.*' The status of the work has been raised, and heads of houses are almost willing to go under the foot of tho " general " or her lieutenant, the lady-help, but this tender of sttbmifisiveness may go begging. The explanation of this apparently peculiar development is simple enough. The demand for help far exceeds the supply. With the advance in the country's prosperity the number of women who consider that their husbands are " able to afford help " has increased, but the offers of" help show a shrinkage comparatively. The expansion of industries, primary , and secondary, has thrown open wide portals to the girl and young woman, and a great army marches through. They prefer the settled hours and all nights off for " the pictures " and other distractions. 1 Moreover, many girls seem to see less dignity in domestic work, even v.ith all the modern improvements, than their predecessors saw in prison-like households. Those who do decide to earn their living at this occupation prefer the style and title of "lady-help," and sometimes this volun- • teer practically insists on being the lady to be helped. DESPAIR. Abundant evidence of the scarcity of suitable house-workers may be quoted. 7rom the 22nd of this month to tho 26th the State Labour Bureau received applications for girls from fifty- employers, and in tha* period only eleven names came in from girls seeking posi- | tions. For more than a. month, several , "mistresses" have been advertising and (haunting the Tegistry offices in a desperate, futile- endeavour to catch & girl The prospect for them is stilljblack, be- . cause each ,is the mother of ■two or three children. We* 1611 with "encumberr-: juices," as children are now termed by • tome landlords, keepers^ of accommodation houses, and domestic workers, may live laborious days. It is reported' that *■ ihe average "general" and "lady help" * is disposed to say "No, thank you" if iiiiildren are revealed. Girls may -like the hours, wages, and general conditions eifered to them, but they flee from children. Thus women who most need help niay continue to need it or get only the indifferent "leavings" of the marketplace. Fathers have to take a turn at charring, washing, or wiping difih.es, andother domestic tasks. - BY IMPORTATION. From twenty to fifty domestic workers, under the aeeisted-immigration scheme, come out on each of the big steamers from Britain, but this number Ls not enough to give much comfort to the legion of anxious housewives. Moreover, many of these "new chum" girls tnay eventually drift into the factories. The' Government has been urged by deputations of women to widen the 6cope of the assisted system, and sympathetic answers have been given, but the old order has not been appreciably changed. Some time ago a. co-operative scheme of importation was adopted by a number of Hawkes Bay women, and this plan worked well enough for a period. It is understood, however, that a difficulty cropped up. It was easy enough to get gills out, but not' so easy to keep them in their place*. The law forbids the importation of labour under contract, and thus the immigrants could not be tied down to the households which engaged them. It is suggested that a few shipment* of girls, below the age of twenty-one years, introduced under the paternal auspicee of the Government, or ths "Sedgwick boy" basis, might aid the hands of helpless households. As the "Sedgwick boys" are minors thcr Statecan exercise some control ove* them, as a legal guardian acting parentally. Hence farmers who employ the boys have a measure of security. Som« women have been eager to get the Government to ngree- to the importation of coloured boya.from the South Sea islands, but public opinion, as the Government knowe, is against such, a proposition. ALTERNATIVES. Co-operative housekeeping is mentioned as one vrity of making home life endurable. Thia may be done by v, group of families, domiciled separately, or by families in tenements or flats. The flat and the tenement have not ycfc ga,iu«l a*iy great vogue. It is believed, too. that the dearth of woikers will appieciably influence the t-tyia of domestic -architecture. It will hra neceasai-y to plan foi* a possibility tii- p-obability of "no help," and thu* to h«v« the rooms and appointments arranged on a sound labour-saving baste. A home intelligently designed a.-,r! mechanical aids given by gas and electricity can help valuably, especially in l'.osmeft with no * encumbrances," but nvothsrs of children will still bo trouble! :r fclte scarcity of help continues. ]t is obvious that the present toivsc'c difficulty must tend to a limitation of faxnilies. It takes no long reflection to see the national importance of the domestic help question. ONE RAY OF HOPE. ehilosophers say that a reaction may yet come In favour of domestic work. .Mothers vrho have looked in vain for competent help must be keen now to ci-ain their daughters m housewifely nrti. Tjm> mother who neglects this duty is no £ood friend to her daughter, ( whatever may be tho mother's station in life. Some- of ihe women who are nov looking for help have good money to offer. Their husbands an* in "good positions," bar, tfio wives are compelled to do th«ii" own housework for the present. Somo of them axe probably fishing fervently that their mothers had isaistcd on a proper .training for tie cai&» of a household. Another sequel of tho help problem Lo ar compukoryj living p£**tke

simple life, at least comparatively. If a, woman is obliged to do the "work of her own home' she cannot very well go in for the compound life, but this obligation can beer very hard on the mothers of children, especially in such a hilly city a» Wellington.