THE DOMESTIC PROBLEM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17111, 17 March 1919, Page 6

THE DOMESTIC PROBLEM

'V-# .-'■■ -~•:;- ,-" " ■ ,„;,„■■.,;.: -.'■' - ■ <n»i » i ; , shortage IN . ENGLAND, ';' .causes■ discussed.'. • StEED FOR' CONSIDERATION ',■>'•■ New Zealand is not alone in. regard 1 the ■'.""■ domestic; ? servant : ; problem. " Th \ servant shortage, says a London paper, i ■'..')■ not only a domestic, but is rapidly becom '''it ing a nationil question" Whatisthereasb; '<■ ■."••of-a girl's reluctance to center domesti ".. "'wrvfce??-' We moat look deepintothe pa's ' • is well as the present and seek the' cans : ' that lias made the «&ct. ..',■/:■„',,;>•■ .- H - I asked a ' woman Who keeps her ! maid ' . ,for years, and whoso house is"run. not on!; '. well, but ; comfortably, from whence aros the scarcity?"/ .'.*".'"': V'' ',■' v «".' r< - *?"It' is partly our fault/' she said, ."wi ■■■ >,!','are paying i!' for: callousness vin the . past -'•■- Service' must Be-'rtadb;more,.attractive i a-'. women wgnt to get maids." I "can'hCa: V;*iaa:: f indignant chorus: "My service 1 '■' most attractive'now jmy maids are ■ yeir> „?. well;.fed and.-get. two evenings out/'i ;'* week," etc. •- etc. -•:-, 'Quite so! but are tliey really well fed Many people give their maids - inferioi batter and inferior joints aad cheap bacoj and cheap everything, yet they hive th'i best of everything themselves. Is it neceS sary to make so marked a contrast betweci - upstairs and downstairs? What are maids' bedrooms usually like They are often a sort of dumping csoiini ' for things that are too old and shabby t< hie put elsewhere. I have an excellent housemaid who ha been with' me for'two years. She tills m that in her last place she found her bed room not only unspeeKaiwy .dirty, du there was no carpet, and not ' even ; drihkingwatar glass or bottle oe the wash stand yet this was in a large olherwisi luxuriously-furnished country house. My housemaid arrived there three week after she was "married. A forlorn littli bride, whose husband had gone back it Franco, she burst into tears at the sigh of her barelyfurnished, dirty, ill-kep bedroom. She told me it made her fee she was only ft machine and that no ©» cared - about her comfort or her troubles That is not the way to get or to kein . good -servants. It is up to us women to make girls like • - and ,want to go into service, and no woroai ■, ' will accomplish this unless she takes i . . . • personal interest in the welfare 'of he; ;■■■. , maids. The boors are long and monoton \•' 'sXifiii, the work is often a' dreary routine r> ' but if the girls.wsro otherwise happy, thej •■'■'> -would not miniJ. ;..? We : want:a i little of Mr. Lloyd George'i , -;■> , *'liiipjiin'es's in the heart 'of labour" it |ir ".Wii ■ofa'dome'Btid. service. There arirmanj & girls who prefer a quiet life, but even :,' '■ they want 1 i little fun eometimeii, soini i '•-..•'. books and papers in their sitting itoom, i ''■. few'flowers, and some atteahttfc at libtot life. ■ • \ ■ • •.'-/■' . m&i&s£&& us face this question bravely, not bj : t<dMng about it id nauseam, but by act- -" - ing. Let us not only i endeavour to teach -.■- - girls how'lo become- efficient, but let us < ''become -'iffioieat:.- -earn?thi Ipwchtinttl -sewioe ■ for }, earn,ft '-■ ■•■W-:Mti^' : Ml'^w^ t ten;wa%^iii>' - '■ Ito'JW jM studying W |fel.*«d?o£ m«3s. we'.lihali reap a n,d> . ,f i < \