MISTRESS AND MAID.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18458, 23 July 1923, Page 12

MISTRESS AND MAID.

: Oufe of ' iihfl extraordinary -^/diverse 'opinions expressed by'; witnesses at : the Domestic Service Inquiry; held recently in i England, there is to be found little light ! on the vexed problem and its solution. 1 Everybody agrees that "domestic service 4s extremely unpopular as a /career in the "eyes' of the post-war girl. As for the new', and •' absurd.? idea '% about '• reasons, the mistress ; blames ~ the maid for "freedom " and " status " and ■' independence." The - maid blames the mistress for "slave-driving"' or for lack, of consideration. And the impartial .observer blames both, declaring that each demands more from the other than, in present-day conditions, they have a right to-expect.; f:Undoubtedly, the two main causes of the unpopularity of domestic service are the class feeling and the actual conditions of service. Some women would make angels discontented and' some girls would not serve angels efficiently. Apart from such cases, there are very many quite sensible girls who honestly, if mistakenly, think it move degrading to serve in a home than behind a counter, and there are still more who prefer harder work, with less , pocket money, when all evenings, Sundays, and holidays, are their own for certain. At the inquiry a witness suggested thnt girls should be' trained in housework between the ages of 14 and 16, and ; the counter-suggestion was made > that mistresses should be similarly trained. That is probably the only practical solution of the problem. All girls, in every class of life, should go through a course of domestic training. In many parts of Switzerland they are compelled to do so by law. And when the maid knows that her mistress has herself clone and can do all her duties, they will cease to be j menial. ■