THE WHITE SLAVES OF MAORILAND.

NZ Truth, Issue 78, 15 December 1906, Page 8

THE WHITE SLAVES OF MAORILAND.

TO THE EDITOR. j • Sir,— Have been reading Mr Picard's letter m this week's "Truth" and can hold'wiih him that the servants m i\ew Zealand are 'nothing but slaves, i/oiy in.itan.ee, a case came under my notice about six months ago where a e;irl who was working for a so-called lady of Masterton, was slaving from five m tha mom nz . till 10 and 11 at night feeding pigs, cleaning ' piggeries, and stables, grooming horses, .milking cows and hundreds of other ihin?,s too disgusting to write about, not saying anything about being at the beck and call of every "lady" and "gentleman" m the "house. The poor girl' was that badly treated and thrashed that by ihe help of mv husband and others who were ■working at the. house at the time, she managed to get away, and after being . there three years she received hot prie penny m. wages. All the girl got. jyas the. toff., daughter's lett-off clothiri-r. and l>efore she got away she, head with a ; strap/ I write what I I now to be the perfect truth and I also can.proveit. To think now that I was once .one of those slaves myself; of course we could put it down to bern? young and inexperienced and easily sat upon ; so now I am very pleased to see that the . union has 'started m Wellington and hope that it will soon come into force In ,our little town .of Masterton and put a sto:> to such poor wages as the servants receive hsre now. Of course there are some paving good wages, but I- should' not like to say what the poor girl has got to do for it. I was asked some, time ago, or I should say before I was married, to trp to the place of a "real lady" who resides at' present m Landsdown, and I naturally asked what^ wages I should receive and what I should have to do. I was informed that there was only one girl kept and I should be reauired to rise at five m the morhinr pnd that., I would be free to do what. l liked after 10 o'clock supper at nirtit. .-. Well, I migjht say after, that little day's work I should feel more inclined '(than' free) to £O to bed. Oh, I miphVsav that I was; to' receive the sum of nine shillings' a week. I am. just relating a few of mv exneriences. It would not do to mention them all or I should pity the poor ladies of Masterton, because they would not be able to get srirls, and then the poor, delicate creatures would have to work themselves, and that would never do. I do pity ' the ' little one that is grdwin/r and would have one day. -to go through the same had the Union hot come info force. Thankinc* you for touching on the subiect of the white slaves of Maoriland.—Yours, etc., "ONE WITH EXPERIENCE." Masterton, Dec. 10, 1900.