MISTRESS AND SERVANT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1671, 5 March 1890, Page 4

MISTRESS AND SERVANT.

The relation between domestics and their employers is not what it used to be. The old patriarchal relation is a thing of the past. Some years ago it was understood that the mistress was a sort of guardian to the servant and had absolute control over her in every way ; had a right to say how she should dress and how she should spend her leisure. Servants have rebelled against this rule ; they have asserted their rights, not always very judiciously or politely : and the consequence is that neither mistresses nor servants know fully where they are. After thinking a good deal about the matter, the conclusion we arrive at is, that in readjusting the relations the first thing to be done is for mistresses and servants to resolve to respect one another's rights. This is the attitude which will have to be taken up if the domestic wheels are to run smoothly. Let it be understood that the two parties stand towards each other in the position, not of guardian and ward, or patron and independent, but in the attitude of buyer and \ seller ; and let us see how this will work. The servant's stock-in-trade is her ability and willingness to do certain work, in a certain ■ way, at certain hours. The mistress has the right to say how and when the work shall be done, and also has the right to lay down certain rules of domestic management, whioh rules should bo set down 'in the bond.' But with the observance of these rules her rights end, and the servant's rights have possession of the field. 1 The mistress may and should try to influence on the ground of their common humanity ; but she has no claim to command. It is here where mistresses make a mistake ; they want to continue to command. Servants continually rebel against their assumption of authority ; and the more capable they are the less likely they are to submit to arbitrariness unless there are compensating advantages attached to the situation, which makes it worth their while to do so. The mistresses who suffer, however, are for the most part the mistresses who cannot accept the new regime. In the long run they will have to do so ; their opposition will not alter facta. We are not saying that the change described is a good one or a bad one ; we simply state that it has been effected. Therefore, what the mis tress has now to do who wants to manage her domestic affairs successfully, is to respect the rights of her servants as well as to claim her own. Kindly feeling may exist, but the foundation of her relations with her servants must depend, not upon ' kindness but upon justice. — From 1 CasßeU's Book of the Household.