"WHO SHALL SERVE?"

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 6737, 19 December 1900, Page 4

"WHO SHALL SERVE?"

Wrilton specially for llio Wairahaw Daily Times.]

This quostioii which forms. ,lhu tillo of'ono 'of'th'o most beautiful Btories uyor \yritton i by.A UD ' , ?^ w l u i or" by' iiuyouo'olso, still awaits an answor; nud the answer, bocomes moro problematical every day. It is' aiUl to witness the iuoroasinu; "dolicncy" of servants. LikoAgap;, Lliey "como dulicaloly," or, aatho word in the Greek Suptuaj,'inl meaiis, " niiuciiij; ub tlioy walk.". They alio'not 'always as delicate in their lui'tuuorof Viii/,'."\.

The word doliculo is ut vory com- , (iruiiousivo ono, and Booms to have buuu eoiuod ou purpose to obuiae- ( teriso uur domestic mined™, who out ' their steps into small pioooß indooil, ' bill wbo do not ulways_ uiinOo matters ivliou Ibeyspouk their grout ! miuda. "Delicacy" moans _ rotirpuißiilofßousibilityortaslßi fineness, i tlicOHOBI), Buftllßßß, pIoUSUIItIIOSB .fo tlio tale; dniiiliiißHs; sometimes effeminacy (us in tlio oiibb of iiiVablo archangels in canary plush' ajul peach-silk slocking). Delicacy Buggoals or* impließ finouusa of texiuro; eleguul or fomiuino boauty; nicely; raiuuto uccunioy; ueattiesa in dross; elegance proceeding, from « nicti soluotiou uud adjustment of tlio BBVorul purls of dress (nothing wjill inducu us to go into particulars); suftnuuß of mauuors; civility or pblilouußß proceeding from ut ujco obsorvuuco of propriety and a desire to plouso; tenderness; scrupulousiiobb; tlio quality manifoßud in nco attuulion to right, uud euro to avoid wrong oroit'ouco; nice susceptibility of opinion; uud, uotably itimplibß, requiring nico liaudliugj uot to bo uuduly or hastily dealt with. "Thero aro Bomo thlugs too delicate mid too Bacrud to bo buudled rudely," said jj', W, RoborlBon: it is true he was uot speaking, of domestic servants, but bo might bavo been.' Micooy meanß all this, uud a great deal mora, if wo may beliovo tbo immortul volume which littlo boyß call 'Dixon's Johnsonry'; tbo volume which Becky Sharp, after putting her pulo faco out of Ibo cab window, aotuully Hung buck into tlio garden of the Academy for Young Ladies of Chiswiok Mall which was kept by the Somiramis of Hammerniitb, Miss Piukorton. Attaching, then, to tlio word ' delicacy' the trifling list of meanings given abovo, it will bo ovidout to the meanest capacity that it oxactly characterises the domestic servant of to-day. We havo no dosire to moralise; we moroly offer a few remarks in the iloratian vein: Ridenkm (fere vemmquid velul't It is true there was Ono who, though" He thought it not robbery to bo equal with God, took upon him the form of a servant." But all that our servants know of His name is that it is useful for ruoro or less ornamental blasphemy, Our education is secular, it is also freo, in more senses than one. Wo havo pondorod sadly for many years over this subject, and have occasionally uttered a few stray opinions on it, ' Experience does it,' us the Laliu grammar taught us, And we have learned that mastors aud mistresses aio the people who really kuow the iuward meaning of the phraso 'TheHigher Criticism,' The crickot ou the hearth is by no inouuß so Biiggostivo of Ohristmaß goodwill as the cricket ou the hoartu that chirped at Charles Dickens' bidding. It is a curious fact, by the way, that tlio woll-kuowu sounds produced by the house-cricket and tbedomesliooriticboth proceed from the friction of plates. It is very probable that wo have boon too much accustomed to look at the ' servant' question from Solomon's point of view (we are all Solomons more or less): "Ho that delicately briugoth up his servant shall bavo beeouio his aervnut at the last." Soholars tell us that the Hebrew word reuderod 'sou' may mean ' refractory' j but surely the terms are convertible. It seems, however, that in the present crisis one is asked to agree with "John P. Robinson, lie says they didn't kuow everything down in Judeo," A lady, who signs 'Martha Major,' has written at some length in Mucmillaris

Miujudne on tbo domestic problem. Sbo siiys: 'Nothing could well be worse than our present position. Wo havo to keep very unsatisfactory peoplo iu our houses, and are constrained to keop silence lost we be left without a substitute, which if it contiuued too long would result in tho rest of tbo servants giving warning, and liuully in our being left to shift for ourselves,' Hor main point is ilmt it is not the work that the sonants object to, so much as the restrictions and loss of social prestige Amongst other remedies she suggests these: abolish tho word servant; call them employees as you do the young women iu shops; onforce black or dark dressos only when they aro on duty; abolish caps; address them iib Miss Brown or Miss Jones; give them two afternoons a week to themselves, and alternate Sundays from midday; repealyour sumptuary laws against ' fringes,' and extravagauco in dress. The result ■ of universal education, which is not, bo it remembered in its second or third generation, is clearly to produce a feeling of equality. Youug women iu shops are invariably addressed as ' Miss,* and are reforred to as the young ladies of the establishment; servants aro the only class not so addrossed, It is obvious to remark here that one sorvico is of it private, domestic, family nature, while the other partakes of a less intimate and moro public and business nature. The logical damßols reason thus: 'All young ladies are Misses: no servants are Misses; therefore no servants aro young ladies.' Wo may wonder why they should cure about tho prefix; yet it is not wonderful at all; for the uso of a uame without a prefix certainly implies iu a marked manner social inferiority. This is tho mix of the wholo question, aro thoy or are thoy not socially inferior ? In view of somo of her proposed iomedies, Martha Major says: 'Many will say that thoy would not care to have servants' in tho houso who considered thomsolves ladios, and thoreI'oro tho equal ol their omployer; that (Ley would expect, to sit in the drawing-room; and so on, Nothing of the kind would follow; shop assistants do not expect tbo owuors of tbo shop to invite thorn to dinner, , . . and house-employees would also perfectly understand tho situalion.' Do you think they would, Martha?. How would Martha's system work in a couutry-houso for instance? Supposo tho uiUßtor wants to hurry his breakfast, the correct mode of doing so will be for him to address the first 'young lady' he sees thus: 'Miss Majoribanks, excuse me, but will you he good enough to ask Miss Oadwalla-der-Scralcuil to begMissFeathersf onbaugh to he kind enough to hurry breakfast a liltlo; and will you also oblige mo by asking Mr KugglosBugg to.send word toMrMaltravers that if ogreeablo to him 1 should like Mr Smyth-Jones to go with me ; in tho dog-cart if ho is disougaged and if the rain holds off,' Will this j sorji of humbug raise the prestigo of ] the young ladies who Dll tho respon- ' sible positions of housemaid, parlour- - maid,andcook,or of tho gentleman's gentleman, of the couebmau, or the groom P Will it confer social • equality? No sponger proof can be . givon of natural social inferiority t than the vulgar and intensoly silly desire of asses to masquorado in lions'skins. We do not imply for a j moment that all servants are asses, or that all masters are wild beasts. ' p,h! no. There are exceptions, eyon

in'itho W«jrnrnß«•. Wo bayp„bowovbr, noticed tliat tIiOBG of 'the servant club'hwlio are onsen ore ondowed, as Ualuam's was, with.-, the gift of a tongui!;' and' : wo cannot'dony that matiy ; 'mistrossos adopt tb'o mad proji.li'BtXraodoofoaforciiignßljioi'ity) capecially when they are 'in the wroiiß. 1 MuHlolmind mistrbflseß nib ofton much to blamo;bul'Hoayen only knows how their fyrboaraijco 'm tried. How many ut nmslor, sick to death of'domestic worries, exclaims with Othollo-

' 0 curse Tlial wo con call those delicate creatures OUN,' And not their appolitos I' Ami - the Moor will speak for llio mistress as well',

' Yet that's not much :- bho'n gono; lam abused; and my relief Must bo to loathe her."

But do not lot the good lady imagine for a momont that the mallor ends hero; tlio noxt. boiir blib will sing in ut minor koy—it is a molodyof , Moore's, George Mooro's wo mean, not Tom's-r-' I don't know what we shall do, I don't know what wo are coming to—servants aro gottiug' too strong for us, My last cook gayouß no end of trouble, the butler used to havo.to lock himsolf in his pantry to keep out of her way, and yet I had to give her a character, Of courso, it is vory wrong to ouablo'hcrtothrußt heruelf upou another family, but what was Itodo ? I could not deprive bet' of llio means of earning hoi' living; slio'll'giyo trouble whoreover blio goes, Thero is no remedy, there really is not; unless wo ladies combiuo aud refuse lo give characters. 1 In otio soubo, it is true, we should respect our servants, and all truo gentlemen of bolbsoxesdoso. New Zealand prides horsolf on muking the moulds for the castingß of tbo law-founders of the uuiveraal world. Lot tbo world understand that, undor our ridiou-Ipusly-Diirtietl Constellation, the Southern Cross-bred maidons are all " high-toned" young ladies, who, foi a noble " honorarium)" triple our matutinal bacon, and dust our uneasy chairs; that they are treated like the Duchesses in a penny novel; and that a request that our clear soap may not be uiado of Morton's gelatine, or that our "uatural wool" combinations may not be boiled alivo, is as "humbly submitted" by a palpitating mistress as if it were a memorial to the Queen in Council. The world will then perceive that we have so far. solved the problem as to' who shall servo,'' aa to make it clear that the answer is 'certainly not tbo BervanlsV "They also serve who only stand aud wait" tlio good pleasure of their servants. Is it possiblo that our experimental domestic furming may carry us too far-over the hedge, in fact? The outlook is not cheerful, nearly eyery mistress one rueetß is as full of woe as tho Ancient Mariner, Wo are sure of one thing—if all soldiers were officers, tho officers would be no soldiers,