"As such," continued Mrs.Dankshire, "we all recognize the difficult--the well-nigh insuperable problems of the"--she glanced at the gallery now paying awed attention--"domestic question.""We know how on the one hand our homes yawn unattended"--("I yawn while I'm attending--eh?" one gentleman in the rear suggested to his neighbor)--while on the other the ranks of mercenary labor are overcrowded.Why is it that while the peace and beauty, the security and comfort, of a good home, with easy labor and high pay, are open to every young woman, whose circumstances oblige her to toil for her living, she blindly refuses these true advantages and loses her health and too often what is far more precious!--in the din and tumult of the factory, or the dangerous exposure of the public counter."Madam Weatherstone was much impressed at this point, and beat her black fan upon her black glove emphatically.Mrs.Thaddler also nodded; which meant a good deal from her.The applause was most gratifying to the speaker, who continued:
"Fortunately for the world there are some women yet who appreciate the true values of life." A faint blush crept slowly up the face of Diantha, but her expression was unchanged.Whoso had met and managed a roomful of merciless children can easily face a woman's club.
"We have with us on this occasion one, as we my say, our equal in birth and breeding,"--Madam Weatherstone here looked painfully shocked as also did the Boston Marrow; possibly Mrs.Dankshire, whose parents were Iowa farmers, was not unmindful of this, but she went on smoothly, "and whose first employment was the honored task of the teacher; who has deliberately cast her lot with the domestic worker, and brought her trained intelligence to bear upon the solution of this great question--The True Nature of Domestic Service.In the interests of this problem she has consented to address us--I take pleasure in introducing Miss Diantha Bell."Diantha rose calmly, stepped forward, bowed to the President and officers, and to the audience.She stood quietly for a moment, regarding the faces before her, and produced a typewritten paper.It was clear, short, and to some minds convincing.
She set forth that the term "domestic industry" did not define certain kinds of labor, but a stage of labor; that all labor was originally domestic; but that most kinds had now become social, as with weaving and spinning, for instance, for centuries confined to the home and done by women only; now done in mills by men and women; that this process of socialization has now been taken from the home almost all the manufactures--as of wine, beer, soap, candles, pickles and other specialties, and part of the laundry work; that the other processes of cleaning are also being socialized, as by the vacuum cleaners, the professional window-washers, rug cleaners, and similar professional workers; and that even in the preparation of food many kinds are now specialized, as by the baker and confectioner.That in service itself we were now able to hire by the hour or day skilled workers necessarily above the level of the "general."A growing rustle of disapproval began to make itself felt, which increased as she went on to explain how the position of the housemaid is a survival of the ancient status of woman slavery, the family with the male head and the group of servile women.
"The keynote of all our difficulty in this relation is that we demand celibacy of our domestic servants," said Diantha.
A murmur arose at this statement, but she continued calmly:
"Since it is natural for women to marry, the result is that our domestic servants consist of a constantly changing series of young girls, apprentices, as it were; and the complicated and important duties of the household cannot be fully mastered by such hands."The audience disapproved somewhat of this, but more of what followed.
She showed (Mrs.Porne nodding her head amusedly), that so far from being highly paid and easy labor, house service was exacting and responsible, involving a high degree of skill as well as moral character, and that it was paid less than ordinary unskilled labor, part of this payment being primitive barter.
Then, as whispers and sporadic little spurts of angry talk increased, the clear quiet voice went on to state that this last matter, the position of a strange young girl in our homes, was of itself a source of much of the difficulty of the situation.
"We speak of giving them the safety and shelter of the home,"--here Diantha grew solemn;--"So far from sharing our homes, she gives up her own, and has none of ours, but the poorest of our food and a cramped lodging; she has neither the ******* nor the privileges of a home; and as to shelter and safety--the domestic worker, owing to her peculiarly defenceless position, furnishes a terrible percentage of the unfortunate."A shocked silence met this statement.
"In England shop-workers complain of the old custom of 'sleeping in'--their employers furnishing them with lodging as part payment; this also is a survival of the old apprentice method.With us, only the domestic servant is held to this antiquated position."Regardless of the chill displeasure about her she cheerfully pursued:
"Let us now consider the economic side of the question.'Domestic economy' is a favorite phrase.As a matter of fact our method of domestic service is inordinately wasteful.Even where the wife does all the housework, without pay, we still waste labor to an enormous extent, requiring one whole woman to wait upon each man.If the man hires one or more servants, the wastes increase.If one hundred men undertake some common business, they do not divide in two halves, each man having another man to serve him--fifty productive laborers, and fifty cooks.
Two or three cooks could provide for the whole group; to use fifty is to waste 47 per cent.of the labor.
