they are less there than in Italy, and especially in England “where one
cannot go out to dine without encountering, on leaving, all the servants
drawn up in line and holding out their hands.”
[354] “It is very stupid, but it is generally done.”—German housekeeper,
Dresden.
“The cook makes about three marks a month in this way.”—German
housekeeper, Berlin.
“The ‘sou in the franc’ that certain tradesmen agree to give servants is
not only tolerated, but it is recognized as a right.”—M. G. Salomon, p.
549.
“In the expression ‘theft’ we do not hesitate to include the ‘dancing
of the basket’; the ‘sou in the franc’ given by some dealers does not
constitute an act of disloyalty on the part of the domestic. It is for
the master, if he would escape this tax, to levy it on the tradesmen less
clever in advertising, unless he is very sure that the merchant makes the
servant this allowance _out of his profits alone_.”—Weber, p. 47.
“In fact, the part taken by our servants in the purchase and use of
almost all articles of consumption makes a necessary increase in the
wages paid. Thus even before coming to the kitchen, provisions undergo
an increase in cost from the fact that they are bought by the mercenary
person who attends to the marketing; this does not include customary
augmentations, the sou per pound or the sou in the franc, said to be met
by the merchant, and certain others which, on account of their constant
increase, deserve special mention.”—Bienaymé, pp. 366-367.
“What is done by these servants hired for a limited time? They go to the
merchant and impose upon him the law of division of profits. The merchant
raises the price, and the stranger buys the article for more than it
should cost. These servants even levy a tax upon the eating-house keeper;
the livery-stable keeper is obliged to pay them as much as twenty sous a
day; these profits have become customary.”—Mercier, V., 156.
Bouniceau-Gesmon, pp. 107-113, cites from an unnamed English author a
long account of similar practices in England.
“My cook always gets three lire from the butcher and three from the
grocer at Christmas.”—Italian housekeeper.
[355] M. Colletet narrates the story of a young girl from the country who
was told of a situation where in addition to her regular wages she could
get various profits, such as ashes, old shoes, remnants of bread and
meat, and various tidbits.—_Le Tracas de Paris_, p. 229.
M. Babeau, p. 283, cites from Fournier, _Vanités historiques et
littéraires_, V., 243-257, the advice of an old servant to a new one as
to ways of cheating his master, such as burning much wood in order to
have many ashes, saving from articles for the table, etc. It is thus that
a cook has been able to lay up enough to buy five large farms, while her
husband, the coachman, has on his part saved out of the hay and straw
bought for the stables.
“A large number of cooks increase these profits by illicit gains, and
the tradesmen themselves, with no other reason than the fear of losing
their customers, obligingly wink at, or rather become parties in, this
trickery.”—M. Jules Simon, cited by M. Salomon, p. 549.
“The cook either brings short weight or reports paying a higher price
than he has paid—he has many dodges. The housekeeper must weigh over
again the articles purchased, or go to market to ascertain, if possible,
the real price of articles bought, or submit to imposition.”—Housekeeper
in Spain.
[356] Under this head come cast-off clothing, skins of animals, bones,
tallow, drippings, etc. A. Weber, _Les Usages locaux_, p. 48.
[357] “Beer (or beer money) is allowed at the rate of about one pint a
day for women-servants.”—Booth, VIII., 220 (1896).
Miss Collet considers it established that in England the custom of paying
beer money is dying out, many employers not only give no beer money but
also give no beer. _Report_, p. 29 (1899).
In Italy women-servants are allowed one-half pint of wine per day, and
men-servants one pint. The wine is given out each day, or the money
equivalent at the end of the month.
[358] _Les Usages locaux_, p. 52.
[359] The laws of insurance against accident, sickness, invalidism, and
old age compel the employer to pay one-half the insurance,—about three
dollars per year. It is said, however, that as a rule the employer pays
the entire amount. It is true this amount is small in families employing
but one servant and paying low wages, but where several servants are kept
and high wages given the total amount is considerable. On the other hand,
the burden is often relatively, though not absolutely, heavier in the
family with one servant on low wages, since this means a small income.
The amount of insurance varies with the wages, but the wages received by
most domestics place them in Class II. The government rates board and
lodging received by servants at 350_M._ per annum, and this with the
cash wages received puts the insurance at about three dollars annually,
an amount slightly in excess of that paid by the employees in Class I.
See _Unfallversicherungsgesetz_, _Krankenversicherungsgesetz_, and _Das
Reichsgesetz über die Invaliditäts- und Altersversicherung_. Each of the
states of the Empire has its own _Gesindeordnung_ and the conditions of
insurance are often stated in these.
[360] In France scarcely forty years ago it was considered impossible to
ascertain the wages paid domestic servants. _Statistique de la France.
Prix et salaires à diverses époques._ Paris, 1863. Cited by M. Gustave
Bienaymé in _Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris_, November,
1899.
[361] M. Bienaymé has attempted, with the aid of information gained
through employment bureaus, personal recollections, household expense
books, and similar means, to give the wages paid in France since 1815.
The results of his investigations seem to show that wages in nearly every
branch of domestic service have steadily increased since that time,
until now the wages of an ordinary cook are 50 francs per month and a
chambermaid the same, while a general servant receives 40 francs per
month, the wages of all these classes of house servants having doubled
the past sixty years. At the same time the cost of maintenance has also
increased. He gives a table showing the increase, or in some cases the
decrease, in wages in every branch of domestic service during this
period. _Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris_, November, 1899.
Practically the same estimates are given by M. Georges Salomon in “La
Domesticité,” _La Nouvelle Revue_, February 1, 1886. He cites a similar
opinion from M. Jules Simon.
Mr. Booth shows a gradual increase in the wages of servants as they grow
older or are advanced to better positions, but this does not necessarily
show a general increase from year to year. VIII., pt. II., _passim_.
Mr. A. E. Bateman considers it impossible to state, for England, what the
movement of wages in domestic service has been. _Journal of the Royal
Statistical Society_, LXI., 264-265.
[362] An account of the protest against this on the part of the
“Amalgamated Waiters’ Society” is given by the London correspondent of
_The Evening Post_ (New York) in the issue of December 10, 1900.
[363] A writer in _Le Matin_ (Paris) of April 15, 1900, urges the
formation of a society each member of which shall pledge himself not to
give fees.
[364] Mr. William Clarke, in _The Social Future of England_, sums up
the character of domestic service in England in saying: “It is true
that English middle-class service is bad, and even growing worse, and
this will continue so long as factory labor is preferred to domestic
service. But there is probably no country where the wealthy can secure
such efficient and fairly honest service in the butler, valet, lady’s
maid, and housekeeper lines as in England.”—_The Contemporary Review_,
December, 1900.
The historical question whether the character of the service has ever
been any better than it is at present must also remain unanswered for
the same reason. Pandolfini in _Il Governo della Famiglia_ finds the
philosophical explanation of poor service in Italy during the fifteenth
century in the tendency of servants to seek their own interests rather
than those of their masters—an explanation limited by neither time nor
place. All literature goes to show that our own age is not alone in
finding it difficult to secure those who will “carry the message to
Garcia.”
[365] _Barber of Seville_, I., 2.
[366] The employer as a rule commands absolutely the time of the
employee; for example, in Germany the employee spends her time in
knitting for the family, in working out of doors, or in similar ways. The
hours everywhere seemed to me much longer than those required in America,
largely owing to the lateness of the evening meal, which is universally
dinner in France, Italy, and England.
[367] The lack of elevators in even large apartment houses, the necessity
of storing fuel—unless bought in small quantities—in the cellar, the
absence of a common heating system, no arrangements for carrying water
to every room and the difficulty of securing an adequate supply of hot
water, the necessity of daily marketing, the little use of ice, the
punctiliousness with which the top box on the top shelf of the closet
must be dusted, especially in Germany and in Holland, the endless
scrubbing of floors and stairs and polishing of brass and copper, the use
of candles and kerosene in private houses and even in large pensions and
hotels,—these are but suggestions of ways in which domestic service is
much harder than it is in America.
[368] The living accommodations provided for employees seemed to me
everywhere distinctly inferior to those provided in America. In London,
“as far as possible the men are lodged in the basement, while the women
have their rooms at the top of the house. This arrangement, though always
desirable, often necessitates two or even three men using the servants’
hall as their bedroom, while another sleeps in the pantry, and another
beneath the stairs. Breathing space is restricted and the want of air,
and high living, coupled with the absence of hard work or exercise, lead
naturally to a demand for some form of stimulant, with the result that
numbers of men-servants ultimately take to drink.”—Booth, VIII., 228-229.
The sleeping rooms given servants are small and cheerless, hot in summer
and cold in winter, while often the only place provided for taking meals
is a corner of the kitchen table.
[369] Bouniceau-Gesmon finds a fundamental difference between slavery
and domestic service, as indeed there is, and denies that one is the
outgrowth of the other, since the two have sometimes existed side by
side. _Domestiques et Maîtres_, chap. I. But while the one is bond and
the other free, and while the labor performed in both states is the same
and should be honorable, the fact remains that the domestic servant has
inherited to a great degree the social opprobrium that attached to the
slave and the serf.
[370] Gil Blas, Figaro, and Lafleur have long stood as types of the
eighteenth century valet. Walter Scott says of the former, “as to
respect, it is the last thing which he asks at his reader’s hand.”
[_Biographical Memoir of Le Sage._] Both Dean Swift and Daniel DeFoe
sharpened their pens with infinite pains in describing the servants of
their times. At a later date the pencil of Cruikshank found employment
in illustrating Mayhew’s _Greatest Plague in Life_, while _Punch_ for
years revelled in the opportunities afforded by “servant-gallism.”
Babeau, Bouniceau-Gesmon, and Salomon show similar conditions in France.
“Stealing is an infamous thing—it is the sin of a lackey,” remarks a
priest to a pupil who confessed a theft. Cited by Babeau, p. 290. “To lie
like a lackey” is almost proverbial.
[371] There are indeed many illustrations of servants of an altogether
different character—Caleb in _The Bride of Lammermoor_ and Marcel in _The
Huguenots_ are types of the faithful servitor who alike in prosperity and
in adversity remains constant to the family in whose service he was born.
The fact remains, however, that the servant exists as a type in European
literature as he does not in that of America.
[372] _La Nouvelle Revue_, February 1, 1886.
[373] “It is, in fact, almost necessary to have an inherited aptitude for
the relationship involved—a relationship very similar in some respects
to that subsisting between sovereign and subject. From both servant and
subject there is demanded an all-pervading attitude of watchful respect,
accompanied by a readiness to respond at once to any gracious advance
that may be made without ever presuming or for a moment ‘forgetting
themselves.’”—Booth, VIII., 225.
[374] “The habits of servants in large houses and the strict observance
of etiquette give rise to some very curious customs. There are three
grades of servants, named ‘kitchen,’ ‘hall,’ and ‘room,’ after the places
in which they take their meals.”—Booth, VIII., 229.
“There is no class less open to democratic ideas than a contented
servant class. Compared with them their titled and wealthy employers are
revolutionists. They cannot bear change, their minds are saturated with
the idea of social grades and distinctions, they will not even live with
one another on terms of social equality.”—William Clarke, _Contemporary
Review_, December, 1900.
[375] Mercier speaks of establishments where valets and maids had
themselves valets and lackeys (XI., 277), and says that generally a
lackey in the upper classes takes the name of his master when he goes
with other lackeys, as he also adopts his customs, his gestures, his
manners, carries a gold watch, and wears lace; a lackey _du dernier ton_
even wears two watches like his master (II., 124).
“The maid of a visitor ranks, of course, with the upper servants. She
is addressed not by her own name, but by the surname or title of her
mistress.”—Booth, VIII., 230.
[376] “I have four servants in London who do the work two used to do in
New York.”—American housekeeper in London. Booth, VIII., 225-230 _passim_.
[377] Booth, VIII., 224.
An interesting illustration of the social stratification in England is
suggested by the sermons delivered to servants by the late Master of
Balliol. _Sermons_, pp. vii., 348. Lewis Carroll “was always ready and
willing to preach at the special service for college servants which used
to be held at Christ Church every Sunday evening.”—Collingwood, _Life and
Letters of Lewis Carroll_, p. 77.
[378] The home for aged servants in Dresden is under the immediate
patronage of the Queen. In 1892, when visited, it had accommodations for
fifteen women who must be at least sixty-two years old and give proof
of having been a servant before being admitted. It does not apparently
differ in principle from a well-conducted old ladies’ home except that
its inmates must all have been servants.
[379] There are many of these homes where girls out of employment can
have comfortable accommodations at a reasonable rate. One of the most
interesting is the “Heimatshaus für Mädchen” in Berlin. In 1892 it was
located under the “Stadtbahn” or elevated railroad of the city. Under
pressure it could accommodate two hundred and was constantly increasing
its facilities. In 1891 five thousand girls had found in it a temporary
home. They remained on an average about five days. Each occupant pays 25
pfennigs for lodging, 10 for coffee, 15 for dinner, and 10 for supper.
Even at these very low rates the home is self-supporting. The only
source of income is the fees paid to the employment bureau carried on in
connection with the home. Every employer pays 3 marks when he secures a
servant through the bureau, and every employee pays the same when a place
is secured. That the class of servants who frequent it have a family
likeness to their sisters in America was indicated by the questions
overheard asked by would-be servants of prospective employers: “How many
children are there in the family?” “How many servants do you keep?” “Is
there running water in your flat?” “How many flights up do you live?”
[380] The Sonntags-Verein has its headquarters in Berlin where in 1892 it
had twenty-nine unions under its charge, with one hundred and twenty-one
in other parts of Germany and six in Russia, England, and Austria. Its
work is almost exclusively religious in character, but entertainment is
provided consisting of music, games, and reading, and beer or tea is
served with bread and butter. About fifteen hundred girls were members of
the Berlin branches in 1892. The difficulty of starting and maintaining
these unions was very great. The free time of household employees is
every other or every third Sunday afternoon, so that attendance is very
irregular and interest correspondingly fluctuating. Employers often
discourage the attendance of their employees, saying that they need rest
rather than recreation, while the girls themselves often prefer the
coffee-houses or beer gardens. The _Deutsche Mädchen-Zeitung_ in 1892 had
been published twenty-three years in the interests of the Verein and had
a circulation of four thousand copies. These, however, were not taken by
the girls themselves, but by their employers for them. “The Germans never
wish to pay for anything themselves, they wish everything given them,”
said a German employer in explanation. The Sonntags-Verein owed its
inception to the interest in the class of household employees taken by
Frau Banquier Lösche, and since her death, four years ago, the work has
been carried on by her daughter.
[381] These usually receive young girls after they have been
confirmed,—at about fourteen years of age,—and train them in everything
pertaining to the house. They do not naturally at that age go of their
own accord, but they are taken by their parents or guardians who often
sign a contract, agreeing that the girl will remain in the school
at least one or two years, as the case may be. The schools are well
attended, and the girls apparently contented.
Edward S. Joynes, in his report on the _Industrial Education of Women in
Germany_ (Columbia, S.C., 1896), gives a full description of the training
in domestic work given in the regular German industrial schools for girls.
[382] At least two important historical studies of the topic have been
made,—one by Mr. Albert Matthews on “The Terms Hired Man and Help,” and
one by Mr. James D. Butler on “British Convicts Shipped to American
Colonies.” Statistical investigations of the subject have been carried on
by the state bureaus of labor in Minnesota, Colorado, and Indiana. The
Massachusetts bureau has collated the results of investigations made by
the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union of Boston, Miss Isabel Eaton
has made an exhaustive study of negro domestic service in the seventh
ward of the city of Philadelphia, different branches of the Association
of Collegiate Alumnæ have carried on valuable local inquiries into the
question, while the bureau of labor in Washington is about undertaking
a comprehensive study of the entire subject. The New York state library
has issued a full list of articles and books bearing on the matter, and
the city libraries of Providence, Rhode Island, and Salem, Massachusetts,
have published similar lists. In view of these facts it seems not
unreasonable to make the above claim.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
SCHEDULE NO. I.—EMPLOYERS
STATISTICS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE
The graduates of Vassar College, Classes of ’88 and ’89, desire to
collect statistics in regard to the subject of domestic service, and ask
your assistance.
The work has grown out of a belief that a knowledge of some of the
actual conditions of such service, as viewed from the standpoint of
both employer and employee, is essential to an intelligent discussion
of this question. It is hoped to tabulate the results obtained, showing
the average wages paid in each occupation, the length of time employed,
etc. The statistics, to be of value, must represent the experiences of
many housekeepers in many localities, and the co-operation of all who are
interested in the subject is earnestly solicited. Three schedules are
sent you upon which to supply information.
SCHEDULE NO. I.—For Employers (mistresses of households).
SCHEDULE NO. II.—For Employees (domestic servants of all kinds).
SCHEDULE NO. III.—For Educational Statistics (from teachers, etc., in the
kinds of schools specified).
These schedules are sent to all housekeepers and their employees who can
be communicated with by the members of the Classes of ’88 and ’89 and the
Department of History.
Will you please fill out the following blank and return it to the person
sending it to you, or to the address given below? Please complete all the
columns relating to each person in your employ.
Only estimates can be given in reply to Questions 7, 10, and 12.
If any question—as No. 17—is not applicable to you, this sign—X—may
be used.
A prompt reply will be considered as a special favor.
_All personal information will be treated as confidential._ The name is
asked as a guarantee of good faith, to avoid sending duplicates, and to
render possible further correspondence in regard to special points of
experience. It may, however, be omitted if desired.
Please return to—DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY,
VASSAR COLLEGE,
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.
December 1, 1889.
I Number engaged in each occupation
II Place of birth. If foreign born, state the number of years each
employee has resided in this country.
III Time in your employ
IV Paid by the day, week, or month
V Amount
VI With or without board
VII Actual working hours per day
VIII Time allowed each week
IX Vacation time allowed during year
X With or without loss of wages
============+=================+=================+=======================
| NUMBER ETC. | WAGES | LABOR
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
OCCUPATIONS | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII| IX | X
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
WOMEN | | | | | | | | | |
GENERAL | | | | | | | | | |
SERVANTS | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
SECOND GIRLS| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
COOKS AND | | | | | | | | | |
LAUNDRESSES| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
COOKS | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
LAUNDRESSES | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
CHAMBERMAIDS| | | | | | | | | |
AND | | | | | | | | | |
WAITRESSES | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
CHAMBERMAIDS| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
WAITRESSES | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
NURSES | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
SEAMSTRESSES| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
MEN | | | | | | | | | |
BUTLERS | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
COACHMEN AND| | | | | | | | | |
GARDENERS | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
COACHMEN | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
GARDENERS | | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| | | | | $ | | | | |
------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| | | | | $ | | | | |
============+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====
1. Name of Employer, ____
2. Post Office, ____ 3. County, ____
4. State, ____ 5. Date, ____
6. Do you live in a city, in a town, or in the country? ____
7. Estimated present population of city or town, ____
8. Leading industries of city or town, ____
9. Are women and girls employed in these industries? ____
10. Estimated total number so employed, ____
11. Are women and girls employed as clerks? ____
12. Estimated total number so employed, ____
13. Length of time you have been housekeeping, ____
14. Total number of domestic servants employed during that
time, ____
15. Length of time without servants, ____
16. Length of time you have boarded, ____
17. Length of time you have boarded since marriage, ____
18. Number of persons in your family, ____
19. Name any special privileges granted your servants, such as
single rooms, the use of a sitting-room, etc., ____
20. Have you paid, as a rule, higher or lower wages this
year than last year, and in what branches of occupation,
respectively? ____
21. Nature of the service rendered. Is it “Excellent,” “Good,”
“Fair,” or “Poor”? Please specify by kinds of employment, ____
22. Have you found it difficult to obtain good domestic
servants? ____
23. What explanation of the difficulty can you give? ____
24. How do you think the difficulty can be lessened or removed?
____
SCHEDULE NO. II.—EMPLOYEES
STATISTICS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE
1. Name, ____
2. Place of birth, ____
3. Present residence (city or town, and state), ____
4. Name of present employer, ____
5. Present occupation, ____
6. Years of service in present occupation, ____
7. Years of service with present employer, ____
8. Number of previous employers (domestic occupations), ____
9. Whole number of years engaged in domestic occupations, ____
10. Present wages received, per week, $____; per month, $____
11. Highest wages received from previous employers, per week,
$____; per month, $____
12. Lowest wages received from previous employers, per week,
$____; per month, $____
13. Have you ever had any regular employment other than
housework? ____
14. Name such kinds of employment, ____
15. Highest wages received in other than domestic occupations,
per week, $____; per month, $____
16. Lowest wages received in other than domestic occupations,
per week, $____; per month, $____
17. Why do you choose housework as your regular employment? ____
18. What reasons can you give why more women do not choose
housework as a regular employment? ____
19. Would you give up housework if you could find another
occupation that would pay you as well? ____
NOTE.—All personal information will be treated as confidential.
Please return the Schedule to the person giving it to you, or
to—
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY,
VASSAR COLLEGE,
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.
December 1, 1889.
SCHEDULE NO. III.—SCHOOLS, ETC.
STATISTICS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE
SCHOOLS FOR TRAINING DOMESTIC SERVANTS
1. City or Town, and State, ____
2. Number of such schools, ____
3. How supported, ____
4. Number that can be accommodated at the present time, ____
5. Present number in attendance, ____
6. Greatest number ever in attendance, ____
7. Total number in attendance since organization, ____
PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHERE HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENTS ARE TAUGHT
8. City or Town, and State, ____
9. Number of such schools, ____
10. Kinds of employment taught, ____
11. Is instruction compulsory or optional? ____
12. Is the object of such instruction technical or general? ____
13. Present number receiving such instruction, ____
PRIVATE SCHOOLS WHERE HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENTS ARE TAUGHT
14. Names of schools, ____
15. City or Town, and State, ____
16. Present number receiving such instruction, ____
WOMEN’S EXCHANGES, ETC.
17. Please give, below, instances with which you are acquainted
of
1. Women’s exchanges.
2. Co-operative housekeeping.
3. Food prepared at home for sale outside.
4. Housework, not including ordinary day labor or sewing done
by persons other than regular servants,
and state also how far the results in these cases have been
remunerative, ____
Name, ____
Address, ____
Please return the Schedule to the person giving it to you, or to
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY,
VASSAR COLLEGE,
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.
December 1, 1889.
APPENDIX II
The following table shows the geographical distribution of the replies
received to the schedules sent out.
=================================================================
| NUMBERS
+-------------------------------------------
STATES | CITIES AND TOWNS | EMPLOYERS | EMPLOYEES
| REPRESENTED | |
---------------------+------------------+-----------+------------
Alabama | 2 | 2 | 11
California | 13 | 30 | 76
Colorado | 2 | 2 | 2
Connecticut | 18 | 37 | 86
District of Columbia | 1 | 13 | 32
Florida | 3 | 3 | 8
Illinois | 27 | 58 | 146
Indiana | 11 | 45 | 94
Iowa | 14 | 38 | 68
Kansas | 4 | 6 | 9
Kentucky | 2 | 5 | 9
Louisiana | 2 | 2 | 2
Maine | 4 | 6 | 6
Maryland | 1 | 5 | 16
Massachusetts | 53 | 199 | 486
Michigan | 21 | 45 | 80
Minnesota | 5 | 6 | 12
Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 1
Missouri | 4 | 26 | 90
Nebraska | 4 | 12 | 21
Nevada | 1 | 2 | 2
New Hampshire | 5 | 5 | 6
New Jersey | 16 | 42 | 126
New York | 58 | 231 | 606
North Carolina | 2 | 2 | 2
Ohio | 10 | 30 | 81
Pennsylvania | 18 | 58 | 202
Rhode Island | 4 | 8 | 32
South Carolina | 8 | 23 | 94
South Dakota | 2 | 2 | 2
Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 3
Texas | 5 | 31 | 72
Utah | 1 | 2 | 4
Vermont | 3 | 3 | 8
Virginia | 2 | 3 | 9
Washington | 2 | 2 | 3
Wisconsin | 9 | 19 | 38
---------------------+------------------+-----------+------------
Total | 339 | 1005 | 2545
=================================================================
APPENDIX III
The following circular letter was sent out in November, 1895, to the
members of the Civic Club of Philadelphia:
_The Committee on Household Economics to the Members of the
Civic Club_:
The following standards of work and wages are submitted by the
Committee on Household Economics to the members of the Civic
Club for their consideration, with a view to taking some action
on the subject during the next season.
If any amendments or additions suggest themselves to the
members of the Club, will they please note them in the blank
space left for that purpose, and send the paper to the Chairman
of the Household Economics at the address given below?
In case an applicant for service fails to come up to these
standards, the employer agrees to furnish instruction in the
points of failure, the employee agreeing to share half the
expense of such instruction by accepting a corresponding
reduction of weekly wages until skill is attained. It is
understood, of course, that the employer furnishes the proper
materials and utensils for the performance of the labor.
STANDARDS OF WORK AND WAGES IN HOUSEHOLD LABOR
COOKS AT $3.50 OR $4.00 PER WEEK
Must understand care of range or stove.
Must understand care of sinks and drains.
Must understand care of kitchen, cellar, and ice-chest.
Must understand care of utensils.
Must understand making bread, biscuit, muffins, and griddle cakes.
Must understand making soup stock.
Must understand roasting, boiling, and broiling meats.
Must understand dressing and cooking poultry.
Must understand cooking eggs, fish, and oysters.
Must understand cooking vegetables, fresh or canned.
Must understand making tea and coffee.
Must understand making plain desserts.
WAITRESSES AT $3.00 OR $3.50 PER WEEK
Must understand care of dining-room.
Must understand care of silver, glass, and china.
Must understand care and attention in waiting on the table.
Must understand care of parlor and halls.
Must understand answering the door-bell properly.
CHAMBERMAIDS AT $3.00 OR $3.50 PER WEEK
Must understand care of bedrooms.
Must understand care of beds and bedding.
Must understand sweeping and dusting.
Must understand care of toilet and bath-rooms.
Must understand care of hard-wood floors.
CHILD’S NURSE AT $3.00 OR $3.50 PER WEEK
Must understand washing, dressing, and feeding of children.
Must understand general care of the health and well-being of children.
LAUNDRESS AT $3.50 OR $4.00 PER WEEK
Must understand washing and ironing.
Must understand general care of bed- and table-linen and clothes.
SEAMSTRESS AT $3.50 OR $4.00 PER WEEK
Must understand plain sewing.
Must understand mending and darning.
Must understand use of sewing machine.
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INDEX
Advertisements of Indian servants in colonial times, 49, n.
Aladdin oven, 215.
Alsop, George, on condition of redemptioners in Maryland, 25.
American Economic Association, assistance of, in obtaining
statistics, preface, vii.
American domestic employees, dislike of, of competition with foreign
born and negro elements, 147.
American Statistical Association, assistance of, in obtaining
statistics, preface, vii.
Anburey, Thomas, on effect of slavery upon people of the South, 52, n.
Anti-slavery agitation, new occupations for women opened by, 11, 12.
Apartment house, a necessary evil at the present time, 191, 229.
Aristocracy, yielding of, to democracy, 227.
Arusmont, Madame d’, on influence of democratic spirit upon domestic
employees in America, 60.
Atwater, W. O., investigations of, in chemistry of foods, 261, n.
Australia, domestic service in, 128, n.
Babeau, A., _Les artisans et les domestiques d’autrefois_, 289, n.,
290, n., 291, n., 296, n.
Bacon, Alice M., on domestic service in Japan, 148, n., 209.
Bacon, Francis, protest of, against transportation of convicts to
America, 18, 19, n.
Bakers, colonial laws in Virginia to punish pilfering of, 32, n.
Baking done out of the house in Europe, 280.
Bateman, A. E., on wages in domestic service in England, 294, n.
Batman, Margery, wages of, 29.
Bellamy, Edward, on co-operative housekeeping, 192.
Berlin, Heimatshaus für Mädchen, 300, n.;
Sonntags-Verein, 300, n.
Bienaymé, G., _Le Coût de la vie à Paris_, 288, n., 291, n., 293, n.
Billon, M., on benefit of profit sharing, 238.
Bird, Isabella, on difficulty of procuring good servants, 58, 59.
Boarding, co-operative, 191, 192.
Booth, Charles, on domestic service in London, 128, n., 282, n., 286,
n., 287, n., 289, n., 292, n., 294, n., 298, n., 299, n.
Boston, poor service in 1636 in, 35.
Boston, negro servants in, about 1700, 51, n.
Boston Health Food Company, bread made by, 213, n.
Boston Oriental Tea Company, 216.
Boston Women’s Educational and Industrial Union, 126, n.
Boston Young Women’s Christian Association, employment bureau of,
116, n., 126, n.
Bouniceau-Gesmon, _Domestiques et maîtres_, 290, n., 291, n., 296, n.
Braddon, M. E., on domestic service in England, 128.
Bradford, Governor, his use of word “servant,” 69, n.
Braun, Otto, on legal relations between employer and employee in
Germany, 281, n., 282, n.
Bread, made better and more scientifically out of the home, 213.
Breck, Samuel, purchase of redemptioners by, 20, n.;
on wages paid to redemptioners by, 29;
on scarcity of good servants, 1817, 58.
Bruce, P. A., on legal prohibition of introduction of English
criminals into colonies, 19, n.
Bulley, Amy, on domestic service in England, 128.
Bushill, Mr., of Coventry, England, on benefit of profit sharing, 238.
Butler, James D., on “British Convicts Shipped to American Colonies,”
18, n., 302, n.
Butlers, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Cambridge, Mass., Co-operative Housekeeping Association, 187, 188.
Camping, prevalence of, has increased demand for prepared articles of
food, 216.
Canadians, Irish in factories displaced by, 11;
number of, in the United States, 78;
in domestic service, 79.
Cap and apron, as badge of servitude, 157, 210;
not mark of attainment or desire for neatness, 157, 209;
not necessarily badge of servitude, 209, 210;
regulations for wearing should be reasonable, 210.
Carroll, Lewis, on preaching to servants, 299, n.
Caterers, services of, growing in demand, 217.
Chambermaids, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97.
Chambermaids and waitresses, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Charleston, S.C., Employment Bureau, 173, n.
Cheese, manufacture of, transferred from home to factories, 215.
Chevalier, Michel, on Sunday privileges of servants, 1839, 58.
Child, Sir Joshua, on benefit to England of shipping convicts to
America, 17.
Chinese, in domestic service, number of, 64, n.;
have lowered its social position, 147, n.
Chinese domestics, character of service, 176, n.
Chinese immigration, 64.
Chinese treaty, 1844, effect on domestic service in America, 64.
Choremen, average wages of, statistics, 89, 95, 96.
Christian name, use of, in case of domestic employees, 156;
applied to no other class of workers, 156;
implies lack of dignity, 156;
allows unpleasant familiarity, 156;
custom should be abandoned or modified, 209.
Church sales of articles of food, 217.
Cities, majority of foreign born found in, 77, 78;
majority of domestic employees found in, 83;
manufacturing, have smallest relative number of domestic employees,
84.
City life, attraction of, for domestic employees, 83.
Clarke, William, on domestic service in England, 294, n., 298, n.
Clothing, men’s, manufacture of, transferred from the home to
business houses, 215.
Clothing, women’s, increase of its manufacture outside the home, 213,
216.
Clubs and societies, among domestic employees, 207.
Coachmen, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Coachmen and gardeners, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Cobbett, William, on self-respect of servants in America, 1828, 57,
58.
Coffee, roasting of, transferred from the kitchen to business firms,
214.
Coffee, sent hot from Boston to St. Louis, 216, n.
College students, experiments of, in co-operative boarding, 191.
College students, table service performed by, 142.
Collet, C. E., on domestic service in England, 280, n., 286, n., 288,
n., 289, n., 290, n., 292, n.
Colletet, F., _Le Tracas de Paris_ quoted, 291, n.
Colonial laws, regarding servants, 22-48;
law in Virginia binding servants coming without indenture, 23, 24;
in North Carolina, 24, n.;
in Maryland, 25, n.;
in West New Jersey, 25, n.;
laws regulating wages, 30, 31;
to prevent pilfering on part of servants, 32;
laws not specifically for household employees, but for all
servants, 37;
law to protect servants against ill-treatment from masters, 38-40;
to protect masters, 40-46;
latter more specific, 40;
relate chiefly to runaways, 40;
penalties for harboring runaways, 41-43;
rewards for capture of runaways, 43, 44;
means for prevention of runaways, 44;
laws for infliction of corporal punishment upon servants, 45;
for prevention of bartering with servants, 45, 46;
examples of laws placing oppressive restrictions upon servants, 47;
laws to prohibit freeing servants, 47, 48.
Colonial period of domestic service, see Domestic service.
Colored servants, see Negro domestic employees, Negro slaves.
Competition of other industries with domestic service, 68.
Compulsory insurance adds to wages in Germany and in Belgium, 292.
Concentration of capital and labor, an industrial tendency, 194.
Connecticut, redemptioners in, 20, 28;
instances of troubles with servants in colonial times, 36;
colonial law protecting servants against injury from master, 39, n.;
fixing penalties upon those who harbored runaways, 42;
fixing reward for capturing runaways, 44;
allowing corporal punishment, 45;
to prevent barter with servants, 46;
to prevent freeing of servants, 48.
Contracts, system of, in Germany, 281-283.
Convicts, transported, among the early colonial settlers, 17, 18;
as servants, 19;
term of service, 19.
See also Redemptioners.
“Cook,” as an appellation unobjectionable, 208.
Cooks, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97;
receive highest wages, 90;
give better satisfaction than general servants, 91;
social ostracism of, instance, 153, n.;
as skilled workers, should not be called “servants,” 208.
Cooks and laundresses, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Co-operation, an industrial tendency, 196.
Co-operation, in the family _versus_ co-operation with other
families, 232.
Co-operation, unconscious, characteristic of modern industry, 212;
allowed to operate by having work done out of the house, 226.
Co-operative boarding, 191, 192;
benefits of, 192.
Co-operative housekeeping, 186-193;
Mrs. Peirce’s description of, 186, 187;
advantages, 187;
Rochdale Pioneers, 187;
Cambridge, Mass. Co-operative Housekeeping Association, 187, 188;
weak points, 188-191;
does not allow for weaknesses of human nature, 188-190;
practical difficulties in serving food, 190;
not desired by majority, 190, 191;
“The Roby,” 191;
experiments usually co-operative boarding, simply, 191;
Mr. Bellamy’s scheme of, 192.
Corporal punishment of servants, colonial laws concerning, 45.
Cost of living as affected by specialization of household
employments, 230.
Darwin, Mrs. E. W., on domestic service in England, 128, n.
Davenant, Charles, on England’s good fortune in being able to ship
convicts to America, 17.
DeFoe, Daniel, _Behaviour of Servants_, 48, n., 114, 115, 120, n.,
128.
Delaware, colonial law fixing reward for capturing runaways, 44.
Democratic spirit, prevalence of, in early part of century, 61;
characteristic of native born servants of early part of century,
61;
revival of, 66, 228.
Desserts, prepared out of the house, 214.
District of Columbia, largest number of domestics employed in, 82.
Division of labor, see Labor, division of.
“Domestic” recommended as substitute for “general servant,” 207.
Domestic employees in early New England, native born and of high
character, 11;
their self-respect, 49, n.
Domestic employees in colonial period, see also Convicts,
transported, Freewillers, Indians, Negroes, Redemptioners.
Domestic employees, number of, in the United States by latest census,
3;
average wages paid, 3, n., 88, 90-98;
average cost of board for each, 4, n.;
demand for, greater than supply, 14, 125;
democratic spirit of, at the North, 54-60;
in early part of century, difficult to procure, 56, 58, 61;
democratic spirit of, a subject of complaint, 59;
compared with domestic employees in Europe, 59;
causes of democratic spirit, 61;
negro slaves at the South, 61;
changes in kind among, between 1850 and 1870, 62;
introduction of Irish, 62;
of Germans, 63;
of Chinese, 64;
a new social and a new economic element introduced by foreign
born domestic employees, 64, 65;
change in kind at the South through abolition of slavery, 65;
lack of political privileges of, in Europe, 72, n.;
mostly of foreign birth, 74-77;
geographical distribution of, in the United States, 76;
number of Irish, 79;
number of German, 79;
number of English, 79;
number of Canadian, 79;
number of Swedish and Norwegian, 79;
few in agricultural and thinly settled states, 80;
relative number large in states containing large cities, 80;
smallest relative number in Oklahoma, 81;
greatest relative number in District of Columbia, New York,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey, 82;
relative number unaffected by aggregate wealth of state, 82;
affected by per capita wealth of state, 82;
high relative number in cities, 83;
relative number most affected by prevailing industry, 84, 87, 88;
relative number small in manufacturing towns, 84;
relative number large in the South, 84;
foreign born receive higher wages than native born, 91, 92;
savings, 102, 103;
small number of unemployed, 104, 105;
number in average family, 107;
nationalities represented in schedules forming basis of this work,
108, n.;
foreign born an extraneous element difficult to assimilate into
household, 109;
brief tenure of service, 109-112;
ignorance of, 112, 113;
dislike of occupation, 127;
industrial independence of, 130;
other occupations engaged in, 130, n.;
reasons for entering service, 131;
special privileges given, 133, 134;
hours of work, 143;
_disadvantages_—_social deprivations_, 152-154;
enforced loneliness, 154, n.;
obnoxious term “servant,” 156;
address by Christian name, 156;
wearing of livery, 157;
servility of manner expected, 158;
ignored socially, 158;
required to obey absurd orders, 158;
degraded by offering of fees, 158-162;
often required to go out at night unprotected, 162;
exposed to contamination in intelligence offices, 162;
do not care to be treated as members of the family, 170-172;
desire opportunity to live their lives in their own way, 172;
their demand for more social opportunities reasonable, 206;
demand cannot be met in private home, 206;
solitary instruction unsatisfactory, 206;
social opportunities more satisfactory if provided by them than for
them, 207;
taken from the home of employer through specialization of household
employments, 213-234;
independence of, secured through specialization of household
employments, 228;
moral education acquired through profit sharing, 247;
benefactions for, in Germany, 300.
See also Hours of work, Wages.
Domestic employments, see Household employments.
Domestic service, “the great American question,” 1;
discussed frequently, in a popular manner, 1;
has been omitted from economic discussion, 2;
omitted from theoretical discussion, 2;
reasons—capital not involved, 2;
no combinations formed, 2;
products of labor transient, 2;
omitted from official statistics because of no demand by public for
its investigation, 2, 3;
references to partial discussions, 3, n.;
subject has not been considered historically, 3;
an important question, considering numbers involved, 3;
nature of, has been regarded as personal only, 4;
regarded as an isolated form of industry, 5;
difficulties in domestic service due partly to incomplete division
of labor, 15;
three phases of, in America, 16;
in the colonial period, 16-53;
implied social inferiority even more than now, 53;
unsatisfactory to both master and servant, 53;
accompanied by definite legal exactions, 53;
in New England, early part of century, 54;
described by Harriet Martineau, 55, 56;
since 1850, 62-68;
at the North, change of personnel from native born to foreign,
62-65;
at the South, no change till later, 62;
causes of change—Irish famine, 62, 63;
German Revolution, 63, 64;
treaty between United States and China, 1844, 64;
effect of change, lowering of social status, 65;
at the South, condition changed with abolition of slavery, 65;
foreign born domestics introduced, 65;
the employment as affected by development of material resources,
66, 67;
mobility of, 67-69;
new rival occupations to compete with, 68;
changes indicated by history of “servant,” 69-71;
_economic phases of domestic service_, 74-106;
the occupation includes more foreign born women than any other
occupation, 77;
includes majority of foreign born wage-earning women, 77;
employees prefer city to country life, 77, 78, 83;
nationalities most represented, 79;
effect of aggregate wealth of state upon number, 82, 83;
statistics representing effect of locality, 85;
effect of per capita wealth, 86-88;
effect of prevailing industry greatest, 87;
character of service rendered, 91;
wages higher than average wages in other occupations, 93;
average annual earnings, 98;
remuneration compared with that in teaching, 101, 102;
wage limit sooner reached, 103, 104;
offers constant occupation and least loss of time, 104, 105;
free from strikes and combinations, 105;
conforms to economic conditions, 106;
_difficulties of employer_, 107-129;
not confined to America, 128, 129;
cannot be remedied without economic treatment, 129, 264;
_advantages in domestic service_, 130-139;
reasons given for entering, 131;
high wages, 132;
healthful occupation, 132;
externals of a home, 133;
free hours and vacations without loss of wages, 134-136;
useful training, 137;
the employment congenial to many, 137;
legal protection in, 138;
legal rights—freedom from physical punishment, sufficient food,
support during illness, good character, wages, damages for
discharge, 138;
advantages are inherent in the occupation, 139;
summed up, are those of “wages, hours, health, and morals,” 139;
advantages unavailing to attract, 139;
_industrial disadvantages_, 140-150;
independent of personal relationship, 140;
list of reasons given for not entering service, 140, 141;
little chance for promotion, 141;
lack of stimulus for the efficient and ambitious, 141, 142;
“housework never done,” 142, 143;
lack of organization in housework, 143;
irregularity of working hours, 143-146;
limited free time, 146;
in case of Americans, competition with foreign born and negroes,
146, 147;
strictures on personal independence, 147-149;
summary of industrial disadvantages, 149, 150;
_social disadvantages_, 151-166, 204-211, 266, 267;
no real home life for employees, 151;
being _in_ a family and not _of_ it, 152;
regulations in regard to visitors necessary, 152;
lack of opportunity to receive or give hospitality, 152;
exclusion from general social life of community, 153;
deprivation of opportunities for personal improvement, 153, 154;
appellation of “servant,” 155;
use of Christian name in address, 156;
requirement of livery, 157;
requirement of servility of manner, 158;
custom of offering fees, 158-162;
lack of protection and exposure to vice, 162;
discrimination according to ordinary social standards not expected,
193, n.;
social inferiority weighs more than anything else against the
employment, 163;
other disadvantages, 164;
advantages and disadvantages compared, 165;
latter outweigh former, 166;
remedies adapted to nature of difficulties required, 168;
no panacea, 168;
reform must be in line with industrial progress, 168;
must be an evolution, 168;
cannot be immediate, 168, 169;
real problem of domestic service, 198;
the subject neglected by economic students and writers, 199;
its importance underestimated in public sentiment, 200, 201;
improvement dependent on wider general education and more
scientific investigation, 203;
social disadvantages can be removed or modified, 204;
removal of social barriers will remove social ban, 211;
improvement impossible, till housekeeping as a profession advances,
254;
improvement hindered by partial treatment of labor question, 264;
by conservatism of many women, 264, 265;
by tendency of women toward aristocracy, 265;
by tendency to display of wealth, 265, 266;
responsibility of introducing improvement rests on all, 266;
investigation and discussion will result in removal of social
stigma, 266, 267;
in removal of work and worker from home of employer, 267;
in placing the employment on a business basis, 268;
in readjustment of work of both men and women, 270;
suggestions as to means of attaining results, 273;
a subject of serious study and investigation in America, 302.
See also Convicts, transported, Freewillers, Redemptioners,
Remedies, Wages.
Domestic service in Europe, 275-302;
compared with domestic service in America, 275;
affected by social and political conditions, 276;
affected by domestic architecture, 277;
affected by domestic and social customs, 278;
presents practically the same problems as in America, 278-280;
_advantages_, 280-294, 300;
baking and washing done out of the house, 280;
requirement of more work in other ways counterbalances this
advantage, 281;
system of contracts in Germany, 281-283;
German service-books, 284-286;
large number of men employees, 286-288;
comparative freedom from foreign competition, 286-287;
the result a greater respect among employees for the occupation,
287-288;
apparent cheapness to the employer is deceiving, 288;
low wages supplemented by gifts, fees, “beer-money,” special
privileges, compulsory insurance, 289, 292;
_disadvantages_, 295-302;
long hours of service, 295, n.;
hardness of work, 295, n.;
hardness of life, 295, n.;
social disadvantages, 296-299;
inherits stigma of slavery and serfdom, 296, n.;
tax on men servants in England, 297;
requirement of servility, 297;
rigid class distinctions of employees observed by themselves, 298;
condition in France, 299;
condition in Italy, 299;
disadvantages partly mitigated in Germany by various benefactions,
300;
branded by ridicule in literature and the press, 301;
the subject given no earnest study, 302.
Domestic system, see Home manufactures.
Dresden, home for aged servants in, 300, n.
Dudley, Mrs. Mary Winthrop, description of a refractory servant by,
35.
Earnings of domestic employees, 98.
See also Wages.
Economic discussion of domestic service neglected, 2, 199.
Economic gains from specialization of household employments, 229.
Economic laws, disregard of, by employers of domestic service,
117-122.
Economic phases of domestic service, 74-106.
Economic tendencies, see Industrial tendencies.
Education, views of effect of, on domestic service, 179.
Education in household affairs, 251-262.
Electricity in the household, 9, 232.
“Employer,” use of, for “master” and “mistress,” 207.
Employers, their personal point of view, 4;
difficulties of, 107-129;
assimilation into household of foreign and ignorant employees, 109;
restlessness of domestic employees, 109-112;
ignorance of domestic employees, 112, 113;
the choice of a domestic a lottery, 114-117;
general disregard among employers of economic principles, 117-122;
individual irresponsibility of employers, 121, 122;
difficulties of, increasing, 125, n.;
fewer under certain conditions, 126;
difficulties also in England, Germany, and France, 127;
due to a defective and antiquated system, 129;
individual standpoint of many employers, 170;
each responsible to all, 266.
See also Housekeepers.
Employment Bureau, unsatisfactory, 115-117;
application of profit sharing to, 244.
Employments of men and women need readjustment, 270-272.
England, domestic service in, unsatisfactory, 127, 128.
English custom of using surname for domestics, 157.
English in the United States, number of, 78;
in domestic service, number of, 79.
Ethics of domestic service given too exclusive attention, 167.
Evans, Elizabeth, wages of, 28.
Extravagance of domestics checked through system of profit sharing,
241, 242.
Extravagant habits acquired in domestic service, 150.
Factory system, substituted for the domestic system, 8-15;
agencies which brought about, 8;
released labor from the home, 10;
changed personnel of domestic service, 11;
diverted labor into other channels, 11, 12;
made some labor idle, 12;
produced social prejudice against labor of women for remuneration,
12, 14;
mobility of labor introduced by, 67.
Faithful, Emily, on domestic service in England, 128, n.
Family, average, 107.
Family life marred by introduction of domestics, 171, 172.
Fancy work, as result of idle labor, 12;
George Eliot on, 12, n.;
“intellectual fancy work,” 13.
Feeing, 158-162;
effects of, 159;
humiliates giver and receiver, 159;
creates eye service, 159;
degrades and demoralizes, 159;
excuses offered for, 161, 162;
feeing of a few, brands all domestics as a class, 162, 245;
abolition of feeing, 210;
abolished through adoption of profit sharing, 244, 245.
Fees, offered to no other class of workers, 159;
undemocratic, 159;
brand the recipient socially, 160;
are bribes, 160;
objectionable manner of giving, 160, 161;
given to eke out wages of underpaid employees, 161;
same principle not practised in regard to other underpaid
employments, 161;
established customs in regard to them in Europe, 290-291.
Feudge, F. R., Chinese cook quoted by, 148, n.
Flats, custom of living in, makes it desirable to dispense with
domestics, 227, 229.
Food, list of articles of, whose preparation outside the home is
increasing, 213;
preparation of, out of the house for final application of heat,
214, 215, 219, 220;
prepared for church and missionary sales, 217, n.;
in some cases better if prepared in small quantities, 232.
Foods, chemistry of, 261.
France, domestic service in, unsatisfactory, 129.
Free laborers, indented servants at the North supplanted by, 54.
Freewillers, 19.
French constitutions, 1795 and 1799, right of suffrage denied
servants by, 72, n.
Frethorne, Richard, sufferings of indented servants described by, 27.
Fruits, canned, preparation of, outside the home increasing, 213.
Fruits better canned where they grow than after transportation, 220,
221.
Gallatin, Albert, on change from home to factory manufacture of
clothing materials, 215.
Gardeners, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-96.
Gardeners, see Coachmen.
Gas, natural, use of, in the household, 9.
General servant, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97.
German immigration, 63.
German redemptioners, 20, 21.
German revolution, 1848, effect of, on domestic service in America,
63.
German service-books, their introduction proposed, 178;
their advantages and disadvantages, 284-286.
Germans in the United States, number of, 78;
in domestic service, number of, 64, n., 79.
Germany, domestic service in, unsatisfactory, 128, 129;
legal relations in, between employer and employee, 281-286;
system of contracts in, 281-283;
benefactions for domestic employees in, 300.
Gifts supplement low wages in Europe, 289, 290.
Gilman, Nicholas Payne, on modern industry, 189;
on profit sharing, 236, 238, 241, 242.
Godkin, E. L., on influence of the Irish cook, 63, n.
Golden rule, application of, inadequate to reform domestic service,
169.
Grattan, Thomas, in praise of American servants, 57, n.;
on scarcity of “help,” 59, 60.
Grund, F. J., on self-respect of American servants, 57.
Hadley, A. T., on social standing in occupations, 163.
Hammond, J., _Leah and Rachel_, 21, n., 25, 26.
Harvard University Memorial Hall, boarding at, 249.
“Help,” 55, 57, 59, 60, 61, 65, 70.
Higginson, Col. Thomas, on children’s dislike of history, 205.
Holidays and half-holidays, 134, 135, 145.
Home industries which are now obsolete, 9, 215, 216.
Home instruction in household affairs inadequate, 258, 259.
Home life secured through specialization of household employments,
220, 226, 228.
Home life, lack of, in domestic service, 151.
Home-made bread, 213.
Home-made men’s clothing the rule in 1810, 215.
Home-made cheese formerly common, 215.
“Homemaker” suggested for “mistress,” 208, n.
Home manufacture of articles of food and clothing decreasing, 213.
Home manufactures superseded by factory system, 8, 215, 216;
may be revived by introduction of electricity into household, 232.
Hotel service, the only kind offering chance of promotion, 141;
advantages of profit sharing in—waste avoided, 244;
feeing abolished, 244, 245.
Hours, free, in domestic service, 134, 145, 146.
Hours of work, varied and irregular, 143-146;
statistics, 144.
Housecleaning, done by specialists, 224.
Household affairs, education in, 251-262;
information regarding conduct of, difficult to obtain, 251, 252;
one cause of slow progress, 252;
kinds of information needed in conduct of, 252, 253;
supplementary special education needed still more, 253;
university education in, 259-262;
results of, removal of social stigma from domestic service, 266,
267;
removal of work and worker from house, 267, 268;
placing of domestic service on business basis, 268.
Household employments, isolation of, 5;
changes introduced by inventions, 7, 9;
lightened by modern improvements, 9;
preferred to other kinds of occupation, 137;
avoided on account of disadvantages, 140, 141;
mistaken idea that results are transient, 142, 143;
the only employments not officially investigated, 198;
importance of, must be better appreciated, 199, 200, 202;
performed without remuneration, honored, performed for
remuneration, scorned, 202;
_specialization of household employments_, 212-234;
preparation of food, 213-221;
takes work from home, 213-234;
opens new occupation to women, 218;
practical instances, 219, n., 220, n., 224, n., 233, n.;
the transference need not lessen individuality of the home, 221,
222;
laundry work, 222, 223;
housecleaning, sweeping, care of rooms, etc., 224;
marketing, 225;
specialization would attract more able women, 226, 227;
would reduce house rent, 228;
would raise standard of work, 228;
would make discrimination possible between skilled and unskilled
labor, 228;
a flexible system of co-operation, 229;
adapted to “apartments,” 229;
would lessen monotony of life of employee, 229;
would change personal relation of employer and employee into a
business relation, 229;
would elevate drudgery to forms of distinct occupation, 229;
economic gains from, 229;
objections raised to, 230, 231;
found successful by those who have tried it, 233;
household employments as taught in schools, mechanical, 259;
must receive their due respect, 270.
Household sanitation, 261, n.
“Housekeeper,” as substitute for “general servant,” 207, 208, n.
“Housekeeper, Working,” as substitute for “servant,” 156.
Housekeepers, average wages of, statistics, 94-96;
reluctance of some to express dissatisfaction, 124;
convention of, of little avail, 179;
need of technical and scientific training, 200;
need of information and education, 253, 254;
conservatism of many, 264, 265;
responsibility of each to all, 266.
See also Employers.
Housekeeping, small advance made in profession of, 254;
reasons for, 254-258;
belief that instinct supplies the knowledge, 254-256;
belief that men have no active interest in it, 256, 257;
that all women have an interest and need no training, 257, 258;
home instruction in, inadequate, 258, 259;
university education needed, 259-262;
co-operative, see Co-operative housekeeping.
Housework, see Household employments.
Howells, W. D., on feeing, 162, n.
Hygienic advantage in having vegetables prepared out of the house,
214.
Idle labor, 10, 12, 270.
Idleness forced upon women, 202.
Improvement, enlarged opportunities for personal, 197.
Indented servants, see Redemptioners.
Indenture, form of, 22, 23, n.;
included time of service, nature of service and compensation, 22;
cases without, provided for by law, 23;
law of, in Virginia, 23, 24.
_Indian Narratives_, 20, n.
Indian servants not allowed to travel without a pass, 44.
Indians as servants in New England, 49-51;
advertisements of, 49, n., 50, n.
Industrial changes affecting domestic service in early part of
century, 66, 67.
Industrial tendencies—concentration of capital and labor, 194;
specialization of work, 195;
association and combination of workers, 195;
increase of technical training, 195;
co-operation, profit sharing, 196;
entrance of women into business occupations, 196;
estimate of work for its quality rather than for its kind, 197;
official investigation of business relations, 197, 198.
Industries, interdependence of, 15;
some which are now obsolete, 215, 216.
Insurance, Compulsory, see Compulsory insurance.
Intelligence office, see Employment bureau.
Inventions of the 18th century, co-operating influences with,
producing factory system, 8;
effect of, on household employments, 10-15.
Irish famine, 1846, effect of, on domestic service in America, 62.
Irish immigration, 62.
Irish immigration in Connecticut, 1764, 20;
in Massachusetts, 1718, 20.
Irish in the United States, number of, 64, n., 78;
in domestic service, 79.
Japan, domestic service in, 148, n.
Japanese custom of addressing employees, 209.
Johnson, Mrs., _Captivity_, 20, n.
Joynes, E. S., on training in domestic work in Germany, 301, n.
Kalm, Peter, on wages in Pennsylvania, 1748, 29.
Kemble, Fanny, on experience of her white maid in the South, 70, n.
Kent, Chancellor, on legal relation of masters and servants, 138.
Kitchen gardens, object and experience of, 185.
Knight, Madame, on treatment of servants in 1704, 28.
Labor, division of, in women’s work, caused by factory system, 11;
has resulted in unequal distribution of work, 13, 14;
in household employments only partially accomplished, 15;
characteristic of modern industry, 212;
results in greater variety of products, 222.
Labor of women more productive through specialization of household
employments, 231, 232.
Labor question, domestic service a part of, 129, 264.
Laundresses, average wages, statistics, 89, 94-97.
See also Cooks.
Laundry work, better done out of the house, 222, 223;
done out of the house in Europe, 280.
Laws protecting domestic employees, 138.
Laws, colonial, see Colonial laws.
Leclaire, M., on knowledge of the workman, 200.
_Leclaire, Maison_, 237.
Legal relations between employer and employee in Europe, 281-286.
Legal status of domestic employees, 138.
Levasseur, M., on proportion of failures among business firms, 245.
Library strictures in regard to domestic employees, 154, n.
Licenses for domestic employees, 177, 178.
Livery, absence of, in early times at the North, 57, 61.
See also Cap and apron.
Living, cost of, affected by specialization of household employments,
230.
London, domestic service in, 128, n.
London South Metropolitan Gas Company, profit sharing in, 239.
Lowell, J. R., on Indian servants, 51, n.;
on “help,” 55;
on influx of Irish domestic employees, 63.
Lyman, O. E., on legal status of domestic employees, 138, n.
Mackay, Charles, on “help,” 58, n.
“Maid” as substitute for “servant,” 156;
unobjectionable, 208.
Maid-of-all-work, present requirements of, 228.
Maine, high wages of redemptioners in, 28, n.;
instance related by John Winter of unsatisfactory service in, 33,
34.
Maine, Sir Henry Sumner, on equality, 211.
_Maison Leclaire_, 237.
Manufacturing industries, number of women in, in Massachusetts, 10,
n.;
women employees in, largely outnumber men, 10, n.;
greater demand for servants created by increase of, 11;
manufacturing industries utilize ignorant labor, 14;
relative number of domestic employees diminished by, 87.
Marketing, made a specialty by one person for many families, 225, 226.
Martineau, Harriet, on democratic condition of service in America,
55, 56.
Maryland, transported convicts in, 18;
freewillers in, 19;
redemptioners in, 21, 25;
colonial law regulating wages of redemptioners in, 31;
to protect servants in, 38, n.;
concerning runaways in, 41;
concerning those who harbored runaways in, 43;
fixing reward for capturing runaways in, 44;
preventing barter with servants in, 46;
redemptioners who rose to distinction in, 48, n.
Massachusetts, number of women in manufacturing industries in, 10, n.;
redemptioners in, 20;
colonial law concerning wages of redemptioners in, 30;
to protect servants in, 38, n.;
in regard to punishment of servants in, 45;
to prevent barter with servants in, 46;
debarring servants from holding public office in, 47;
concerning wearing apparel of servants in, 47;
prohibiting setting servants free in, 47;
proportion of foreign born domestic employees in, 77;
large relative number of domestic employees in, 82.
Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics, returns from schedules
collated by, preface, ix, x.
“Master,” as a term should be abolished, 207.
Matthews, Albert, on fees, 290, n.;
_The Terms Hired Man and Help_, 302, n.
Meats, stuffed, delivered ready for final application of heat, 214.
Men as domestic employees in Europe, 286-288.
Mercier, L. S., on profits made by servants in France, 291, n.;
on class distinctions among domestic employees, 298, n.
Michigan, University of, women graduates of, assistance of, in
obtaining statistics, preface, vii.
“Mistress,” as an appellation should be abolished, 207.
Mitchell, Maria, on woman’s work, 272.
Mobility of labor made possible, 67;
developed to an inconvenient extent, 68.
Morton, Thomas, use of word “servant,” 69, n.
Munby, A. J., _Epitaphs of Servants_, 55, n.
Music lessons, desire for, ridiculed, 153, n.;
of a domestic, 154, n.
Negro domestic employees, their increase at the North a doubtful
remedy for difficulties, 172-175;
unsatisfactory service of, in the South, 173-175;
deteriorating, 174, n.;
character of employees, 175, n.
Negro slavery, influence of, on people of the South, 1778, 52, n.
Negro slaves, not allowed to travel without pass, 44;
in colonial Boston, 51, n.;
in the South, 51, 52.
Neill, E. D., on character of redemptioners, 48, n.
New England, redemptioners in, 20;
high character of domestic employees in early, 54, 57.
See also Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island.
New England Kitchen, Boston, bread made at, 214.
New Jersey, colonial law regulating wages in, 31;
to protect servants in, 38, n., 40;
concerning runaways in, 41;
concerning those who harbored runaways in, 42;
to prevent barter with servants in, 46;
large relative number of domestic employees in, 82.
New York, colonial law concerning wages of redemptioners in, 30;
to protect servants in, 38, n., 39;
concerning those who harbored runaways in, 42;
regarding punishment of servants in, 45;
preventing barter with servants in, 46;
large relative number of domestic employees in, 82.
New Zealand, law providing half-holiday discussed, 135, n.
North, the, introduction into, of more negro domestics a doubtful
remedy, 172-175.
North Carolina, colonial law regulating wages of redemptioners in,
30, 31;
to protect servants in, 38, n., 39, 40;
concerning runaways in, 41;
fixing reward for capturing runaways in, 43;
regarding corporal punishment of servants in, 45;
to prevent barter with servants in, 45;
to punish feigning of illness or carrying of arms in, 47;
prohibiting setting a servant free in, 47.
Northbrook, Earl of, footman of, tips received by, 160, n.
Norwegians, in the United States, see Swedes and Norwegians.
Oklahoma, fewest domestics employed in, 81.
Organization in household employments, lack of, an industrial
disadvantage, 143.
Oriental Tea Company, Boston, 216, n.
_Outlook_, on feeing, 162, n.
Parlor maids, average wages of, statistics, 90, 97.
Pea-sheller, 214, n.
Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, 238.
Peirce, Mrs., on co-operative housekeeping, 186-188.
Pennsylvania, transported convicts in, 18, n.;
wages of redemptioners in, 29;
colonial law regulating wages of redemptioners in, 30;
purpose of Act of 1700 regarding servants in, 37;
colonial law to protect servants in, 40;
regarding runaways in, 41;
fixing reward for capturing runaways in, 43;
to prevent barter with servants in, 46;
forbidding innkeepers to trust servants in, 47.
Personal relation between employer and employee usually alone
regarded, 4, 167;
changed to business relation through specialization of household
employments, 229.
Philadelphia Civic Club, classification of wages by, 268, n.
Placid Club, profit sharing at, 249.
Polly, Mary, indenture of, 23, n., 29.
Poor whites descendants of redemptioners, 49.
Porter, hotel, instance of a fortune acquired by, in fees, 160.
Porters, railway, profit sharing, in case of, advantages—waste
avoided, 244;
feeing abolished, 244, 245.
Posseldt, H., on legal relations between employer and employee in
Prussia, 281, n., 282, n.
Potter, Bishop, on luxury, 265.
Privileges, special, kinds given to employees, 133, 134.
Profit sharing, an industrial tendency, 196;
defined, 236, 237;
history of, 237;
benefits of, in its trial elsewhere, 237-242;
advantages—develops “group of industrial virtues,” 237;
lessons worry, 238;
checks waste, 238;
identifies interest of employer and employee, 238, 239, 247;
not a loss to employer, 239;
applied to domestic service, 240-250, 268, 269;
secures economy of time, material, appliances, 240, 241;
application, methods of, 242-244;
in case of hotel employees and railway porters, 244, 245;
advantages—waste avoided, feeing abolished, 244, 245;
objections raised to, 245-247;
instances of its trial given, 248-250.
Promotion in domestic service rare except in hotels, 141.
Public schools said to over-educate domestics, 179;
introduction of housework into, advocated by some, 179.
Recommendations of domestic employees unsatisfactory, 114, 115.
Redemptioners, 19-49;
term of service, 19;
probably outnumbered transported convicts, 20;
more in Southern and Middle colonies than in New England, 20;
of English, German, and Irish birth, 20;
not always from lower classes, 21;
methods by which they were obtained and transported, 22;
“spirited away,” 22, n.;
form of indenture, 22, 23, n.;
easy life of some described by Alsop, 25;
unenviable condition of majority, 25-28;
wages of, 28-31;
high in New England, 28;
generally low, 28;
poor quality of their service, 31-36;
colonial laws concerning their relation to masters, 38-48;
legal protection, 38-40;
legal precaution against their escape, 40, 41;
legal punishment for harboring any who escaped, 41, 42;
legal reward for their capture when escaped, 43, 44;
laws to prevent their escape, 44;
discomforts and hard treatment, 44;
laws for corporal punishment, 45;
laws to prevent barter with, 45, 46;
restricted by minute and oppressive laws, 47;
laws to prevent their being set free, 47, 48;
a few rose to high social position, 48;
supplanted by free laborers at the North, 54;
supplanted by negro slaves at the South, 54.
See also Colonial laws, Indenture, names of colonies.
Remedies, doubtful, 167-193;
many proposed, 167;
why ineffective, 167;
application of golden rule inadequate, 169;
application of intelligence not sufficient, 170;
receiving employee into family unsatisfactory, 170-172;
bringing negroes to the North, of doubtful benefit, 172-175;
importation of Chinese domestics would tend to drive out European
domestics, 176, 177;
licenses, not applicable, 177, 178;
German service books, not feasible, 178;
abolition of higher grades of public schools, 179;
introduction of housework into public schools, 179;
“Servant Reform Association,” 179, 180;
training schools do not promise success, undemocratic, 180-186;
co-operative housekeeping, 186-193;
causes of its failure, 193.
See also Co-operative housekeeping, Training schools.
Remedies, possible, must have historical and economic basis, 193, 194;
general principles, 194-203;
must be in line with industrial tendencies, 194;
cannot be immediate in effect, 199;
creation of social opportunities, 206, 207;
abolition of term “servant,” 207, 208;
disuse or less free use of Christian name, 209;
reasonable regulations for wearing cap and apron, 210;
relinquishment of demand for servility of manner, 210;
abolition of fees, 210;
specialization of household employments, 212-234;
measures must conform to principles of division of labor and
unconscious co-operation, 212;
practice of putting work out of the house, 213-234, 267, 268;
removing worker from the house, 213-234, 267, 268;
education in household affairs, 251-262;
improvement must be an evolution, 273.
See also Industrial tendencies, Profit sharing.
Rents, possible lessening of, through removal of necessity for
laundries in individual homes, 223.
Rhode Island, colonial laws concerning those who harbored runaways,
43;
for corporal punishment of servants, 45.
Richards, Mrs. Ellen S., and Talbot, Marion, _Household Sanitation_,
261, n.
“The Roby,” 191.
Rochdale Pioneers, 187.
Rowe, C. J., on domestic service in Australia, 128, n.
Runaways, legal punishment of, 41;
legal punishment of those harboring, 42, 43;
legal rewards for capturing, 44.
Salomon, G., on domestic service in France, 288, n., 289, n., 291,
n., 292, n., 293, n., 296, n.
Sanitation, household, 261, n.
Savings of domestic employees, 103.
Schloss, D. F., on profit sharing, 237-239.
Schouler, James, on relation of master and servant, 138.
Seamstresses, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97.
Second girl, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97.
“Servant,” as an appellation, 57, 58, 69-72, 155, 208;
history of its use in America, 69-71;
term offensive to American employees, 72;
not demeaning in itself, 155;
may be applied to any one, 155;
ordinary usage restricted to one who does housework for wages, 155;
protests against the term, 155, n.;
as used at present will continue to be a mark of social
degradation, 155, 156;
should be abolished, 207.
“Servant Reform Association,” 179, 180.
Service books, see German service books.
Servility of manner, absence of, at the North, in early colonial
period, 61;
required of domestics, 158;
an anomaly in a democratic country, 210.
Sewall, Judge, description by, of funeral of his negro servant, 27,
n.;
protest of, against negro slavery, 52, n.
Sewing women of New York City, 199, n.
Slavery, abolition of, opened competition in domestic service between
negroes and foreign born, 65;
abolition of, assisted in making labor mobile, 67.
Smyth, J. F. D., on use of term “servant,” 70, n.
Social condition of domestic service, improvement in, see Remedies,
possible.
Social disadvantages of domestic service, see Domestic service,
social disadvantages.
Social opportunities for domestics, the demand for more, reasonable,
206;
cannot be met in private home, 206.
Social position of different occupations changes, 205, 266, 267.
Social stigma attached to domestic service, its greatest
disadvantage, 163.
_Sot-Weed Factor_, 21, n., 22, n., 27, 48, n.
South Carolina, colonial law regulating wages of redemptioners, 30;
to protect servants, 40;
concerning runaways, 41;
concerning those who harbored runaways, 42;
concerning punishment of servants, 45;
to prevent barter with servants, 46;
difficulty of obtaining good domestics in, 173, n.
Specialization of labor, an industrial tendency, 195.
Specialization of household employments, see Household employments.
Spinning, revival of, as home industry in Westmoreland, 232, n.
Statistics, basis of, for this work, obtained through distribution of
schedules, preface, vii-xi.
Stephen, Sir James, on civil service reform, 274.
Stillman, W. J., on fees, 290, n.
Suffrage, right of, denied domestic servants in Europe, 72, n.
Sunday, free hours on, in domestic service, 134, 146, 147.
Sunday privileges of domestics in early part of century, 58.
Swedes and Norwegians in the United States, number of, 78;
number in domestic service, 79.
Syracuse, N. Y., Household Economic Club, 225, n.
Table service an art, 142;
may be performed by specialist, 224.
Talbot, Marion, and Richards, Mrs. Ellen S., _Household Sanitation_,
261, n.
Taylor, George, signer of the Declaration of Independence, a
Pennsylvania redemptioner, 48, n.
Tea Company, Oriental, Boston, 216, n.
Teachers, wages of, compared with wages of domestics, 99-102;
salaries of, statistics, 99, 100.
Technical training, demand for, an industrial tendency, 195.
Texas, preference in, for German and Swedish domestics, 173, n.
Thatcher, Rev. Peter, Indian servant of, 51.
Tips, see Feeing.
Tocqueville, A. de, on democratic condition of service in America, 57.
Training schools for domestics, 180-186;
possible benefits from, 180, 181;
demand for, from employers, 181;
scheme for their establishment in connection with World’s Fair,
1893, 181;
few established and those unsuccessful, 181;
reasons for their failure, 182-186;
admit pupils too young, 182;
course too short, 182;
attendance not voluntary, 182, 183;
ignorance of employers, 183;
not analogous to training schools for nurses, 183, 184;
methods superficial, 184, 185;
undemocratic, 185, 186.
Trollope, Mrs., on difficulty in obtaining servants, 58.
Troy, N. Y., laundries, 223.
Tutwiler, Julia R., on feeing, 162, n.
Unconscious co-operation, characteristic of modern industry, 212.
Unemployed, number of, among domestic employees, very small, 104, 105.
University education in household affairs needed, 259-262, 269.
Vacations, of domestic employees, 135, 136.
Valet, the, in literature, 296, n.
Vassar College, Associate Alumnæ of, assistance of, in obtaining
statistics, preface, vii;
Classes of 1888 and 1889, assistance of, in obtaining statistics,
preface, vii.
Vegetables, preparation of, for cooking, 214;
canning of, 214, n.
Verney, Thomas, a redemptioner, 21, n.
Virginia, transported convicts in, 18;
General Court of, prohibits introduction of English criminals, 19,
n.;
redemptioners in, 21, n., 23, 25, 27, 48, n.;
colonial law of indenture in, 23, 24;
laws binding servants not indented in, 23, 24;
law regulating wages of redemptioners in, 30;
to punish pilfering of bakers in, 32, n.;
fixing reward for capturing runaways in, 44.
Wages in domestic service, total aggregate paid, 3, n.;
average paid in 1817, cited by Breck, 58, n.;
present average of, statistics, 88, 90, 94-97;
by geographical sections, 88;
by occupations, statistics, 90, 94-97;
highest for skilled labor, 89;
higher paid to foreign born than to native born, 91, 92;
higher paid to men than to women, 92;
tending to increase, 93;
exceed average wages in other occupations, 93;
compared with wages of teachers, 99-102;
maintained without strikes, 105;
conform to economic laws, 106;
in average family, 108;
underrated in popular estimate, 164, n.;
not officially investigated as are wages in other occupations, 198;
wages paid in Europe, 288-294.
Wages of redemptioners, 28-31.
“Waitress,” as an appellation unobjectionable, 208.
Waitresses, average wages of, statistics, 89, 94-97.
See also Chambermaids.
Warner, Charles Dudley, on social position of teachers, 205, n.
Washing, see Laundry work.
Waste lessened through profit sharing, 240, 241, 243, 244, 246.
Watson, Elkanah, on self-respect of domestic employees in America,
1782, 49, n.;
on effect of slavery upon people of the South, 52, n.;
on high character of service in America, 56, n.
Watson, John, on increase of democratic spirit in servants, 55, n.
Weaving, transferred from home to factories, 215;
revival of, as home industry in Westmoreland, 232, n.
Weber, A., on domestic service in France, 281, n., 282, n., 283, n.,
291, n., 292, n.
Winter, John, on high wages of redemptioners in Maine, 28, n.;
description of an unprofitable servant, 33, 34.
Winthrop, John, on high wages demanded by servants in New England,
28, n.
Winthrop, John, Jr., complaint of his Irish servant, 1717, 36.
Winthrop, Wait, complaint of his “black Tom,” 1682, 35.
Woman’s Exchanges, articles offered for sale at, better but more
expensive, 213;
high standard for work maintained by, 217;
management of, should be put on business basis, 217;
new occupation for women opened by, 218.
Women, as affected by the release of labor from the home through
introduction of factory system, 10-13;
number of, in manufacturing industries, 10, n.;
new opportunities for, about 1830, 12;
unwillingness of many to work for remuneration, a hindrance, 14,
202, 272;
progress of, hindered by their failure to put a just money value on
their services, 14;
foreign born wage-earning, majority of, domestic employees, 77;
wages of, in domestic service lower than wages of men, 92;
entrance of, into business occupations, 196;
can engage in many more occupations than formerly without social
ostracism, 205;
new occupation opened through Woman’s Exchange, 218;
new opportunities through specialization of household employments,
226, 227, 232;
their release from certain kinds of work through specialization of
household employments, 231;
opportunity thus opened to specialize in some branch of work on a
business basis, 231, 232;
conservatism of many, a hindrance to improvement in domestic
service, 264, 265;
tendency of many toward aristocracy, a hindrance to improvement,
265;
work of, needs readjustment, 270-273.
Work, standard of, improved by requirements of Woman’s Exchanges,
217, 218.
“Working housekeeper,” as substitute for “servant,” 156.
World’s Fair, 1893, efforts in connection with, to establish national
training schools for domestic employees, 181.
Wright, Mr. Carroll D., on agencies producing change from domestic to
factory system, 8;
on profit sharing, 236, 237, 240.
Zimmern, Alice, on domestic service in America, 275, n.
DOMESTIC SERVICE
BY
LUCY MAYNARD SALMON
Press Comments on the First Edition
“This is an admirable analysis of the difficulties, advantages, and
disadvantages of domestic service, with illustrations and statistics
drawn from a careful investigation by the author and from government
reports. The book should be carefully studied by all who believe that the
family is the primary agency for social reform and progress, and that
public health and happiness wait for the advancement of the industrial
methods.”—_The Dial_ (Chicago).
“Lucy Maynard Salmon has made a scientific, and we think a thorough,
study of the perplexing problem so often called ‘the servant question.’
The result is more than satisfactory, and if her book ‘Domestic Service’
is read as widely as it deserves to be read, there ought to be, in the
near future, a far greater number of happy housekeepers and contented
servants than exist at present.”—_Mail and Express_ (New York).
“Intelligent women who are ambitious to excel in the management of the
home will find this volume interesting and helpful.”—_Home Journal_ (New
York).
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