,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,italic text is denoted by underscores4 ,a superscript is denoted by xx3 for example1 nth4 ,footnote anchors are denoted by number1 and the footnotes have been placed at the end of the relevant section4 ,obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original has been retained3 for example1 overcrowded_/over-crowded1 saucepans_/sauce-pans1 and subtile_/subtle1 etc4 ,duplicate headings have been removed to eliminate repetition4 ,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,household ,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,household ,,by ,,lucy ,,maynard ,,salmon ,illustration3 ,colophon ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge #aijf ,,copyright #aijf ,,by ,,lucy ,,maynard ,,salmon ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved ,published ,october #aijf ,,apologia ,in #ahig the author of these sketches published a book entitled 8,domestic ,service40 ,it was an attempt to consider certain historical and economic aspects of a common occupation and its aim was to induce others to investigate by scientific processes a neglected field of inquiry4 ,it distinctly disclaimed any and all attempts to square the circle by proposing a plan to do away with all difficulties in the present condition of household service4 ,the book was not one of 8the six best sellers0 of the season1 it was never duplicated by a public library1 and it never secured a lodgment at the ,tabard ,inn4 ,a modest second edition1 not yet exhausted1 represents its present rating in the authors' 8,bradstreet's40 ,the book was a disappointment to many housewives who had noted its appearance because they had hoped to find in it a sovereign remedy for all domestic ills4 ,instead of that they found only rather repellant footnotes1 statistical tables1 appendices1 and bibliographies4 8,what connection10 they probably asked1 8exists between the far-away fact that there is one domestic employee to every one hundred and fifty-six inhabitants in ,oklahoma and the near-at-hand fact that there is a dearth of good cooks in ,pantopia80 ,but ,moses ,coit ,tyler1 beatissima memoria1 once instructed a class of college seniors about to begin the study of certain works in ,english literature that the initial step in all literary criticism was to find the author's object and to judge him by his success in attaining that object2 that an artist who intends to paint a landscape must be judged by his success in landscape painting1 and not criticised because the landscape is not a figure piece4 ,to the charge therefore that a book of three hundred odd pages contained no panacea with virtues attested by hundreds of housekeepers whose domestic ills had been cured by its application1 the apologetic answer might be made that the writer professed to be only a seeker after facts1 not a domestic physician1--she therefore craved judgment on the facts collected1 not on the cure-all unsought and therefore unexploited4 ,but the author had secretly craved a hearing from the economists1 although conscious that she was not one of the guild and therefore might be open to the charge of trespassing on the domain of others4 ,she had also secretly hoped for a hearing from her fellow-workers in the field of history1 although conscious that the proportion of history to economics in the book was in inverse ratio4 ,gaining admission to the salon1 however1 does not prevent the work of an amateur from being 8skyed10 and 8,domestic ,service0 was hung above the line4 ,to the economists whose attention may have been called to the book1 it doubtless seemed unreasonable that one who had apparently always been connected with work in history should meddle with economics2 to the historians1 it probably seemed apostasy to wander1 even for a moment1 from the path of history4 ,ergo mea apologia4 ,in ,september1 #ahhg1 ,i became associated with ,vassar ,college with the understanding that ,i was to give instruction in history and economics4 ,the work in history proved unexpectedly heavy and it was therefore necessary for me to defer taking up the work in economics until the following year4 ,the same conditions existed for three successive years and ,i then definitely abandoned all thought of undertaking regular work in economics4 ,but although unable to carry out all that had been expected1 it seemed possible to make some compensation and therefore at the end of the first year an investigation of domestic service was planned4 ,a series of schedules was drawn up and these were distributed to the members of two successive classes graduating from ,vassar ,college4 ,the publication of the results of the investigation was delayed in order to incorporate with them certain returns of the ,united ,states ,census of #ahij and these were not available until late in the year1 #ahif4 ,a second explanation may be needed concerning the choice of the subject4 ,a residence in several communities differing somewhat widely in geographical location and in industrial conditions had disclosed the fact that in every place the demand for capable household employees was greatly in excess of the supply1 largely1 it was commonly believed1 because in each place the conditions were 8peculiar40 ,these unusual and peculiar conditions were the competition of factories1 the competition of shops1 the loneliness of farm life1 the loneliness of a great city1 the inaccessibility of suburbs1 the heat of the ,western prairies1 the dampness of the sea-shore1 the life of a college town1 and numerous variants of these general principles4 ,all of the conditions that most attract to a place other residents and all the conditions most favorable to other occupations seemed to be always attended with fatality in the case of domestic employees4 ,but as the union of the seven colors of the rainbow forms white light1 was it possible that all these peculiar conditions could be reduced to a single fundamental cause that should explain the discrepancy between demand and supply8 ,another consideration in favor of selecting domestic service as a reasonable subject for investigation lay in the accessibility of the material4 ,every household1 whether with or without domestic employees1 could add its contribution to the inquiry4 ,moreover1 in an age that collects everything from baggage tags and cigar ribbons to old china and old masters1 could not a zeal for collecting be turned in the direction of collecting the hitherto untabulated experiences of different households8 ,but it is true that while the material was accessible1 it was not on that account necessarily procurable1 and the investigation was undertaken with some realization of the difficulties to be encountered4 ,yet if1 deferring to the example of the ,british 8,who's ,who10 carpentry1 cabinet-making1 mountaineering1 gardening1 spectroscopy1 and animal chemistry are by some considered as recreations while to others they would imply tasks difficult of achievement1 could not1 for college women1 this collection of material be classed as recreation1 although to others it might seem a burdensome task8 ,it is possible that another element may more or less consciously have been a factor in determining the choice4 ,college education is not even yet universally accepted as necessary and desirable for women4 ,if ,society should in a sense expect an apology from college women for having removed themselves from general society and passed four years in college halls1 could not that apology take the form of making some small contribution to a domestic question even though those who rendered the quasi-apology did not altogether recognize its necessity8 ,another consideration akin to this lies in the frequent assumption by ,society that all women marry4 ,cold1 enduring statistical tables1 as well as observation1 go to show that there is an error in this assumption1 and when this fact is pointed out1 ,society1 forgetting that there are some who would but cannot1 and others who can but will not1 attributes the discrepancy between theory and reality to college education for women4 ,if a few college women could add something to our knowledge of how household affairs are conducted1 would that contribution serve to atone for both voluntary and involuntary neglect of matrimony8 ,but an apology implies not only an explanation of the past but a promise for the future1--the erring one must err no more if absolution is to be given4 ,the economist may pardon the poacher1 but he must poach no more4 ,the historian may forgive the one who has wandered from the fold1 but the wanderer must in future remain within the pale4 ,yet how shall the collector of experiences be diverted from his diversion of collecting8 ,the collector of old mahogany depletes his bank account and turns his modest dwelling into a veritable second-hand shop1 but still his pony chaise is tied before every farmhouse that has advertised an auction sale of household effects4 ,the lawyer whose country estate produces green peas that yearly cost him five dollars a peck1 cheerfully proclaims that it pays to be a gentleman farmer4 ,the ,new ,york merchant hunts in ,montana and charges up to profit and loss the expressage on the game secured4 ,the luxuries of one are the necessities of another1 the recreations of one are laborious occupations for his neighbor1 a habit once formed holds its victim in an ever-tightening grasp4 ,if then1 in spite of apology and all that it implies1 the collector of experiences still accumulates much that to others may be of little practical benefit1 if she still indulges in what her friends deem an extravagant luxury1 if she still finds her recreation in what others may consider an onerous pursuit1 if the habit once formed of connecting with the present the facts and experiences of the past cannot apparently be broken off1 if at times she still poaches and still wanders1 she will once more claim indulgence if perchance there be any to grant it4 ,it has been in anticipation of this indulgence that these sketches are reprinted4 ,if they seem slight1 it is hoped that behind the shadow will be found the substance of a great1 and still unsettled problem4 ,the hope that lies still beyond is that the household may in time to come be recognized as a legitimate field for scientific investigation4 ,,contents ,i4 ,,recent ,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,domestic ,,service #a ,,ii4 ,,education ,,in ,,the ,,household #ce ,,iii4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,college ,,women ,,to ,,domestic ,,science #ea ,,iv4 ,,sairey ,,gamp ,,and ,,dora ,,copperfield #ha ,v4 ,,economics ,,and ,,ethics ,,in ,,domestic ,,service #ic ,,vi4 8,,put ,,yourself ,,in ,,his ,,place0 #aba ,,vii4 ,,our ,,kitchen #acc ,,viii4 ,,an ,,illustrated ,,edition #ade ,,ix4 ,,the ,,woman',s ,,exchange #aei ,the author takes pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy of ,the ,atlantic ,monthly for permission to print the chapter on 8,recent ,progress in the ,study of ,domestic ,service20 of the ,new ,england ,magazine for that on 8,education in the ,household20 of the ,boston ,cooking ,school ,magazine for the chapter on 8,sairey ,gamp and ,dora ,copperfield20 of ,the ,chautauquan for that on 8,economics and ,ethics in ,domestic ,service20 of ,the ,outlook for that entitled 8,put ,yourself in his ,place20 of the ,craftsman for the chapter on 8,our ,kitchen20 and of ,the ,forum for that on 8,the ,woman's ,exchange40 ,the author also acknowledges the kind permission of ,the ,macmillan ,company to reprint several passages from her work on ,domestic ,service4 ,,recent ,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,domestic ,,service ,a lady recently called at the house of a friend who answered in person the ring at the door4 ,with careworn expression and flurried manner she apologized for the confusion that apparently reigned in the house1 saying3 8,my parlor maid is upstairs ill1--not ill enough to go to the hospital1 too ill to work1 too far from home to go there1 yet needing attention from me4 ,my waitress is having a fit of the sulks1 and ,i have sent her out to do an errand and get some fresh air4 ,the cook is just now not on speaking terms with her husband1--the coachman1--and is seeking a divorce1 so that one or the other must go4 ,the footman came home drunk last night1 and had to be discharged this morning4 ,my house is at sixes and sevens1 my husband lunched downtown1 my mother has taken the children and the nursery-maid home with her1 guests arrive this evening1 and ,i have spent the day in a vain search for help in the house4 ,i belong to a club studying household economics1 and have allowed it to turn a search-light on all my household affairs in the interests of society at large4 ,i am now ready to call a halt1 to refuse to have my domestic arrangements considered a hunting-ground for theorists1 to pronounce all such clubs vain mockeries1 snares1 and delusions1 inventions of the enemy for squandering time1 and showing the bitter contrast between abstract theory and concrete reality4 ,the only club ,i am interested in must provide on tap maids who never get ill or sulky1 cooks without a temper1 and coachmen and footmen of unimpeachable habits40 ,it is possible that such conditions are not confined to 8the uninhabited districts west of ,schenectady10 and that elsewhere there may be despairing housekeepers ready to cry out against all serious study of domestic questions1 because such study has not yet had an immediate and practical bearing on the management of their individual households4 ,it is1 indeed1 not improbable1 for there is in every clime the tradition of a time when household helpers were abundant1 competent1 and cheap1--a golden age when harmony reigned in the household and domestic discord was unknown4 ,has this peaceful condition been rudely broken up by the meddlesome interference of domestic busy-bodies8 ,has progress been hindered by the club studying household economics1 by the investigator seeking for facts1 by the theorist trying to square the ideal with the real1 and by students of social conditions anxious to explain the present by the past8 ,is the only remedy for present ills the suppression of all discussion1 since discussion breeds contempt and unhappiness8 ,is the club to revert to ,browning1 the investigator to confine himself to the comparatively safe field of ancient history1 the theorist to live in the future1 and the student of social conditions to content himself with flower missions and soup-kitchens8 ,if it can be shown that conditions are worse than they have ever been before1 and that discussion and investigation are responsible for this deterioration1 then assuredly the club should change the field of its activity1 and all discussion of the household affairs should cease4 ,but the immediate dissolution of the club studying household economics is not imminent4 ,the premises on which its detractors base their criticisms are false1 and hence the conclusions deduced from these premises are illogical and unreasonable4 ,all literature goes to show that an ideal condition of domestic service exists and has existed only in the castles of ,spain4 ,and recent literature and recent legislation do show that some little progress has been made in the study of domestic service as an occupation1 in spite of the fact that individual housekeepers still have and always will have trials and perplexities that at times seem almost overwhelming4 ,the ,hudson empties its waters into the ocean1 yet twice each day the mightier force of the ocean tide turns the current back upon itself1--in winter it bears upstream the moving mass of ice1 and in summer it makes its overbalancing power felt almost to the very source of the great river4 ,the individual housekeeper feels only the force of the household current that bears her helpless to her destination1--she forgets the still stronger force of society that makes itself felt over and beyond that of the individual home4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in balancing the accounts of domestic service and in asking what has been accomplished in the past ten years in the direction of improvement1 it must be frankly said at the outset that it is probably just as difficult to-day to secure good household employees as it was ten years ago1--perhaps even more difficult2 that wages are probably even higher than at that time2 that the service rendered is no more efficient2 that recommendations are no more reliable2 that cooks still have tempers2 that coachmen sometimes drink2 that maids have 8followers20 that nursery girls gossip in the parks with policemen2 that new employees engaged fail to keep the engagement2 that valuable china is broken1 and that household supplies are wasted4 ,but if the work of these years has not borne immediate fruit1 it has not been without results that will sometime come to fruition4 ,these results are seen in the distinct1 positive1 and direct improvement in the literature of the subject2 flippancy is giving place to seriousness in considering the relations of mistress and maid2 historical and statistical investigations of the question have multiplied and become more thorough and elaborate2 substantial facts are supplanting sentimentality and visionary theories in the discussions on the subject2 a diagnosis of the case is being made1 and the prescription of a remedy is withheld while the examination is progressing2 humble-mindedness and willingness to learn are now found where formerly there were absolute certainty and positiveness of conviction in dealing with the question2 in a definite way an improvement in legislation has been made1 disreputable methods of employment agencies have been exposed1 social oases have been planted in desert places1 and1 in general1 a concrete method of procedure has been substituted for polite abstractions and innocuous generalities4 ,all this means that a long step forward has been taken within the past decade4 ,the great improvement in the character of the general literature of the subject is seen in the gradual disappearance of the fault-finding1 the sentimental1 the goody-goody magazine article1 and the appearance in its place of genuine contributions to the subject1 like those recently made to the 8,atlantic ,monthly0 by ,miss ,jane ,seymour ,klink and ,miss ,frances ,a4 ,kellor4 ,miss ,jane ,addams in 8,a ,belated ,industry0#a has dealt most thoroughly with the economic phases of the subject1 as has ,mrs4 ,mary ,roberts ,smith in her admirable article on 8,domestic ,service2 the ,responsibility of ,employers40#b ,mr4 ,bolton ,hall has set forth most vigorously the employee's side of the case in 8,the ,servant ,class on the ,farm and in the ,slums20#c while a symposium on the subject by a group of men has recently discussed in an impartial manner many of the difficulties of the situation4 ,pure literature also makes its contribution1 and ,mrs4 ,mary ,hartwell ,catherwood has recently given a charming picture of 8,a ,convent ,man-,servant40#d ,nothing could prove more effectively the change in the attitude of the public mind toward the subject than does the contrast presented between such a sketch1 drawn with light and sympathetic pen1 and that given in the satires of ,dean ,swift and of ,defoe4 ,the very absence of the figure of a domestic servant in the modern novel1 and in current popular literature in every form1 is in itself an indication of a changed attitude of the public mind toward the question as a whole4 ,figaro1 and even ,sam ,weller1 are almost as far removed from us as are the servants of ,potiphar and of the ,queen of ,sheba4 ,the attitude of the daily press toward the subject of domestic service certainly leaves something yet to be desired1--the stock jests on the impertinent maid and the ignorant mistress1 like those on the mother-in-law and the summer girl1 die hard1 but they will go in time4 ,the historical investigations of the subject have been few in number1 but they have been of great value4 ,mr4 ,albert ,matthews has placed all students of the subject under obligation to him by his exhaustive study1 8,the ,terms ,hired ,man and ,help10#e as ,mr4 ,james ,d4 ,butler had previously done by his investigations on 8,british ,convicts shipped to ,american ,colonies10#f and ,dr4 ,karl ,frederick ,geiser by his work on 8,redemptioners and ,indented ,servants in the ,colony and ,commonwealth of ,pennsylvania40#g ,the public library is always first to create as well as to satisfy a demand for literature on subjects of general interest4 ,it is therefore not surprising to find that the ,providence ,public ,library as far back as #ahic issued a bibliography of all works and magazine articles on domestic service1 which has been followed by the still more exhaustive reference-list published in #ahih on the general subject of domestic science2 and that the ,salem ,public ,library has a similar list4 ,the ,new ,york ,state ,library has published a comprehensive bibliography of the whole subject of domestic economy1 and it sends out1 to all parts of the state1 traveling libraries of the best volumes on the same subject1--the list of the volumes included being in itself an excellent guide to the study of household economics4 ,but the greatest of all steps in advance has been made by those libraries that have changed the classification of works attempting to treat scientifically the subject of domestic service from the class of ,domestic ,economy to that of ,economics proper4 ,the change seems slight1 but it is a recognition of the intimate relation that exists between domestic service and other forms of industry4 ,the statistician1 like the librarian1 is also quick to create as well as to respond to the demand for information of a serious nature1 and this has been shown in the growing recognition of the importance of domestic service as a field for statistical research4 ,among the most thorough of these statistical investigations is that carried on by ,miss ,isabel ,eaton1--recently fellow of the ,college ,settlements' ,association1--in regard to negro domestic service in the seventh ward of ,philadelphia4#h ,miss ,eaton has made an exhaustive study of one phase of the subject in a limited area1 considering not only the number of negroes thus employed1 but the methods of living1 savings1 and expenditures1 amusements and recreations1 length and quality of the service1 conjugal condition1 illiteracy1 and health4 ,the work has been done in a thoroughly scientific manner1 and the results form an admirable presentation of negro service in a single ward of one city4 ,similar thorough investigations of special aspects of the question have been carried on by ,miss ,mary ,w4 ,dewson and ,miss ,edith ,g4 ,fabens for the ,women's ,educational and ,industrial ,union of ,boston1 and by ,miss ,gertrude ,bigelow1 fellow of the ,association of ,collegiate ,alumn1 at the ,school of ,housekeeping4 ,they have collected statistics in regard to the hours of labor in domestic service1 the social conditions of domestic service1 household expenses1 and the relative cost of home-cooked and of purchased food4 ,the results of these investigations have been collected by the ,massachusetts ,bureau of ,statistics of ,labor1 and the reports based on them have been commented on by the press4 ,scientific information in regard to the subject has thus been widely circulated1 and this must have been effective in changing somewhat the attitude of the public mind toward the subject as a whole4 ,mention must also be made of the 8,twentieth ,century ,expense ,book10 prepared by ,miss ,mary ,w4 ,dewson2 its widespread use would be of service in affording opportunity for a comparative study of household expenses4 ,it was early recognized that some of the most difficult factors of the problem concerned the intelligence office1 and investigations on a somewhat limited scale were carried on in several cities2 but1 largely owing to political considerations1 it was not deemed advisable to publish the results4 ,the most thorough and systematic investigation undertaken in this direction has been that of ,miss ,frances ,a4 ,kellor1 whose 8,out of ,work10 based on a study of more than seven hundred agencies1 has laid bare the evils of the present system of securing new employees1 as seen by employer1 employee1 and manager of the agency4 ,a body of facts has thus been made available that must prove of the highest service in any attempt to cope with the notorious evils attending many agencies4 ,the state bureaus of labor have in several instances done valiant service to the cause through the official investigations carried on4 ,as far back as #ahgb the ,massachusetts ,bureau of ,statistics of ,labor devoted four and a half pages of its annual report to domestic labor4 ,but the first real investigation of the subject made by a state bureau of labor was probably that undertaken by the ,minnesota ,bureau in #ahij4 ,this has been followed by special investigations in other states1--notably ,kansas and ,michigan1--and in ,canada4 ,moreover1 it must be remembered that many bureaus1 while making no special investigation of domestic service1 have incidentally considered the subject in connection with their investigations of general labor questions4 ,most of all is encouragement to be found in the comprehensive investigation recently carried on under the direction of the ,industrial ,commission4 ,these investigations enumerated have been of a severely scientific1 statistical nature1 and have been carried on by state or national organizations4 ,but other studies no less important have been made by organizations of a purely private or of a semi-public character4 ,notable among these has been the ,association of ,collegiate ,alumn1 several branches of which have been most active in making studies of domestic service1 both as a special field for investigation and also in connection with the larger subjects of home economics and domestic science4 ,students in colleges and universities have made special studies in the same field1 and in some instances have made distinct contributions to the subject4 ,this work has been of most value1 however1 in the indication it has given of a desire on the part of college-trained investigators to make domestic service a subject of serious consideration4 ,domestic service has been until very recently a field untouched by the statistician and investigator4 ,the studies already made show not so much what has been done as how much yet remains to be done4 ,but the territory is already being occupied4 ,trained investigators are mapping out the field1 workers are at hand1 and in a few years we shall have a body of facts that will afford a sufficient basis for scientific deductions in regard to the condition of domestic service in the entire country4 ,opinions may honestly differ as to whether it is advisable to substitute in schools and colleges subjects along the line of household affairs for other subjects more properly classed as liberal studies4 ,but it is interesting to note how much has been done in this direction4 ,courses in household economics have been given in recent years in the state universities of ,illinois1 ,nebraska1 ,ohio1 and ,wisconsin1 as well as in the ,leland ,stanford ,junior ,university1 while ,columbia ,university through ,teachers ,college has offered similar work4 ,in many agricultural colleges1 and in seminaries and academies like those in ,auburndale1 ,massachusetts1 and ,painesville1 ,ohio1 there are such courses in the curricula4 ,on the other hand1 there can be no question whatever as to the propriety and necessity of introducing1 as has already been done1 courses in domestic science into the great technical schools1 such as ,pratt1 ,drexel1 and ,armour institutes4 ,the ,school of ,housekeeping established in ,boston in #ahig under the auspices of the ,women's ,educational and ,industrial ,union went still further1 in that it was not so much a technical school as a more truly genuine professional school for the training of experts in the great profession of housekeeping4 ,the honorable record it made while an independent institution gives reason to believe that1 now that it has been merged in ,simmons ,college1 it will go on to still greater achievements under the new conditions4 ,the establishment of similar schools elsewhere has been much discussed1 while in some places there have been sporadic efforts to establish classes in household training4 ,indeed1 it must be said that in certain classes of fashionable schools it is at this moment the latest fad to have instruction in all household matters1 quite is much as in art and music4 ,study and investigations have led to organization1 and the first association in the field was the ,national ,household ,economic ,association1 formed in #ahic1 with branches in many states1 some of which did admirable work4 ,the ,lake ,placid ,conference that met first in #ahii is not strictly an organization1 but an informal gathering of workers who have discussed the subject particularly on its scientific side1 since the attendance has been largely made up of those interested in the educational and scientific side of household economics4 ,its proceedings give an admirable summary of the latest scientific discussions of the subject4 ,the most recent as well as the most important of all such organizations has been that of the ,inter-,municipal ,research ,committee formed 8for the purpose of studying existing phases of household work1 to aid in securing fair conditions for employer and employee1 and to place their relations on a sound business basis40 ,much has already been accomplished by it1 especially in the direction of investigating employment agencies1 establishing a bureau of information1 and studying the conditions under which colored girls from the ,south are brought to the ,north to enter domestic service4 ,its programme for the future lays out a constantly enlarging sphere of activities4 ,all these investigations and educational measures have been undertaken in the belief that household employment has its economic side1 like other forms of industry4 ,the widespread recognition of this fact has been a most significant advance1 since earlier discussions of the subject had considered only the ethical factors involved4 ,but an interesting reversion to the more purely ethical consideration of the question has been seen in the various efforts to follow the injunction of ,charles ,reade3 8,put yourself in his place40 ,a number of young women have entered domestic service in disguise1 and from personal experience have narrated the life of a domestic employee4 ,it may well be questioned whether the actual results reached are commensurate with the effort expended2--the experiment has meant months of unnatural life and strained relationships1 and in the end we probably know little more in regard to the condition of domestic employees than could be known by turning the inner light of our own consciousness on our own households and those of our acquaintances4 ,but the experiment has been interesting as indicative of a determined effort to look at the subject from every point of view4 ,it is not surprising1 in view of all the agitation of the question in our own country1 to find that a similar interest has been aroused elsewhere4 ,in ,germany1 that home of conservatism in all domestic affairs1 an elaborate statistical investigation has been carried on by ,dr4 ,oscar ,stillich1 and its results published in an exhaustive work entitled 8,the ,status of ,women ,domestics in ,berlin40#i ,nor again is it surprising to find that neither official nor domestic ,berlin has taken kindly to the investigation1 since bureaucracy has in it no place for private initiative1 and the ,kinder1 ,kchen1 ,kirchen theory of domestic life has resented what has been deemed unwarranted interference in private affairs4 ,but it is a matter of congratulation that the author has been of undaunted courage1 and that his work stands as a thoroughly scientific investigation1 and therefore the most valuable contribution yet made in any country to the theory and condition of domestic service4 ,two things of special encouragement must be noted4 ,one is the changing attitude of domestic employees themselves toward their own occupation1 and the other is the introduction of men into a field where it has always been held that by divine ordinance women ruled supreme4 ,the number of domestics who have shown any interest in the question is indeed1 as yet1 infinitesimal in comparison with the total number in the occupation1 but five righteous men shall save the city4 ,here and there one is found who realizes that domestic employees must be ready to help themselves if help is to come from others1 that it is possible for them to improve the conditions of domestic service through their own efforts1 that respect for any occupation comes1 as those connected with it command respect for it1 through their own attitude toward it4 ,this is as yet realized by so few that no appreciable results can be seen with the naked eye1 but the leaven is working4 ,a very welcome and appreciable change has come through the practical interest in the question shown by men4 ,they have lectured and written on the subject1 and have listened to the lectures on it given by women4 ,this means that the subject is being recognized by them as worthy of study and discussion and as of importance to all--to men and to women alike--who are interested in the welfare of society4 ,on its practical side also the interest of men is making itself felt4 ,chafing-dish courses have been opened for men1 where they have learned the preparation of the luxuries of the table1 as the rough-and-ready experiences of camp-life in summer vacations and in military campaigns have taught them how to prepare the necessities of life4 ,young men in college and young men living in bachelors' apartments are proud of their attainments in afternoon teas and chafing-dish suppers1 while men trained as nurses learn the preparation of delicacies for the sick4 ,it is true1 indeed1 that cooking-classes are but indirectly connected with domestic service1 but everything that breaks down artificial barriers1 and permits the free industrial entrance of both men and women into whatever occupation they prefer1 is a direct gain to every line of work4 ,any one whose attention has been turned in the direction of securing household employees must constantly come in contact with the fact that there is a considerable number of men engaged in household employments for remuneration4 ,does this enumeration of the progress of the past ten years seem indeed like an ,homeric catalogue of the ships8 ,it may1 yet the ships are bound for a definite haven1 and must in time enter port4 ,if one lasting gain of these years has come to be an appreciation of the necessity of diagnosing the disease before prescribing a remedy1 it must follow that the remedy prescribed fits the disease4 ,has it been shown as a result of exhaustive and exhausting investigation that the great barrier to the entrance of competent men and women into domestic employment is the social one1--it follows that efforts are being turned toward leveling this barrier4 ,if we have learned that the loneliness of the life is in sharp contrast to the opportunity for comradeship presented in other industrial pursuits1 we have thereby learned to ward against this loneliness by encouraging means of wholesome recreation4 ,when scientific research has disclosed the plague spots in the employment agency and the intelligence office1 restrictive legislation has followed4 ,if it has been found that the weak and the ignorant have been taken advantage of by the strong and the knowing1 efforts for moral regeneration have been put forth4 ,since we have realized that in the household1 as elsewhere1 it is impossible for the blind to lead the blind1 technical schools have offered instruction in household affairs to employers of household employees4 ,yet when we look over the field still to be reclaimed in the interests of comfortable home life1 more than enough causes for discouragement remain4 ,housekeepers still carry on their households in defiance of all business methods2 ignorant women boast that they 8have never so much as boiled an egg in their life10 and complain that their cooks will not stay with them2 idle women spend their time in playing bridge1 and wonder why their maids are discontented2 men boast at their tables of their shrewdness in obtaining something for nothing1 and cannot understand why petty thieving goes on in their households2 society receives the once1 twice1 and thrice divorced1 but draws the social line at the cook and the butler2 communities tolerate by the score the places where domestic employees1 as others1 can find recreation and amusement of every questionable kind1 but the communities can yet be counted on one hand where they can obtain genuine1 wholesome1 attractive recreation2 the church1 with a few exceptions1 is prone to close its doors1 except for ,sunday and midweek evening service1 and to expend its efforts on fine music1 with church suppers to foot the bills1--forgetting the poverty of interests in the lives of so many in the community4 ,but when all has been said1 it must be felt that the balance shows much to the credit of domestic service1--a balance due to the capital invested in it through the study of conditions made by both men and women4 ,in no country are these conditions so favorable as they are in ,america to-day4 ,england has its well-trained1 obsequious butler1 ,germany has its police regulations of servants1 ,france has its chef1 ,italy has hopeless machines who are 8really servants40 ,america has none of these1 but it has men and women who believe that if the future holds for us a solution of the problem it lies1 not in the direction of reproducing on ,american soil the ,english flunkey1 or in the introduction of ,german governmental control1 or in increasing the number of ,french chefs who shall give us endless varieties of new soups and salads1 or yet in crushing all interest in life out of the hearts and souls of those who serve us1 as a pitiless fate seems to have done in ,italy2 but men and women who believe that the solution lies in the path of hard1 toilsome investigation1 to which students must come without prejudice and with a fearless acceptance of the results of such investigations4 ,in no country are the conditions of domestic service so hopeful as they are to-day in ,america1 and it is in large part due to our theory of education which has been in practical force for more than a generation4 ,men and women receive the same school1 college1 and university training1 and this training enables women to order their households1 on their mechanical side1 in the same systematic way that the business enterprises of men are managed4 ,the result of this is that matters pertaining to the household command the respect as well as the sentimental consideration of men1 and that men and women are more and more becoming co-workers in all efforts to secure improvement4 ,each year the proportion of housekeepers with trained minds increases1 and in the same proportion the number increases of housekeepers who make intelligent demands on their employees1 who do not encourage poor service by tolerating it1 who realize their responsibility to other households1 and understand that 8every irresponsible mistress makes life more difficult for every other mistress and maid40 ,it is at least significant that this progress has been made in a country where the education of men and women is precisely the same1 and that the least advance has been made in those which arrange a special curriculum for women and which profess to train girls and young women specially for domestic life4 ,america holds that education means for women1 as well as for men1 intellectual training rather than the accumulation of information without it1 and that the value of this is seen1 in the case of women1 in the intelligent study they are everywhere making of household affairs4 ,when the vital question in ,italy was that of independence from ,austria and of unity under an ,italian government1 ,mazzini said1 with a sublime appreciation of the principle involved1 8,without a country and without liberty1 we might perhaps produce some prophets of art1 but no vital art4 ,therefore it was best for us to consecrate our lives to the solution of the problem1 #8,are we to have a country8'0 ,it is possible to have peace and contentment in individual households along with ignorance of the economic laws that govern the household1 but there can be no radical reform in domestic service in this or any other country that does not recognize the inseparable connection between domestic service and all other forms of labor1 and that does not make this fact its starting-point4 ,if the difficulties in the present situation1 which are all too evident1 are to be overcome1 it can only be by devoting our energies1 as did ,mazzini in ,italy1 not so much to temporizing in our households as rather to the slow methods of careful1 patient investigation of the conditions without4 ,the immediate gain to ourselves may be slight1 but those who come after us may reap the benefits4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,american ,journal of ,sociology1 ,i1 #eef-eei1 ,march1 #ahif4 ,cf4 the chapter entitled 8,household ,adjustment10 in ,miss ,addams's ,democracy and ,social ,ethics1 #aijb4 #b ,the ,forum1 ,august1 #ahii4 #c ,the ,arena1 ,september1 #ahih4 #d ,the ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,january1 #ahig4 #e ,publications of the ,colonial ,society of ,massachusetts1 vol4 v4 #f ,american ,historical ,review1 ,,ii1 #ab1 ,october1 #ahif4 #g ,new ,haven1 ,connecticut1 #aija4 #h ,isabel ,eaton1 8,a ,special ,report on ,domestic ,service10 in ,the ,philadelphia ,negro1 by ,w4 ,e4 ,b4 ,du ,bois4 ,publications of the ,university of ,pennsylvania4 ,philadelphia1 #ahii4 #i ,die ,lage der weiblichen ,dienstboten in ,berlin1 von ,dr4 ,oscar ,stillich4 ,berlin4 #aijb4 ,,education ,,in ,,the ,,household ,it is reported that a distinguished foreigner was once visiting a well-known woman's college1 and after listening to the explanation of the work carried on there1 inquired of its president1 8,pardon me1 but how does this affect the chances of the young ladies80 ,some years since several persons were speaking of the recent marriage of a college woman and the remark was made1 8,what a pity to have so fine an education wasted in keeping house60 ,not long ago a college woman was discussing the education of women with a young ,german ,ph4,d41 and found that her arguments in its favor were met by her opponent with the triumphant question1 8,but can these young women cook80 ,these three incidents1 which could be multiplied in kind indefinitely1 are illustrations of the somewhat contradictory but current opinions regarding the mutual relations of education and household affairs4 ,it is apparently the common belief1 first1 that educated women never marry2 second1 that if they do marry1 their education is wasted2 third1 that if such women marry and do not consider their education wasted in the household1 the education received has at all events given evidence of nothing either useful or practical4 ,it is not surprising that the mental agility involved in reaching these somewhat diverse conclusions finds its parallel in the remedy usually proposed for alleviating so distressing a condition4 ,if college women never marry1 but find when they do marry that their education is wasted because they have not learned in college how to bake bread1 then1 it is argued1 let us have compulsory teaching of domestic science in the public schools and send our daughters to private schools4 ,the beneficial results of the introduction of domestic science into the public schools would undoubtedly be very great1 did any one understand very clearly what is included under the head of domestic science1 were any one at present prepared to teach it1 and were it quite evident who should study it4 ,at present these difficulties would seem to militate against the widespread introduction of this subject into our educational system4 ,if it is asked what is meant by domestic science1 there is a temptation to make the irrelevant reply that historians1 economists1 political scientists1 and sociologists are still attempting to delimit their respective fields1 each claiming that its territory includes that prempted by the other three4 ,it is as difficult to define the domain of domestic science as it is that of sociology4 ,does it include the architectural construction of a house8 ,may it perhaps go back of the construction and include the selection of a site8 ,does it even involve the principles in the choice of a suitable residential city8 ,is it possible that behind this lies the question of selecting that state of the ,union that is most advantageous8 ,if the problem is to be worked backwards1 it must also be worked forwards1 and it must be decided whether the interior decoration of a house comes within the jurisdiction of domestic science4 ,would this comprise instruction in wood-carving1 pyrography1 china painting1 and basketry8 ,but it seems reasonable to pass from the house itself to the activities carried on within it4 ,should these activities be separated into different classes1 such as those pertaining to the care of the house1 the preparation of food1 the making of clothing1 the physical care of children1 the instruction of household helpers1 the entertainment of guests1 the training of husbands and wives8 ,if this or any other classification is made1 should domestic science consider one1 all1 or any combination of these classes8 ,but one of the tendencies of the time is toward intensive work1 and the courses in domestic science should perhaps reflect that tendency4 ,if so1 should we not look for courses to be offered in napkin embroidery1 ,hardanger work1 and ,mexican drawn work1 in the preparation of wheatena1 toast water1 and flaxseed tea1 in the making of cheese fondu1 pineapple canapes1 and ornamental frosting8 ,should not the mysteries of thin sauces1 medium sauces1 and thick sauces be elucidated8 ,if on the other hand the opposite tendency is observable1 should we not expect courses in the formal and informal entertainment of guests and the philosophy of a menu1 even that of a bill of fare8 ,the difficulties of the situation are comparable only to those of the ,bellman who 8,had only one notion for crossing the ocean1 ,and that was to tingle his bell4 ,he was thoughtful and grave--but the orders he gave ,were enough to bewilder a crew4 ,when he cried #8,steer to starboard1 but keep her head larboard6' ,what on earth was the helmsman to do80 ,but granting that some agreement could be reached as to the content of the term domestic science1 there would still remain the question as to how instruction in it could be given4 ,we have learned in nearly every other department of education the extreme difficulty of teaching what we do not know1 but we still cling to the superstition that it is possible to teach domestic science in private and public schools when the university has not as yet made the household the subject of scientific or economic investigation4 ,the one or two notable exceptions to this statement do not invalidate its general truth4 ,the reasons are manifold why the university does not as yet investigate the household1 although every other field of human knowledge and activity has apparently been taken into its libraries1 its laboratories1 and its workshops2 but undoubtedly one of the weightiest is the survival of the tradition that affairs of the household concern only women1 that women work always through instinct and intuition1 and therefore that the household is not a suitable field for scientific investigation4 ,but with the breaking down of the artificial barriers between the interests of men and of women1 it is found that the affairs of the household do concern every member of it4 ,modern investigations in psychology are showing that the mental processes of women are precisely the same as those of men4 ,it therefore remains for the university to recognize that the household is worthy of investigation4 ,that there is scope for such an inquiry would seem evident from the curriculum of an excellent school of domestic science1 selected from among hundreds of other illustrations that might be given4 ,course ,i in ,domestic ,science places in conjunction lectures on food adulteration1 bacteriology1 furniture1 decorations1 textiles1 and housekeeping in other lands--an enumeration not saved even by alphabetical arrangement4 ,but not only is there difficulty in deciding what should be included under the head of domestic science and how instruction in it should be given1 but a third difficulty lies in deciding who should be instructed in the subject4 ,if it is said that all young women should receive such instruction1 we are confronted by the fact that the young woman trained for domesticity takes up stenography and occupies a hall bedroom1 or becomes a commercial traveler and spends her life in hotels and on railway trains2 the girl taught sewing and cooking in the public school goes into the shop or the factory2 the young woman who frankly acknowledges her engagement spends the time prior to her marriage in preparing her trousseau and in embroidering her initials on her household linen4 ,the young woman who has prepared herself for the profession of law or of medicine decides to marry and goes into business partnership with her husband4 ,it would seem as if all plans for teaching household economics in the college or in the public school with reference to preparing young women for their future careers as housekeepers must be futile until the orbit of the matrimonial comet can be predicted4 ,yet it must be recognized that college education has already done much for the household1 and presumably for that somewhat vague field denominated 8domestic science40 ,the housekeeper finds herself in the same position as does the lawyer1 the physician1 and the clergyman4 ,all are educated side by side throughout a college course4 ,in a subsequent professional career1 the lawyer forgets his ,greek1 the physician his history1 and the clergyman his mathematics2 but there remains with each one a precipitate of far more value than the original compound4 ,the lawyer is no longer able to conjugate a verb in 1 but his ,greek has given him an accuracy and precision of thought that1 other things being equal1 has placed him professionally far in advance of his untrained associates4 ,the physician has forgotten the various steps in the development of cabinet government in ,england1 but his history has left him a ready sympathy in dealing with men and a vision into their future that will long outlive his knowledge of the facts of history4 ,the clergyman can no longer demonstrate ,sturm's theorem or ,horner's method1 but his mathematics has given him a clearness of reasoning that renders him an invincible opponent in all battles for the right4 ,in all these cases the residuum of facts remaining from a college education is comparatively small4 ,knowledge that is not constantly used passes out of mind1 yet1 like the food assimilated by the physical body1 it serves its purpose in the mental strength and energy gained through it4 ,indeed1 it may be said that information becomes more and more the dross1 and education the pure metal remaining from a general school or college training4 ,the embryo lawyer1 the physician1 the clergyman1 have throughout a college course been pursuing parallel courses of training2 it has given them little that they can make of immediate use in the office or the study1 but it has laid the foundation for that special research necessary in every profession4 ,the professional school builds on the training of the college1 and it not only gives the information necessary in a professional career1 but it opens the door to the vast field of investigation which it is one of the aims of every professional man to explore4 ,thus the housekeeper1 forgetting her ,latin1 ,greek1 and mathematics1 her ,french1 ,german1 and history1 her biology1 astronomy and economics1 retains as the most valuable heritage of her education a training in habits of accuracy1 observation1 good judgment1 and self-control that enables her to be the master of any unexpected situation that may arise4 ,from the beginning of school life until the close of the college course the conditions surrounding the young man and the young woman are similar4 ,each has the benefit of all the information and the general educational training the college can give4 ,to each alike the three great professions of law1 medicine1 and theology open their doors and invite special study and investigation4 ,but if the young woman1 turning her back on these attractive fields of work1 desires to study the household in a similar professional way1 she finds it a terra incognita4 ,she realizes that absolutely nothing has been done in any educational institution toward investigating its past history1 its present conditions1 or its future needs4 ,it is said in another field that every lawyer owes a debt of gratitude to his profession which can be paid only by some personal contribution to the sum of knowledge in his profession4 ,one of his aims1 therefore1 as is that of every professional man1 is to leave the world richer in his own field through the investigation of its unexplored parts4 ,thus law1 medicine1 and theology grow by virtue of the accumulated wisdom of those engaged in their pursuit4 ,but the housekeeper finds that housekeeping as a profession has made no advances4 ,it has not grown through the accumulated wisdom of past generations as have the so-called learned professions4 ,whatever advances it has made have come from impetus given it by other occupations through their own progress4 ,housekeeping affairs have been passive recipients of general progress1 not active participants in it4 ,if1 then1 domestic science is to be made a subject of serious study and is to be accorded a permanent place in the school curriculum1 if the household is to profit by the educational progress of the day1 it can only be after the university has taken the initiative and has made all matters pertaining to the house and home a subject of scientific research4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,college ,,women ,,to ,,domestic ,,science ,in a ,western city1 somewhat addicted to the formation of literary clubs and reading-circles1 is a company of women who meet for the study of history1 closing the afternoon's work with a discussion of current events4 ,in alluding to these discussions1 a member once said1 8,no matter what subject is introduced1 we always drift off to the woman question40 ,the half-jesting remark has in it more of wisdom than of criticism4 ,the so-called 8woman question0 is not1 as was once popularly supposed1 synonymous either with woman suffrage or with the higher education of woman--it is as broad and as deep as the thoughts and activities of woman4 ,it was inevitable that for many years efforts should be made to open new occupations to women1 to give them better preparation for their work1 and to secure fair remuneration for service well done4 ,it was inevitable1 because1 however much some sociologists may wish it otherwise1 the fact remains that woman is and must be to a certain extent a wage-earner4 ,these efforts have been reasonably successful2 almost every avenue of work is open to women1 and almost every coveted opportunity for preparation is hers4 ,the reaction1 however1 has come1 and the pertinent question is being asked1 8,why has so little been done to improve the work of woman in those fields which have always without question been considered legitimately hers80 ,a glance at our periodical literature does indeed show unusual interest in all questions affecting domestic life4 ,economists are asking why the wages paid for domestic service are higher than those paid the average woman in other occupations1 and why1 in spite of this1 the demand for household workers is greater than the supply4 ,philanthropists are puzzled to know why girls prefer to live in crowded tenement-houses on the merest pittance rather than enjoy many of the comforts of home life as a household employee4 ,experienced housekeepers find life a burden when it becomes necessary to change the divinity who rules the kitchen or the nursery1 and wonder why it is so difficult to secure efficient help4 ,educated women without homes who desire to learn the principles of domestic science can find no explanation for the fact that the ,united ,states with its hundreds of thousands of schools affords scarcely one where this subject can be studied as a serious profession as is law1 medicine1 or theology4 ,none of these questions has been satisfactorily answered4 ,the editor who discourses of 8half-baked writers on political economy0 settles one of them by saying that there is no reason whatever why women should dislike domestic service4 ,but the autocratic assertion has not visibly increased the number of women desiring employment as house-servants4 ,the benevolent individual who has not yet learned that thousands of girls have neither mothers nor homes1 blandly answers another of these questions by saying1 8,let girls learn housekeeping at home40 ,the world at large cuts the gordian knot and says1 8,it is an unfortunate condition of affairs1 but we cannot reform all evils at once40 ,before considering the relation that college women sustain to the general subject of domestic science1 it must be noted that the subject is one of general interest4 ,it is of interest to all women1 because so large a proportion of them marry and become actively engaged in housekeeping2 the number of married women who do not keep house is possibly equaled by the number of unmarried women who do4 ,moreover1 the majority of women whose primary occupation is not housekeeping are at various times called upon to spend a portion of their time in household duties4 ,it is of interest to all men1 whether they have a full appreciation of it or not1 because all questions affecting the house and the home are so inextricably bound up with all questions of life4 ,it must be assumed at the outset that there is a necessity for improvement in the conduct of household affairs4 ,as the household is at present organized1 the duties of the housekeeper are multifarious4 ,the ideal housekeeper must have a knowledge of culinary affairs4 ,not only must she know how to make food palatable1 but she must understand its nutritive and its economic value4 ,she must be able to superintend the cutting and making of ordinary garments4 ,she must understand the over-sight of her household employees2 the details of marketing2 the principles of laundry work2 the keeping of household accounts2 the care of the sick4 ,she must know how to care for the house and all of its furniture1 from attic to cellar4 ,she must be master of all these special lines of work1 and know a thousand and one things about the household not enumerated4 ,she must not only be the housekeeper1 but the homekeeper4 ,she must furnish her house with taste1 and often at the same time with economy4 ,she should understand the principles of the kindergarten1 and not shrink from applying the fundamental ideas of ethics and psychology to the training of children4 ,she must at all times be ready to perform her social obligations in the circle in which she moves4 ,it is generally assumed that the only preparation necessary to become proficient in these multiform tasks is found in the instinctive love of domestic life common to all women4 ,but this of itself does not make a woman a successful housekeeper any more than a taste for medicine renders a young man a skillful surgeon1 or a talent for law constitutes a learned jurist4 ,there has been a growing recognition of this fact1 but at the same time it is said that the home training of every girl ought to be sufficient4 ,there are many reasons why this is not so4 ,if we apply the principles to the case of girls who become household employees1 it is seen to be at fault4 ,it is from the ranks below the so-called middle class1 to use an invidious phrase1 that the great army of household employees is recruited4 ,it is impossible for a girl belonging to this class to go into a family whose social advantages have been greater than her own1 and become at once an adept in the conventional forms of table service1 an expert cook1 or a good general houseworker4 ,she has had neither the means1 nor the opportunity1 to gain even a knowledge of what duties will be required of her1 to say nothing of knowing how to perform them4 ,an incompetent mistress is unable to give the necessary instructions2 a competent one has often neither the time nor the patience to undertake such training1 and indeed it ought not to be expected of her any more than it is supposed that a banker who desires an expert accountant will teach the applicant the process of addition and subtraction4 ,if1 on the other hand1 it is assumed that the home training in domestic affairs is sufficient for girls of the middle and upper classes1 there is also danger of error4 ,it is often quite as difficult to give regular instruction in the home in these matters as it is in the ordinary school branches4 ,the ,law ,school of the ,university of ,michigan1 after thirty years' experience1 said a few years since in regard to the previous reading of law3 8,it is not often that the student receives the needed assistance except in law schools4 ,the active practitioner1 engrossed with the care of business1 cannot1 or at least1 as proved by experience1 does not1 furnish the students who place themselves in his charge the attention and assistance essential to give a correct direction to their reading1 and to teach them to apply it usefully and aptly in their subsequent professional life40 ,this same principle too often applies in regard to housework1 even when the teacher is the mother4 ,the most competent mothers often have the most incompetent daughters--it is far more easy to do the work than to teach another how to do it4 ,sometimes it is assumed that the daughter can learn1 as the mother has learned1 by the hard road of experience4 ,it is1 also1 too often a question of how the blind shall lead the blind4 ,again1 many girls are early left without homes1 and thus deprived of the opportunity4 ,there are evidences of some appreciation of these facts4 ,cooking-schools spring up spasmodically1 where in 8ten easy lessons0 the mysteries of theoretical and practical cooking are disclosed4 ,some of our fashionable boarding-schools1 ever on the alert to foresee a public demand1 announce courses in domestic science4 ,charity schools in our larger cities attempt to teach girls cooking and sewing in connection with arithmetic and grammar4 ,the great interest in industrial education has had its influence4 ,in some cities cooking and sewing have been made a part of the required work in all the public schools1 not so much1 however1 from a desire to teach these branches as from a belief that the hand as well as the brain needs training4 ,new ,york is the home of the kitchen-garden1 where the thought of the originator has been to teach the children of the poorer classes how to make their own homes brighter1 rather than to train them to do housework for remuneration4 ,in many of our large cities schools have been established to give domestic training1 but this training1 unfortunately1 is often given more in name than in reality4 ,all these forms of activity are indications of a desire to help lessen1 wholly or in part1 the widespread ignorance of domestic work and aversion to it4 ,several reasons for this ignorance have already been suggested4 ,housework has always been classed in the category1 not of skilled but of unskilled labor4 ,nor has it in every-day business life received that practical consideration which the ponderous volumes on the influence of woman would lead one to expect4 ,popular sentiment has not yet demanded that when a woman marries she shall possess at least a theoretical if not a practical knowledge of household science2 it is deemed sufficient if she acquire it after marriage at an enormous cost of time1 patience1 energy1 sometimes even of domestic happiness4 ,nor has public opinion demanded that every woman who does not marry should have a general knowledge of domestic affairs2 it is assumed that she has no use for such knowledge1 either practically or as an accomplishment4 ,when popular opinion insists that every woman who marries shall have a practical familiarity with these subjects as strongly as it insists that every man who marries shall be able to provide a comfortable home for a wife2 when public opinion insists that every woman1 whether she marries or not1 shall have an education so symmetrical that she can fulfill any duty which as an individual she may be called upon to perform1 then will more serious efforts be made toward lessening this ignorance4 ,this lack of knowledge explains to a certain extent why so many are unwilling to perform household work4 ,it is natural to dislike work that brings failure1 to enjoy what brings success4 ,the average girl who 8hates to sew0 and 8hates to do housework0 would often find pleasure in both did she but have systematic knowledge concerning the work4 ,the city boarding-house1 crowded with women who 8can't endure housekeeping10 is one product of this combination of ignorance and aversion4 ,in ,new ,york ,city there are said to be but thirteen thousand families in individual houses4 ,the rest of the population are crowded into tenements1 rookeries1 boarding-houses1 flats1 and hotels4 ,but there are other reasons besides ignorance that explain this aversion to household work4 ,there is a well-founded belief that the majority of women dislike both manual labor and self-supporting labor1 and this fact applies both to housekeeper and to housemaid4 ,we have passed the stage when it is permitted a man to say1 8,the world owes me a living40 ,we not only allow a woman to say this in effect1 but we sometimes praise her for her womanliness in saying it4 ,how often one hears the remark1 8,her father has abundant means1 it is unnecessary for her to support herself40 ,the average woman without family cares is self-supporting because dire necessity compels1 not because honorable work is the birthright inheritance of every human being4 ,again1 the mistress of the household constantly speaks of the routine work of the house as drudgery1 and the houseworker1 whose chief interest in it is one of dollars and cents1 coins a still harsher term1 and calls work a curse4 ,this ignorance and aversion are too widespread1 and have existed too many centuries to be removed in a single generation1 nor can we expect any one remedy to prove a panacea4 ,but we may ask how far the efforts made have proved successful4 ,the cooking-school is now in vogue1 and doubtless has done much to teach new ways of preparing food1 but the cooking-school has the same relation to the general subject of household science that an evening class in arithmetic has to a college education4 ,the mistress learns a few things in a general way1 and the maid does not care to learn at all4 ,it is ephemeral in its nature1 and while it attracts public attention to the need of more thorough instruction on the subject1 it is far from going to the root of the question1 even of how to teach cooking4 ,the same may be said in general of domestic economy in our fashionable schools4 ,sewing and cooking as taught in charity schools do apparently give practical help in teaching the children of the poor to assist in the care of their own homes2 but this work1 like that done in the public schools on the same lines1 distinctly disclaims any desire to give technical information4 ,in the public schools the object of instruction in sewing and cooking is purely an educational one1 and it is an incidental result scarcely to be expected when it leads girls to look upon housework as a means of support4 ,it has long been a belief with many1 and one that it has been most difficult to give up1 that schools for the training of domestic servants would do more than anything else to solve the domestic service problem1 and thus indirectly provide for the overflow in shops and factories4 ,in all of our large cities the experiment has apparently been faithfully tried4 ,the theory has seemed unexceptionable1 labor and expense have not been spared to carry it out1 but the result has been1 if not an utter failure1 at least far from commensurate with the effort expended4 ,in one school personally visited accommodations for twenty were found4 ,when asked what was done in case there were more than twenty applicants for membership in the class1 the superintendent replied that no such difficulty ever arose1 as their numbers were never full4 ,the answer was at least significant4 ,in one city the ,women's ,guild organized cooking-classes with the thought of domestic service in mind4 ,in a demonstration course where only ten cents a lesson was charged1 the average attendance was never more than fifteen or sixteen1 the greatest number ever attending being thirty-two4 ,in a course of practical lessons in cooking1 given at equally reasonable rates1 the class numbered only four or five4 ,one of the most efficient managers of such schools says after twenty-five years of experience that she is forced to believe that nothing in this line can be done4 ,similar testimony comes from a gentleman of wide practical knowledge of philanthropic work in ,new ,york ,city1 and on the theoretical side from a lady widely known for her writings on economic subjects4 ,miss ,mary ,rankin ,hollar has recently investigated one hundred schools and classes where domestic training is supposed to be given4 ,she finds that less than ten per cent give systematic work1 and only two have any maids in their classes4#aj ,in the light of these and of similar facts the conclusion must be accepted that the question cannot1 certainly at present1 be settled by establishing training-schools for employees1 no matter how thoroughly equipped or how reasonable in charges these schools may be4 ,the conclusion seems to be that all these efforts1 from fashionable cooking-school to charity kitchen-garden1 have not been able to remove1 scarcely to lessen1 either ignorance or prejudice4 ,the average housekeeper does not yet know the best1 the easiest1 the most practical1 or the most scientific way to manage her household affairs4 ,her work is often monotonous and wearisome1 and must be so until its true place as a profession is acknowledged4 ,the inexperienced housekeeper recognizes her own likeness only too faithfully drawn by ,dickens in ,bella and her struggles with 8,the ,complete ,british ,housewife40 ,if she desires instruction1 she finds it impossible to secure it in a systematic way4 ,kind friends offer suggestions1 the cook-book gives hints1 and the 8,housekeepers' ,guide0 bridges over a temporary difficulty4 ,but this combination of instruction in regard to isolated facts in housekeeping is much like the attempt to learn a new language by memorizing words from the dictionary4 ,it is not strange that the novice still believes that housekeeping can be learned only by experience1 nor1 on the other hand1 is it any more strange that in the effort to gain this experience she too often breaks down in health1 or gives up the attempt and resorts to boarding4 ,the cooking-school and the class in domestic economy1 when taught in connection with a dozen other subjects1 will not solve the question for her4 ,while the mistress is unskilled in work1 the maid will be unwilling to work4 ,bridget does not suspect that she does not rise to the social position to which she aspires because her conversation is ungrammatical1 perhaps even vulgar1 her manner insolent1 her spirit rebellious1 her dress untidy and devoid of taste4 ,she attributes her ill success to the work in which she is engaged4 ,the facts most obvious to her are that her mistress does not understand practical housework1 yet is socially her superior4 ,she at once draws the conclusion that house service is degrading4 ,she tries to escape to other work less remunerative but more satisfactory1 and if she is unsuccessful1 returns to house-service1 determined to secure every possible privilege4 ,she will not spend even three months' time1 or pay a nominal sum to learn housework1 as a trade or profession4 ,the training-school for domestic servants is a failure because they will not attend it4 ,it is said that the only way to strike at the root of all these difficulties is to dignify labor2 the practical question is1 how this is to be accomplished4 ,in the light of all that has been done to attain this end1 and the reasons for the comparative failure which has followed1 may we not say that one great difficulty has been the fact that reform has begun at the wrong end8 unless the chasm has been bridged between kitchen and parlor we cannot dignify labor in the kitchen alone4 ,all true reform must begin at the top4 ,this has been the experience of every great movement that has looked toward the improvement of mankind4 ,but what is the relation that college women bear to these problems of the household8 ,they cannot revolutionize society1 nor would they if they could4 ,they cannot bring about any reform either in mistress or in maid4 ,it may be answered truly that they can do but little4 ,they are few in numbers--and they cannot assume the ability to settle questions with which previous generations of women have not been able to grapple4 ,but are they justified in shielding themselves behind these excuses and in refusing to look the question squarely in the face8 ,women have proved themselves equal both mentally and physically to a college course1 but if their training does not lead them to assist in the discussion of some of these vexed questions pertaining to the welfare of society1 it may seriously be asked whether the higher education of women is worth all that it has cost4 ,a statement as to what college women are now doing may perhaps be of help in answering what can be done4 ,a few years since a carefully prepared paper read before the ,association of ,collegiate ,alumn1 showed that of the #bfai women graduates of the fourteen colleges then represented in the association1 thirty-eight per cent were married1 thirty-six per cent were teaching1 five per cent were engaged in other occupations and professions1 and twenty per cent were 8at home10 that is engaged in no occupation for remuneration4 ,those married and at home1 to whom the subject of domestic science is presumably of most interest1 form fifty-nine per cent of the whole number1 while the forty-one per cent engaged in teaching and other occupations are certainly not indifferent to it4 ,with trained mind and a realization that opportunity has brought responsibility1 most often in a position where domestic affairs are those most prominently before her1 the woman who is a college graduate is especially well situated to turn her attention to this subject4 ,what can she do8 ,she can prove1 as she is proving1 that her college education has not unfitted her for domestic pursuits4 ,before the college door was opened to them1 the education of women was largely a matter of information and accomplishment4 ,within two generations systematic training has been substituted for the acquisition of information and the advantage of this change should be seen first in improved methods of domestic work4 ,the college graduate who is married or who is at home can prove more effectually than any other class of graduates the practical utility of college education for women4 ,she can prove how puerile is the assertion that the average girl does not need a thorough course of technical study1 because her household duties will not demand a knowledge of these subjects4 ,the lawyer forgets his science1 the business-man his classics1 the theologian his mathematics1 and the physician his metaphysics1 yet each proves daily the value of these studies4 ,so the college woman brings into every-day life1 and may bring still more1 the evidences of the advantage to her of a college course4 ,she may go further1 and show that resources within herself enable her to rise above much of the inevitable drudgery of household work1 and thus overcome1 in a measure1 the common distaste for routine duties4 ,the college woman can do much by way of discussion4 ,the love of study fostered by her college course shows itself after graduation in the formation of clubs and societies for literary work4 ,there is scarcely a town that has not from one to a dozen1 and there are few college women who have not belonged to one or more4 ,there is a tendency1 too1 for college women to organize among themselves select classes for the pursuit of favorite studies4 ,all of these clubs are valuable up to a certain point in giving help through association1 but in too many cases they seem examples of misdirected effort4 ,their great numbers show that women have time and interest to give to intellectual matters4 ,cannot college women divert a part of this zeal from the discussion1 for example1 of the tulip mania in ,holland1 into the channels of social and domestic science8 ,no company of political economists will ever work out for women 8the servant-girl problem10 or make possible for women to learn systematic housekeeping4 ,the college woman can do something--not everything--by showing that these subjects deserve consideration2 that their proper place on the programme of the women's club is not the closing half-hour of informal conversation1 but the post of honor as one of the chief subjects of thought and study4 ,but she need not wait for the movements of the literary club2 she can herself organize a society whose sole purpose shall be the discussion of ways and means to lessen the friction in the ordinary household between mistress and maid1 to remedy the scarcity of competent help1 to relieve the overburdened housewife1 a society which shall attempt to understand the 8saleslady0 situation1 and to study the causes of the prejudice that still clings to household service as well as the means of removing it4 ,she can help to show women that it is a matter of more vital interest to themselves and to society as a whole to discuss these topics than to seek after information that may not be worth the acquisition4 ,there is another phase of the question the thoughtful consideration of which the college woman can urge4 ,she can at least make the attempt--her prospects of success may seem dubious--to bring before her sisters the subject of the wise expenditure of money4 ,women have bequeathed fortunes for every object from the endowment of theological seminaries to the establishment of a hospital for invalid cats2 they have multiplied buildings and apparatus that language and science might be taught according to the ,presbyterian1 the ,baptist1 or the ,methodist creed4 ,the college woman may at least suggest that a long-felt want has been that of a polytechnic1 an institution where the college graduate can learn household science as a serious profession1 as an advocate or physician studies the principles of law and medicine4 ,such an institution1 requiring a college degree for admission1 and providing in a two years' course for instruction in sanitary science1 physiology and hygiene1 the care of the sick1 cooking1 marketing1 the care of the house1 sewing1 the principles of the kindergarten1 artistic house-furnishing1 domestic economy1 and such other subjects as belong distinctively to the care of the house and home1 would certainly have for a few years a limited number of students4 ,an examination1 however1 of all that has been done and of the underlying principles leads to the conclusion that more could ultimately be done in this way than in any other to dignify that part of labor connected with domestic occupations4 ,it would most certainly not do everything--no one thing could do that--but it would do much4 ,in a word1 the relation of college women to the question of domestic science is first of all the duty of recognizing the importance of the subject itself1 and of its special importance to them as college women2 and second1 a duty of examination1 of discussion1 of intelligent study1 of appeal to public sentiment1 of effort to secure at no distant day the establishment of a technical school of domestic science which shall in no sense be a substitute for collegiate and academic training1 but shall be built upon such training as its most secure foundation4 ,the present strain coming upon the majority of women is too great to be much longer borne4 ,relief must come1 either in improved facilities for individual work1 or in coperative enterprises4 ,the home must be preserved1 and at the same time household work must be reduced to a minimum4 ,college women owe it to themselves and to society to do their part toward attaining this end4 ,,footnote3 #aj ,bulletin ,inter-,municipal ,research ,committee1 ,nov4 #aije4 ,,sairey ,,gamp ,,and ,,dora ,,copperfield ,a wholesome corrective for the impatience with which we are wont to regard the lack of progress made in regard to all matters which concern the house and home was found at a recent ,international ,health ,exposition held in ,new ,york ,city4 ,in one section was arranged an old-time sick-room1 presided over by ,sairey ,gamp4 ,the clock on the mantel pointed to the hour of midnight1 and the patient was presumably sleeping1 but on a feather bed1 under heavy comfortables1 with thick draperies hanging about the large high-post bedstead4 ,on a table by the bedside were the remedies administered1--paregoric1 salts1 castor-oil1 goose-grease1 and other tradition-honored medicines4 ,another table bore the remains of the patient's supper1--fried ham1 bread and butter1 cucumbers1 and milk4 ,sairey herself reposed in an armchair1 flanked1 on one side1 by the empty gin-bottle1 and1 on the other1 by a pot of tea4 ,in a neighboring booth was found a motley collection of old-time remedies4 ,it comprised elderberry flowers for pleurisy1 honey for insomnia1 hornet's-nest tea for colds1 baking-soda for the stomach and for bee-stings1 cold potatoes for burns1 and hot potatoes for ear-aches1 cobwebs for hemorrhage1 a cat's skin for pneumonia1 to be applied while the animal was still warm1 and bags of camphor and assaftida to be worn around the neck for protection against disease4 ,all of these remedies are within the recollection of most persons who have not yet passed middle life4 ,these two booths were the text from which the silent sermon of comparison was preached by the eighty booths containing the educational exhibits of the training-schools for nurses and of many modern hospitals4 ,the old-time sick-room has given place to one not only attractive to the eye1 but furnished with every scientific appliance for the prevention as well as for the cure of disease4 ,in place of ,mrs4 ,gamp is the trained nurse of to-day1 attractive in dress1 agreeable in manner1 intelligent in mind1 scientific in methods of work1 a friend and a companion1 as well as a staff and a dependence4 ,the contrast could not be more world-wide4 ,yet the time required to revolutionize methods of caring for the sick has been scarcely more than thirty years4 ,the exhibit shown of a ward in ,bellevue ,hospital1 in #ahgb1 is almost as far removed from a modern hospital ward of to-day as it is from ,mrs4 ,gamp4 ,what is the explanation of the transformation of ,mrs4 ,gamp into the trained nurse1 and of the evolution of the modern hospital and the modern sick-chamber from the old-time crude1 semi-barbarous methods of treatment8 ,the secret of it all lies in the one word1--investigation4 ,investigation is the product of training1 of education1 of an eager and absorbing desire for knowledge1 of minds open to conviction and ready to hold the judgment in suspense until it can be based on facts4 ,the steps in the process of the evolution are equally clear4 ,given an investigating spirit1 it follows that every investigator must work with singleness of purpose1 in his search for facts1 that is1 for truth2 and that this truth1 when found1 is to be held1 not as a personal acquisition1 but as a good to be shared with all4 ,thus progress is made1 not through the individual efforts of isolated investigators1 who are working along parallel lines1 but it is made by geometrical progression1 because each investigator is able to take1 as a starting-point1 the goal reached by his predecessor1 and because he knows that he is coperating with all other investigators to secure the same end4 ,everywhere to-day scientists appreciate the fact that progress in science is conditioned on scientific investigation4 ,they also appreciate the fact that this progress can be made only as each investigator shares in the results obtained by every other investigator4 ,every scientific discovery made by one scientist becomes the common property of all4 ,in this apparently simple fact lies the explanation of the disappearance of ,sairey ,gamp4 8,martin ,chuzzlewit0 was published six years before the first part of 8,david ,copperfield0 was issued4 ,but while ,mrs4 ,gamp has become but a name1 ,dora ,copperfield is still with us1 and he would be a rash prophet who would venture to predict the times and the seasons that wait upon her going4 ,why does ,dora ,copperfield still tarry8 ,again the explanation is not far to seek4 ,the household has not yet become a field for investigation4 ,it resents intrusion into its domain and regards investigators as ,paul ,prys4 ,it is sensitive to criticism1 and it considers a suggestion of change as an unwarrantable interference with its affairs1 and as an attack on it by outsiders4 ,it does not take kindly to new ideas1 and it often rejects them on a priori grounds1 not because experiment has proved them wrong4 ,clothed in a mantle of virtue1 it feels itself above criticism1 because the home is of divine origin4 ,yet although intuition and instinct have so long been made to play the part in the household that ought to be taken by scientific investigation1 it is not unreasonable to believe that a change must in time come4 ,it is not many years since illness was attributed to divine interposition1 which to-day is known to be the result of impure water1 defective drainage1 insufficient nourishment1 or lack of ventilation4 ,we must in time1 although the specific time cannot be predicted1 come to believe that women's minds have been given them to use1 and that nowhere can they be used more effectively than in the organization and management of a household4 ,this comparison has been suggested1 because the question is so often asked3 ,why can we not have trained domestics as we have trained nurses8 ,the answer must be that1 in the present condition of affairs1 the resemblance between nurses and domestics is only superficial4 ,the trained nurse is the product1 not of the family that has suffered from the lack of such trained service1 but of the discovery by the medical profession that its labors must be ineffectual if orders are not carried out by those who understand the reasons why these orders are given4 ,the more rapid the advance in scientific investigation made in the medical world1 the more rapid the advance made in all grades of service connected with the medical profession4 ,pressure is exerted from above and works downwards4 ,more and more the subject of health becomes one of the prevention1 rather than of the cure1 of ill health4 ,the distance between physician and nurse and nurse and patient grows less as each understands better the function each has to perform in securing good health4 ,some parts of the household have already been put on a scientific basis4 ,it is to-day protected from impure water-supply1 from defective drainage1 from poisonous foods1 from contagious diseases1 but not through the efforts of the household itself4 ,these benefits it has reaped through the labors of scientific experts who1 through unwearied investigation1 have discovered the means of preventing certain large classes of diseases4 ,sanitary engineering and sanitary chemistry have become professions through the work of scientific investigators4 ,when housekeepers1 through scientific investigation1 have made a profession of housekeeping1 then1 and not till then1 will trained service in the household be possible4 ,it is very easy to see why progress in the household has up to this time been so slow1 and why it has1 for the most part1 been made through forces exerted from without rather than from within4 ,but the ,chinese wall that has so long surrounded it is giving way1 and the signs of the times point to another international exposition1 when1 side by side with ,mrs4 ,gamp and the trained nurse1 will be found ,dora ,copperfield and the new home1--the product of the trained minds of scientific investigators4 ,,economics ,,and ,,ethics ,,in ,,domestic ,,service ,the cynic observed yesterday that the interests of womankind were confined to the three ,d's--,dress1 ,disease1 and ,domestics4 ,to-day the bicycle has become a formidable competitor of dress and promises to do its part toward settling some of the disputed questions in regard to the rival it has partially supplanted4 ,biology is wrestling with disease1 and bids fair to be the victor4 ,domestics still hold the field1 but if business methods are introduced into the household1 as it seems inevitable will be the case1 the interests of women will have passed on and upward from the three ,d's to the three ,b's1 and the cynic will be forced to turn his attention from woman to a more fruitful field4 ,it is not indeed strange that the old conception of household service should have yielded so slowly its place in the thoughts of women4 ,the whole subject of economic theory of which it is but a part is itself a recent comer in the field of discussion2 it was scarcely more than a century and a quarter ago that ,adam ,smith wrote his 8,wealth of ,nations0 and gave a new direction to economic thought4 ,as a result of these economic studies of the present century something has already been done to improve industrial conditions outside of the household4 ,they have led to improved factory legislation1 to better relations between employer and employee1 to wide discussion of the principles on which business is conducted1 but what has been accomplished has been brought about through an unrest and an agitation that have often brought disaster in their train4 ,from this general economic discussion the household has been in the main cut off1 largely because it has been considered as belonging to the domain of sentiment rather than of business1 because the household has shrunk from all agitation and discussion of the questions with which it is immediately concerned1 because it has refused to see that progress is conditioned on this agitation and discussion1 because it has cried 8,peace1 peace1 when there was no peace40 ,it is this very aloofness that constitutes to-day the most serious obstacle in the way of any improvement in domestic service--the failure on the part of men and women everywhere to recognize that the occupation is governed by economic law1 that it is bound up inextricably with every other phase of the labor question1 and that the initial step toward improvement must be the recognition of this fact4 ,housekeepers everywhere resent what they deem interference with their personal affairs2 they betray an ill-concealed irritation when the economic side of the question is presented to them1 and they believe1 if their own household machinery runs smoothly1 that no friction exists anywhere and that their own responsibility has ceased4 ,nothing to-day is so characteristic of women as a class as their inability to assume an impersonal attitude toward any subject under discussion1 while in methods of work they are prone to work from day to day and seldom plan for results to be reached years after a project has been set on foot4 ,this means that before any improvement in household affairs can come1 the attitude of mind with which they are approached must undergo a radical change2 both men and women must recognize the analogy between domestic service and other forms of labor1 and must work1 not for more competent cooks and parlor-maids in their individual households1 not for any specific change for the better to-morrow1 but for improvements in the system--improvements1 the benefits of which will be reaped not by this but by subsequent generations4 ,it is a fact from which we cannot escape that domestic service has been affected by historical and economic development1 that it is to-day affected by economic conditions1 that it must in the future be in like manner affected by them4 ,that we do not all see these facts does not in the least alter their existence4 ,nothing is so inexorable as law4 ,law works itself out whether recognized or not4 ,if we accept the workings of the law and aid in its natural development1 peace and harmony result2 if we resist the action of law and struggle against it1 we do not stay its progress but we injure ourselves as the bird that beats its wings against prison-bars4 8,delhi is far10 said the old king of ,delhi when told that an enemy had crossed his border4 8,delhi is far10 he answered when told that the enemy was in sight4 8,delhi is far10 he repeated when the enemy was at the gate4 8,delhi is far10 he still repeated when the sword of the enemy was at his throat4 ,yet certainly we may hope that another view is coming to prevail1 and that housekeepers will not shrink from the storm and stress period that is the inevitable accompaniment of discussion of household affairs1 but will bring the courage of their convictions to bear on the discussion of the problem4 ,it is indeed encouraging to find so many of them beginning their studies of household affairs1 not with a proposal of remedies that may chance to meet the disease1 but with a recognition of the existence of a great question to be investigated1 with a determination to understand the problem4 ,what is the problem that is presented to the housekeeper8 ,to have a healthy1 happy1 virtuous and useful household4 ,what are some of the external conditions necessary to such a household8 ,palatable1 nourishing food1 regularity of meals1 prompt and efficient service4 ,with what tools has the young housekeeper heretofore been expected to grapple with the problem in her own home8 ,instinct1 intuition1 love of home1 the cardinal virtues1 especially meekness and humility1 orthodox views in regard to the relation of the housekeeper to her home1 and a belief that personal experience1 however restricted1 is an infallible guide4 ,what has been the result8 ,often disastrous failure1 sometimes a measurable degree of success1 always an unnecessary expenditure of time1 money1 and mental1 physical1 and spiritual energy4 ,that most pathetic story in 8,pratt ,portraits10 8,a ,new ,england ,quack10 has had more than one counterpart in the household4 ,the results of innocent quackery there may not always be so consciously pathetic1 the effects may be more subtile1 but they are none the less fatal4 ,dora ,copperfield has been1 unhappily for the race1 no mere picture of the imagination4 ,the problem should not in itself be an insoluble one2 a happy1 well-ordered household ought to be the normal condition of every home4 ,but to expect to secure this end with the means given a young housekeeper is often to expect the impossible4 ,behind the housekeeper is not only personal ignorance but all the force of tradition2 she must face difficulties so deep-seated as to seem almost inherent and ineradicable4 ,one of the greatest of these difficulties is the belief that the subject is not worthy of consideration and that time and strength are wasted in discussing it4 ,this attitude of mind is well illustrated by ,lord ,orrery's 8,remarks on the ,life and ,writings of ,swift10 apropos of ,swift's 8,general ,instructions to ,servants40#aa ,lord ,orrery may not indeed have been altogether free from malice and jealousy in penning these words1 and he certainly showed himself deficient in a sense of humor1 but whatever his motive1 his comments on ,swift's work illustrate fairly well a belief still prevalent4 8,how much time10 ,lord ,orrery comments1 8must have been employed in putting together such a work6 ,what an intenseness of thought must have been bestowed upon the lowest and most slavish scenes of life6444 ,a man of ,swift's genius ought constantly to have soared into higher regions4 ,he ought to have looked upon persons of inferior abilities as children1 whom nature had appointed him to instruct1 encourage1 and improve4 ,superior talents seem to have been intended by ,providence as public benefits2 and the person who possesses such blessings is certainly answerable to heaven for those endowments which he enjoys above the rest of mankind4 ,let him jest with dignity1 and let him be ironical upon useful subjects2 leaving poor slaves to heat their porridge1 or drink their small beer1 in such vessels as they shall find proper40#ab ,another great difficulty is the persistent refusal to consider domestic service as a question of general interest and a part of the labor question of the day4 8,what is needed10 an ,english critic remarks1 8is an infallible recipe for securing a good #af girl and for keeping her when secured40 ,but alas1 who shall give an infallible recipe for accomplishing the impossible8 ,who shall lay down the principle that will make coal-miners contented with low wages and long hours1 that will make the employers of masons satisfied with bungling work that threatens life and limb1 that will lull into ease a conscience aroused by the iniquities of the sweating system8 ,nothing can be more chimerical than to expect a perfect automatic adjustment of the household machinery while other parts of the industrial world are not in harmonious relation to each other4 ,a third obstacle is the persistent belief that nothing can be done until this magic recipe has been discovered4 ,if it is suggested that one measure of alleviation is to take a part of the work out of the household it is answered that it is useless to propose it because all work cannot be taken out of the household1 because the plan would not work in the rural districts1 because it would not meet the case in ,england1 because it is expensive4 ,certainly all these are valid objections to considering the plan a sovereign remedy4 ,but to refuse to try a remedy that may prove of benefit in some households because it will not work in all is quite the same as to refuse to administer a medicine in case of fever because it will not also cure consumption4 ,the preceding is illustrative of another difficulty that is implied in it--a fundamental ignorance on the part of many housekeepers of the processes of reasoning4 ,this is illustrated by the reasoning that many go through with in discussing the question3 8,public laundries are in the hands of men whose standard of perfection in laundry-work is a smooth shirt-front and a stiff collar and cuff4 ,this standard of perfection cannot be applied to the laundering of linen and children's clothing4 ,therefore1 table-linen and children's clothing must be laundered in the house40 8,my mother's cook received a part of her wages in lodging and board4 ,my cook receives a part of her wages in lodging and board4 ,therefore1 my daughter's cook will receive a part of her wages in lodging and board40 8,negro employees lodge out of the house at the ,south4 ,white employees do not lodge out of the house in ,england4 ,therefore employees cannot lodge out of the house at the ,north40 8,employees should be treated with consideration4 ,my employees are treated with consideration4 ,therefore all employees are treated with consideration40 8,some employees are incompetent4 ,good results cannot be secured with incompetent employees4 ,therefore good service is impossible40 ,the only way of meeting this difficulty is found in the slow process of careful1 systematic education4 ,what many housekeepers need is not so much instruction in cooking or domestic sanitation as training in calculus and quaternions1 ,herodotus and ,livy1 logic and geology4 ,still another hindrance is the tone of certainty and finality that characterizes all discussions concerning the household4 ,it is a part of the religious belief of many persons that every woman has been foreordained by ,providence to be a wife1 mother1 and housekeeper1 and that any deviation from this fundamental law is an infringement on the designs of ,providence4 ,but some of us remember that scarcely more than fifty years ago ,daniel ,webster said in the ,united ,states ,senate that slavery had been excluded from ,california and ,new ,mexico by the law of nature1 of physical geography1 the law of the formation of the earth1 and that he would not through the ,wilmot ,proviso take pains uselessly to reaffirm an ordinance of nature or to renact the will of ,god4 ,many apparently believe1 through the same specious reasoning1 that to provide instruction in household affairs would be in a similar way to reaffirm an ordinance of nature4 ,not only does this tone of finality characterize the household when it is assumed that because the majority of women will always choose to be housekeepers1 therefore all women must be housekeepers1 but the same tone of finality also characterizes methods in the household4 ,it is interesting to read to-day the objections raised fifty years ago to the use of anesthetics in surgery2 it was argued that since pain was sent by heaven1 it was sacrilegious to use any means of alleviating it4 ,it may be of equal interest fifty years hence to read the protests of our contemporaries against the present effort to combat instinct with science4 ,another difficulty is the inherent proneness of ,americans to look for results before establishing the conditions on which alone results are to be based4 ,the nervous haste that characterizes us physically as a nation also characterizes us mentally4 ,we seize eagerly suggestions and scorn the slow processes through which alone suggestions can be made realities2 then comes the inevitable reaction and we drift into the fatalistic tendency to put up with evils rather than fight against them4 ,one other general difficulty is the assumption that any improvement in domestic service must mean putting the domestic employee on a plane of absolute equality with the employer4 ,yet nothing could be farther from the truth than this4 ,it is doubtful whether equality ever meant either in ,america or in ,france what the rhetorical phrases of the ,declaration of ,independence and the ,declaration of the ,rights of ,man would on the surface seem to imply4 ,certainly to-day we interpret equality to mean that all persons should have the opportunity of making of themselves all that is possible2 to jump at the conclusion that reform in domestic service means subscription to the literal interpretation of the preamble of the ,declaration of ,independence is to make an unwarranted assumption4 ,if1 however1 we were to accept the doctrine of equality1 it would be with an appreciation of what it involves4 ,the establishment of social equality would sometimes mean the elevation of the employer to the natural social and moral position of the employee4 ,our present social status is well characterized by the late ,lawrence ,oliphant in 8,the ,tender ,recollections of ,irene ,macgillicuddy10 where the heroine describes her mother1 suddenly elevated in the social scale1 as being very democratic toward all those who were socially above her and very aristocratic toward all those who were socially below her4 ,it is specious1 not genuine1 democracy that to-day blocks the progress of improvement in domestic service4 ,these are general conditions that confront any and all attempts to put the household on a more reasonable basis4 ,not less serious are the specific economic conditions existing in the household4 ,one of these is the truck system of wages4 ,in every other occupation the truck system has disappeared2 formerly the teacher boarded around1 the minister received an annual donation party1 and the tailor and the carpenter shared the home of the master workman4 ,the more recent attempt to pay employees in part in orders for household supplies on an establishment kept by the head of a factory or a mill has met with the most bitter protest4 ,the truck system of payment in general industry is antiquated and disadvantageous to both parties of the labor contract4 ,but in the household it is accepted as one of the foreordained provisions of the household1 and meets with neither protest nor objection4 ,that the difficulties in the way of substituting another method of payment are very great must be accepted by all1 but to say that it is impossible to bring about a change before any attempt has been made is idle4 ,wherever negroes are employed the custom is almost universal for them to live in their own homes4 ,in many families the experiment among white employees has been made successfully4 ,it has been made on a somewhat extensive scale at the hotel at ,saranac ,inn1 ,new ,york1 where the employees lodge in a large house fitted up attractively with a dining-room that is used for dancing1 while a billiard-room and smoking-room are provided for the married men who board in the house with their wives4 ,so far these experiments are only variations of the truck system2 the negro employees sleep at home1 but have their meals in the families of their employers2 in ,saranac ,inn the boarding-house for employees is owned and managed by the proprietor of the hotel4 ,but they are illustrations of the fact that in limited areas it has been found possible to take the employee out of the house of the employer as far as lodging is concerned4 ,to accomplish this must be the first step toward any modification of the truck system4 ,fifty years ago the teacher who 8boarded 'round0 probably looked on the truck system as an inevitable accompaniment of the occupation4 ,teaching is being raised from an occupation to a profession and one of the elements in the change is the fact that wages have been put on a different plane4 ,another economic difficulty that some persons have found lies in the fact that1 as has been said1 the substitution of contract for status is at once the object and the method of modern civilization1 and that domestic service owes nearly all of its difficulties to the fact that it is based on status4 ,the reason why it has not been transferred to contract is because it is part of family life and no one has as yet shown how the family can be preserved as an institution if its members rest their relations on contract and not on status4 ,this may be true if the domestic employee is to be considered a part of the family4 ,yet just here is the anomaly and the fallacy of the objection4 ,the domestic employee is not1 and cannot be1 a part of the family2 she never in all her history has had more than a semblance of such a relationship and even that semblance has long since disappeared4 ,the presence of the domestic employee in the family is not essential to the existence of the family2 the domestic employee comes and goes1 but the family remains4 ,more than this1 it must be said that the presence of the domestic employee does something to destroy the integrity of the family life4 ,family life presupposes the existence of congenial tastes and sympathetic relationships4 ,it argues nothing against domestic service as an occupation that those engaged in it are rarely those who would be chosen as life companions or even as temporary companions by those with whom the accident of occupation has thrown them4 ,yet more than this must be said4 ,the statement that family life cannot be preserved if its members rest their relations on contract ignores the fact that the tendency in family life is precisely in this direction4 ,the wife has her allowance1 sons and daughters are given their allowances1 financial dealings between members of the same family are becoming more definite and even legal in their character1 and the result is not the disintegration of the family as it passes from status to contract1 but a greater freedom of the individual members and therefore a more complex and perfect organization of the family relationships4 ,another economic difficulty lies in the fact that so much of the service is largely personal in character1 and that1 therefore1 payments are regulated by personal feelings and not by a recognized standard of payment4 ,the result of this is the obnoxious system of fees--a system difficult to be done away with as long as employees expect to receive them4 ,fees could be abolished by the action of the employers1 but as long as they prefer to have their employees paid by other persons--a practice that would be tolerated by no other class of employers--the initiative will not come from them4 ,fees could be abolished by the action of the individuals disposed to give them1 but so long as men selfishly believe that money ought to purchase privileges that are not rights1 the initiative will not come from them4 ,fees could be abolished by the concerted action of employees1 but so long as they are ignorant of economic principles and indifferent to the social results of the system1 the initiative will not come from them4 ,but one of the hopeful signs of the times is the recent statement that in ,paris waiters are coming to appreciate the fact that fees ultimately must mean smaller wages1 since employers not only refuse to pay their employees but demand a certain percentage of the fees received4 ,the movement among the waiters to refuse fees and to insist on wages paid by employers is full of promise4 ,what1 then1 are the conditions under which improvement in domestic service is possible8 ,first of all must come that attitude of mind that is willing to recognize not only the impossibility of separating domestic service from other parts of the household life1 but still more the impossibility of separating the economic conditions within the household from the economic conditions without1 a willingness to give up a priori reasoning in regard to domestic employments and to study the historical and economic development of the household4 ,all superficial treatment of the question must fail of securing the desired results1 and all treatment must be superficial that does not rest on the solid basis of economic history and theory4 ,granted1 then1 the existence of economic conditions in the household1 the method of procedure is the same as in all other fields of action4 ,in medicine the first step is to diagnose the case2 in law1 to take evidence2 in mathematics1 to state the problem2 in science1 to marshal the facts4 ,no set of a priori principles can be assumed in the household with the expectation that the household will conform to them4 ,investigation to-day stands at the door of every entrance into a new field and bars the way to any attempt to force a passage without its aid4 ,the household has been slow to accept the inexorable fact that it must demolish its ,chinese wall of exclusion and throw open its facts to investigation1 but this is the inevitable end4 ,next to the household1 the most conservative element in society is the school4 ,yet the school is already yielding to the spirit of the times4 ,it has been pointed out in a recent number of the 8,atlantic ,monthly0#ac that the profession of teaching1 starting with a definite and final code of principles of education1 has clung tenaciously to it1 and it is but to-day that the occupation is realizing that it can make progress only as progress is made in other fields1 and that is through scientific investigation2 only to-day is it coming to appreciate that all conclusions to be valid must be based on facts4 ,every occupation has passed through the same experience and the law of progress that governs all development will work itself out in the household4 ,minds open to conviction and trained to scientific investigation are the prerequisites for an improved condition in domestic service4 ,is it said that this discussion of the subject has dealt only with its economic phases and has ignored the ethical side8 ,alas1 life is everywhere one long protest against a varying standard of ethics4 ,shall we separate the ethics of household service from the ethics of the shop1 the ethics of the factory1 the ethics of the professions8 ,shall we be governed by one code in the family1 by another code in the church1 by a third code in the school1 and a fourth code in the state8 ,is the subject of ethics to be divided and pigeon-holed in compartments labeled 8ethics for domestic service10 8ethics for skilled labor10 8ethics for unskilled labor10 8ethics for employers10 and 8ethics for employees80 ,who shall separate any question in economics1 nay more1 any question in life from its ethical phases8 ,who shall declare that the ethical code for one is not the ethical code for all8 ,it is said that every book is but the elaboration of a single idea4 ,in a similar way all discussion of domestic service must have its beginning and its end with the idea that no improvement is possible that is not inaugurated by that class in society that sees most clearly the economic as well as the ethical elements involved in it1 and that work by the slow methods of careful1 patient investigation is the only way by which its difficulties1 all too evident1 may be lessened1 not for ourselves but for those who shall come after us4 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,works of ,swift1 ,,xi1 #cfe-dda4 #ab ,cited from ,remarks on the ,life and ,writings of ,swift1 p4 #agi1 in ,works of ,swift1 ,,xi1 #cfe4 #ac ,frederic ,burk1 ,the ,training of ,teachers1 ,october1 #ahig4 8,,put ,,yourself ,,in ,,his ,,place0 ,to seek wisdom through a questionnaire is a time-honored expedient1 while to give wisdom through questions has classic authority4 ,it is therefore immaterial whether it is ,experience or ,inexperience that may be either seeking wisdom or that may have wisdom to bestow in this interlocution concerning a domestic problem that has already been involved to the nth power4 ,what are the causes of our household troubles8 ,the causes are in part economic--a household system governed by the same economic laws that govern other industries1 but resisting the action of these laws2 in part social--the attempt to form a chemical compound of public and political democracy with private and social aristocracy2 in part educational--the tradition that marriage acts as a solvent to change every ignorant1 inexperienced young woman into an accomplished housekeeper1 and that1 therefore1 mental training is for her a work of supererogation2 in part religious--the persistent maintenance of the belief that from the primeval chaos every woman has been foreordained to be a housekeeper1 united with the rejection of the parallel belief that every man has been foreordained to be a tiller of the soil4 ,but the situation in regard to household help has never been so critical as it is at the present time4 ,this statement has been found in one form or another in all literature1 sacred and profane1 from the times of ,abraham and ,achilles to the story of the last college graduate who has entered domestic service in disguise4 ,other countries do not have the same difficulty4 ,on the contrary1 the difficulty is universal4 ,it may vary somewhat in degree1 but fundamentally the problem is the same the world over4 ,moreover1 in no country is there so intelligent an understanding of all its factors as in ,america1 for in no other country is found so great a mass of material for a comprehensive study of the subject4 ,statistical investigations have been carried on through national1 state1 and private initiative1 and the information asked for has1 for the most part1 been cheerfully given because of the widespread desire among household employers to coperate in every way with those undertaking these investigations4 ,material of every kind1 ranging from the scientific accumulations of bureaus of labor to the hysterical deductions of sentimental observers1 is all at hand4 ,in ,berlin a young man who recently carried on a statistical inquiry in regard to domestic service was nearly mobbed for his presumption--so considered--in attempting to gather information that ,german housekeepers had guarded as sacredly as ,tibet holds the ,grand ,lama4 ,when will our present household difficulty end8 ,the difficulty will end when every man is reasonable1 when every woman is omniscient1 when every child is obedient1 when we discover the philosopher's stone1 when we drink of the ,pierian spring1 when we dig the treasure at the end of the rainbow1 when we enter upon our inheritance in ,spain1 when the east meets the west4 ,meantime8 ,dismiss the cook from your attention for a moment and study the kitchen4 ,is the baking-table on the opposite side of the room from the baking-utensils1 while the baking-materials are kept in the pantry8 ,does an inventory of the cooking-implements show one article for toasting and broiling1 two battered saucepans for preparing a five-course dinner1 and a soup-kettle with a cover that does not fit8 ,is the pump on the left-hand side of the sink8 ,is the sink three inches too low and in a dark corner where a blank wall is all that meets the eye of the one who works before it8 ,does the waste-pipe from the ice-chest lead into a pan that must be emptied daily8 ,must the ashes from the range be carried out of doors every day8 ,is the range-coal too large and is the kindling-wood green8 ,does the oven-door refuse to shut tight and has the tea-kettle sprung a leak8 ,do the unprotected water-pipes freeze with zero weather8 ,does the chimney fail to draw8 ,the results of these investigations may be the discovery that the household engineer has been expected to run his engine with insufficient fuel4 ,what if the skillful engineer has made the same discovery8 ,occupy for a week in winter the room of the cook4 ,does the temperature hover near the freezing-point1 while the rest of the house is warm8 ,is the mattress of husks and are the pillows of hen's feathers8 ,does a row of hooks take the place of a closet8 ,try the room for a week in midsummer4 ,is the temperature stifling hot8 ,do flies and mosquitoes find joy in the screenless windows8 ,are the facilities for bathing a small bowl and a pitcher without a handle on the top of a triangular wash-stand8 ,the two weeks' vacation in an unknown part of your own home may lead to the traditional mauvais quart d'heure4 ,what if the employee has spent a year under the protecting shelter of your roof8 ,watch for a week the table conversation of your family and its guests4 ,count the number of times you hear the word 8servant10 and remarks in regard to 8household drudgery10 8menial service10 8knowing one's place10 and 8superiority to housework40 ,what if the household employee has also kept count8 ,imagine that you can accept ten cents from a friend for doing an errand1 half a dollar from a guest as he leaves the house and a dollar from another1 and can flatter an unwelcome cousin in the hope of getting two dollars at his departure4 ,criticise mercilessly all of your friends after you have invited them to afternoon tea4 ,repeat at table all the gossip retailed by officious busy-bodies4 ,your own self-respect will be lowered4 ,what if moral deterioration takes place in the kitchen under the same conditions8 ,but what can ,i do8 ,try putting all the laundry-work out of the house2 take up the carpets1 paint the floors1 put down rugs and send these out of the house to be cleaned1 or clean house with a vacuum cleaning-machine2 reduce useless work and incidentally add to the attractiveness of your house by taking down portires and paying storage on half of the bric--brac2 buy ice-cream and cake and all 8extras0 at the woman's exchange4 ,these additional expenses will materially reduce your subscriptions to half-orphan asylums and to vacation funds for the indigent4 ,what if this course saves you from hotel existence and enables others to keep their homes intact and to pay for their own vacations8 ,substitute praise for constant censure and the principle of coperation for that of 8giving orders20 see that the daily paper is on the kitchen-table before it is a week old and that the magazines are promptly supplied2 encourage the singing-class1 the flower-bed1 basket-making1 bead-work1 in-door evening games1 and out-of-doors recreation2 at least make the effort to give in some form a new and wholesome interest to lives that may have been repressed and mentally starved4 ,friends may smile and call the plan quixotic4 ,what if it encourages self-respect in the employee and therefore respect for his work8 ,consider the kitchen with its accompanying rooms in the light of an economic plant4 ,give the same careful attention to its arrangement and equipment that the owner of a manufacturing establishment gives to the fitting-up of a new factory with all the latest labor-saving contrivances and facilities for work2 study the plumbing and the water-supply with the zest of a scientific investigator and select the cooking- and baking-utensils with the interest of an artist4 ,this course may curtail expenditures for the 8den0 and the relinquishment of the 8cosy corner40 ,what if thereby your house and home gain in unity for employer as well as for employee8 ,abandon the attempt to maintain a ,waldorf-,astoria style of living on a fifteen-hundred-dollar salary2 abandon it1 if you have the income to maintain it1 if in maintaining it you are putting temptation in the path of a weaker friend and neighbor4 ,this may reduce your calling-list by two hundred names4 ,what if you gain thereby peace of mind and a contented household8 ,establish household settlements among the cottagers at ,newport1 in the vicinity of ,central ,park1 on ,riverside ,drive1 ,commonwealth ,avenue1 ,euclid ,avenue1 and the ,north ,shore ,drive4 ,what if successful settlement work in these localities should enable the families of millionaires to bridge the impassable chasm that now separates the dining-room from the butler's pantry and the reception-room from the linen-closet8 99 99 99 99 99 ,will these temporary devices remove all friction in the running of my household machinery8 ,no1 they will probably not even lessen it4 ,but these and similar expedients may be of benefit to you1 inasmuch as they may help you to carry out the commendable advice of ,charles ,reade1 8,put yourself in his place40 ,they may also be of benefit to your granddaughter in enabling her to be a member of that ideal trades-union--that between employer and employee4 ,,our ,,kitchen ,our kitchen is not that of a millionaire2 it has not a tiled floor1 enameled brick walls or glass shelves2 it is not fitted with appliances for cooking by electricity or with automatic arrangements for bringing up coal and sending down ashes4 ,it is a plain1 ordinary kitchen1 built new six years ago1 and attached to an old house to take the place of the former basement kitchen4 ,it was planned by the landlord and the carpenter for unknown tenants1 and the general arrangement had to conform to the plan of a house built many years before4 ,if1 then1 it has been possible1 with these usual1 every-day conditions to develop a kitchen that possesses convenience of arrangement and unity of purpose1 it would seem that similar ends might be obtained in any kitchen1 anywhere1 by any person1 through use of the same means1--careful thought4 ,we are busy women who have learned1 in other lines of work outside the household1 the value of order and system1 and when we began housekeeping we saw no reason why the application to the kitchen of the same principles that were used in arranging a study or a library should not produce the same ease and joy in the work of the household4 ,if a library1 to be of service to those who work in it1 must have its books classified according to some clearly recognized principle1 would not a kitchen gain in usefulness if some principles of classifying its utensils were employed8 ,if a study-table demands every convenience for work1 ought not a kitchen-table to be equally well equipped8 ,if the student can work more effectively in a cool room than in one that is stifling hot1 will not a cook produce better results if working in a well-ventilated room8 ,if the librarian needs special equipment1 does not the butler need appliances adapted for his work8 ,if the instructor needs the materials for investigation if his work is not to perish of dry rot1 should not the houseworker have at hand all the materials needed if her work is to represent progress8 ,if the parlor gains in attractiveness if its colors are harmonious1 will not the kitchen gain if thought is given to appropriate decoration8 ,it was the affirmative answer to these and similar questions that led to the evolution of our kitchen from a state of unadorned newness to its present condition4 ,an indulgent landlord provided a model range1 a copper boiler1 a porcelain-lined sink1 and a double shelf2 we have added the gas-stove1 the instantaneous water-heater1 the electric fan1 two double shelves and all the utensils4 ,thus equipped1 what does our kitchen represent8 ,to answer this question it is necessary to consider its general arrangement4 ,the north side is filled by a window1 the range1 and the outside door4 ,this with the adjacent east side1 we call 8the cooking side40 ,here are arranged boilers1 sauce-pans1 broilers1 and all implements large or small needed for cooking4 ,the south side is filled by the door leading into the refrigerator-closet1 the baking-table1 and the door leading into the butler's pantry4 ,this we call the 8baking side10 for here is the baking-table with its bins for flour and meal1 its drawers for baking-spoons1 knives and forks1 and sliding shelves for baking and for bread-cutting4 ,above it are various small utensils needed in baking1 together with spices1 essences1 and various condiments4 ,a 8kitchen indicator0 showing articles needed from the grocer's hangs at the left of the shelf1 a peg at the end holds the household bills1 and pegs at the right are for shears1 scissors1 a pin-cushion1 and a cushion for needles used in preparing roasts4 ,the west side is the 8cleaning side40 ,this side is our special pride and delight1 for here on a corner shelf is our electric fan1 the drop-leaf table for drying dishes1 the porcelain sink with its shining brass faucets1 the nickel instantaneous water-heater1 and our fine forty-gallon copper boiler4 ,here above the sink are collected the cleaning-brushes of various kinds1 ammonia1 borax1 scouring-sand1 and all cleaning preparations4 ,the sink is set about three inches too low for comfortable use1 a fault in sinks almost universal1 and to remedy this defect a rack was evolved from four nickel towel-bars joined by connecting metal plates4 ,lack of wall space required that the shelf on this side of the room should be shared equally between the preparations for cleaning and the kitchen library1 while the basket for newspapers and magazines occupies the end of the cleaning-table4 ,but does not cleanliness of mind accompany cleanliness of material equipment8 ,the outside entry to the kitchen serves1 in default of other place1 as a cleaning-closet4 ,here are kept brooms1 dusters1 scrubbing-brushes1 polishing-brushes1 dusting-mops and cleaning-mops4 ,here also1 easy of access1 is kept the garbage-pail1--three times each week emptied by the city garbage collector and three times each week scrubbed with hot soap-suds4 ,this is our kitchen as regards its ground plan and its exterior aspect4 ,but the student of history always looks behind the external surface and studies the record2 hence our kitchen records a belief in a few principles that seem fundamental in a household4 ,the first principle is that a kitchen should be absolutely sanitary in all its appointments4 ,this means not only filtered cistern water1 a still for distilling water1 a porcelain-lined sink1 and an abundance of hot water1 but it means an absence of cubby-holes and cupboards where articles may be tucked away and accumulate dirt4 ,everything is in the open1 every part of the kitchen is kept spotlessly clean1 and we have never seen a rat or a water-bug about the house4 ,a second belief recorded by our kitchen is that of unity of plan4 ,if the artist places before all else in importance the composition of his picture1 if the author believes that his book should be the elaboration of a single idea1 if the engineer knows that every part of his engine fits by design into every other part1 it would seem clear that the application of the same principle is essential in the household4 ,if the kitchen is to sustain an organic relationship to the other parts of the house it must represent in the arrangement of all its details the same idea of unity of composition that is expressed in a painting1 of unity of development that gives life to a book1 of unity of design that makes the perfect engine4 ,a third idea represented in our kitchen is that it must be equipped with every labor-saving device and with every convenience for work1 if satisfactory results are to be secured4 ,the first thought of the manufacturer is for the equipment of his manufacturing plant with every modern appliance4 ,can a perfect product come from imperfect1 inadequate means of work in the household8 ,the application of this principle has of necessity involved many experiments1--inventions will not work1 or good ones are superseded by better ones1 or a new need arises and must be met4 ,every week sees some article discarded because an improvement on it has been found4 ,in the city of twenty-two thousand inhabitants in which we live automobiles have been used six years and approximately three hundred are now owned there and in the vicinity1 but not one can be found of a pattern prior to that of three years ago4 ,if an automobile must be disposed of because it is not of the most recent model1 does it seem unreasonable to cast aside a twenty-five cent eggbeater that chafes the hands1 a pineapple-snipper that wastes the fruit1 an unsightly broken sauce-pan1 and a patent water-cooler that will not cool the water8 ,but man does not live by bread alone1 and a kitchen may be sanitary in all its arrangements1 it may represent unity of plan1 it may have every modern convenience1 and yet it may lack the essential of attractiveness4 ,the arts and crafts movement has not yet reached the kitchen1 and it is thus almost impossible to secure cooking-utensils of good artistic design and color4 ,but the second-hand store will often furnish a piece of good pottery1 brass1 or copper that may be utilized in the kitchen and serve the added purpose of increasing its attractiveness4 ,yet a kitchen may illustrate all of these principles and still lack those subtle features that establish1 unconsciously1 some connection between it and its predecessors in other times and in other places4 ,if the theory of evolution has taught us not only in science but in art and in politics and in everything connected with our daily life to look behind the surface and to seek the origins of things1 if it has taught us ever to look for the relationship between the present and the past1 surely the kitchen must not be excluded from this process of thought4 ,apparently the work performed there each day has neither connection with the past nor outlook into the future1 yet this is but a superficial aspect of the situation4 ,the kitchen of to-day with gas-range and instantaneous water-heater is the direct heir of the kitchen of yesterday with coal-range and copper boiler1 and of that of the day-before-yesterday1 with open fire and cauldron4 ,an attempt to maintain this connection with the past is sought through the photographs on the walls4 ,two views of early colonial kitchens give historic continuity with the past1 a photograph of the interior of a ,dutch kitchen gives a touch of that cosmopolitanism that makes the whole world akin1 while that of a famous hotel in ,new ,york ,city places us by prophetic fiction in the class of millionaires4 ,such is our kitchen4 8,does it pay80 ,it has paid us4 ,,an ,,illustrated ,,edition ,it is the day of the illustrated edition1 and even more the day of the illustrator4 ,happy is the author to whom is accorded the honor of an illustrated edition of his latest book4 ,still happier is he whose facile1 practiced pen is called into requisition to illustrate the works of the great artists found in our monthly magazines4 ,unhappy is the one whose book no artist1 even if gifted with imagination1 can illustrate1 and whose name no publishing house has ever entered on its card catalogue of pen illustrators of artistic sketches4 ,but more fortunate times may await the unillustratable and non-illustrating author4 ,a changing phraseology reflects a new rapprochement between author and artist and a breaking-down of the barriers that once confined each within definite limits4 ,there are even indications that the present positions of author and artist may be reversed and that the non-illustrating author may become quite independent of the previously necessary artist4 8,pen pictures10 8sketches in black and white10 8pastels in prose10 all indicate the possibilities open to the author of combining with his own vocation that of the artist whose existence thus becomes unnecessary to his own4 ,nay more1 the unillustratable author may take heart1 for as the skillful acrobat learns the feat of walking on his hands1 so the literary trickster may achieve the paradox of illustrating works that cannot be illustrated4 ,this theory has been the result of contemplating on the one hand the impossibility of illustrating a modest book dealing with statistics and equally prosaic facts and of noting on the other hand the popular demand that every book shall be illustrated4 ,how shall man attain unto the unattainable8 ,a reminiscent mood led the author to blow the dust from the top of her last book1 written ten years ago and not yet1 unhappily1 out of its second edition1 and to turn over its half-forgotten pages4 ,she found a passing interest in recalling her conclusions as they were laid bare on the pages of the book1 but undreamed-of pleasures took form and shape as she remembered the circumstances under which each page had been written4 ,nay more1 there opened out the vision of the unattainable illustrated edition4 ,a series of pictures passed before her1 far more interesting than the book they illustrated1 and thus a prosaic work attained a place in that desirable class in which are found all books whose text seems only as a pretext for the artist's brush4 ,the first picture was that of the receipt of a letter written in reply to a humble request for information in regard to the number of maids employed in the household1 the length of time they had been employed1 and similar facts obvious to one's friends and neighbors4 ,the letter was written on ,tiffany's finest stationery1 it bore a crest and a coat of arms so undecipherable as to be a guarantee of its high aristocratic lineage1 and its perfume was that of ,araby the ,blest4 ,but the letter was written in the third person and the information it conveyed was not that which had been sought but the unexpected statement that the inquiry was impertinent and under no consideration whatever could be answered4 ,alas1 the questioner had known that her questions would demand time and thought1 but what artist1 save the author1 could depict the abyss into which the questioner was hurled by the epithet 8impertinent80 ,the second picture also had a letter in the foreground4 ,the quest for information had led to an appeal to the only authority known to the questioner1 but it was to an authority of world-wide reputation1 and the unknown questioner hesitated long4 ,would the great man heed the appeal1 even if the questioner could justify herself in making it8 ,but the die was cast and the result was a long1 kindly1 painstaking letter not only giving in detail all the information sought but also suggesting similar by-paths to be explored4 8,of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven40 ,the third picture was that of a woman's club4 ,the writer had never belonged to a woman's club1 save for a brief period of nominal connection with one1 and it had been with much trepidation that she had accepted an invitation to read a paper before one of these organizations4 ,but she wrote an article in which she attempted to show by means of all the facts and arguments at her command that the establishment of training-schools for domestic employees would not and could not remedy household ills4 ,she valiantly read the paper and at the close of the hour one of the company thanked her heartily 8for advocating the establishment of training-schools for servants40 ,was it the woman1 or the club8 ,the fourth picture is of a large corner room1 with low ceiling1 facing south and west4 ,its long table is covered with papers1 reports1 schedules1 and census publications1 and here1 from early morning until late at night1 during the hottest weeks of the early summer1 the occupant of the room attempted to work out some of the economic laws governing domestic service4 ,her fellow occupants of the large building were the numerous maids engaged in cleaning it4 ,their work also was difficult1 but morning tea tided over the time between breakfast and dinner1 and work for the day closed at four o'clock4 ,how would an artist portray the question that came each night--what would be the effect of an eight-hour day on economic investigation8 ,the fifth picture is one of a small room opening on an air-shaft1 in a ,new ,york hotel4 ,the occupant had arrived late1 the hotel was crowded1 and no other room was available4 ,but it was not the smallness of the room1 or the single window opening on the air-shaft that gave the occupant a chill on a ,july night1--it was the folding-bed4 ,her traveling-bag contained a new work on economic history1 having a chapter on domestic service1 and turning on all the electric lights1 she read until daylight1 never since quite sure whether it was devotion to history or craven fear of the deadly folding-bed4 ,the sixth picture is one of a railway carriage in provincial ,france4 ,the ,american traveler1 in search of information1 had attempted to learn from her chance companion in the carriage somewhat of domestic service in ,france4 ,much valuable information was politely given1 and then the tables were turned4 ,but the interest of the ,french lady was centred1 not in the status of domestic service in ,america1 but in the personal status of her new acquaintance4 ,that she was traveling alone might be accepted1 though certainly to be deprecated4 ,but what artist shall show forth the amazement on the face of the ,french lady when she heard the affirmative answer to her question1 8,but surely it is not possible that ,madame will find no one at the station to meet her80 ,the seventh picture is a series of dissolving views that suggest the portrait of a lady standing with her back to the onlooker and gazing at her own face reflected in a mirror opposite4 ,a few months after the book was published1 its author1 attracted by the title of an article1 purchased a new review to while away a railway journey4 ,she read the article--and pondered4 ,it seemed strangely familiar and soon she realized that it was in effect one of the chapters in her own book4 ,it had not even suffered 8a sea-change into something rich and strange10 for the illustrations used were the same that the first author had collected from the experiences of her personal friends1 and to every one she could have attached a name1 as presumably the second author could not do4 ,the second in the series of dissolving views is of a correspondence with a gentleman who had given a course of lectures on domestic service in a remote city4 ,the author of the book had expressed a desire to sit at the feet of ,gamaliel and at length secured the loan of the manuscript from which the lectures were given4 ,probably a sea-change was not to be looked for in an interior city1 and the author of the book rejoiced to find so much community of interest with the author of the lectures4 ,the third in the series of dissolving views was of a certain bibliography4 ,it had appeared in the first number of a new report on household affairs and the author was interested in it as a probable illustration of thought transference4 ,here was the title of a book she had consulted in the ,bibliothque ,nationale and that presumably was not to be found in ,american libraries4 ,here was the title of a curious book she had picked up when 8bouquinering0 on the ,quai ,voltaire and had added to her private library4 ,this was the title of another curious book found in a great university library1--interesting1 but of little value4 ,this was the line-long title of a collection of technical ,german laws found in ,saxony4 ,here was the title of an old book that had been valued as a family heritage1 but of no special importance to any one else4 ,the compiler of the so-called 8books of reference0 had overlooked the sub-title in the book--8full titles of works referred to in the text0--and had not realized that the use of the word 8bibliography0 had been demanded by the exigencies of type4 ,to recommend for use as a working bibliography a list of 8full titles of works referred to in the text10--was it perhaps donning an evening dress when starting for the golf-links8 ,the dissolving views have given the author the greatest pleasure of all the illustrations of the book4 ,there is a favorite jest concerning books that have been read only by the author and the proof-reader4 ,it is indeed true that for the most part an author writes a book to please himself1 not to gain readers4 ,but there is a secret joy if two birds can be brought down with the same stone and a reader1 other than the proof-reader1 be found4 ,the purchase of a book does not necessarily imply that the book is read1--public libraries add the latest new books1 private libraries are interested in first editions1 and authors buy presentation copies for their friends4 ,but none of these purchasers guarantee that the book purchased will be read4 ,was it not a cause for open rejoicing that not only one but three readers had been found1 and more than that1 that these three readers had not only been non-combatants1 but had agreed so entirely with the views of the author8 ,the pleasures of a visit to ,europe are often as is the square of the distance from the time of the visit4 ,with the passage of the years1 oblivion overtakes the moments when we agonized over the question whether the fee expected by the guide was a shilling or a pound1 and the hours when we gazed at the fireless grate2 but with each recurring year the realities stand out with greater and growing vividness4 ,does not the flight of time bring to us all the realization that the real work of our hand is not the one that can be bought at the counter1 but the unpurchasable illustrated edition8 ,,the ,,woman',s ,,exchange#ad ,few persons whose attention is attracted by the modest sign of the ,woman's ,exchange1 now found in nearly all our large cities1 realize that a new competitor has appeared in the industrial market4 ,few even of those who have assisted in organizing and carrying on such exchanges know that they have been instrumental in introducing a new factor into economic problems4 ,yet in spite of unpretentious rooms and unconcern as to economic questions1 the ,woman's ,exchange has already had an appreciable effect on economic conditions1 and must in future play a still more important part4 ,the history of these organizations belongs1 however1 to a history of philanthropic work rather than to that of economics4 ,the first ,woman's ,exchange1 the 8,ladies' ,depository ,association0 of ,philadelphia1 established in #ahcc1 was founded by persons 8who labored earnestly to arouse in the community an interest in the hard and often bitter struggle to which educated1 refined women are so frequently exposed when financial reverses compel them to rely upon their own exertions for a support40#ae ,in its foundation and its management it was controlled entirely by philanthropic motives2 it was to enable women 8who had seen better days10 and suffered more from the prejudices of society in regard to woman's work than from actual poverty1 8to dispose of their work without being exposed to the often rough handling of shopkeepers1 or to the then mortifying admission of their fancied humiliating condition40 ,the second exchange1 the 8,new ,brunswick1 ,new ,jersey1 ,ladies' ,depository10 founded in #ahef1 also was purely charitable in its motives1 and it restricted its privileges to those who had been in affluent circumstances but were suddenly forced to become self-supporting4 ,the first two exchanges were the product of a generation in which charities of every kind were largely regulated by sympathy alone1 and it was twenty years before similar organizations were formed elsewhere4 ,in #ahgh the 8,new ,york ,woman's ,exchange0 was begun1 and it added a new idea4 ,its aim was 8beneficence1 rather than charity10 and it undertook 8to train women unaccustomed to work to compete with skilled laborers and those already trained1 and to sell the result of their industries40#af ,it came at a time when the organization of charities was first being attempted1 and the principle was being slowly evolved that the best way to help an individual is to help him to help himself4 ,its aim and its management show the influence of the present generation in its study of philanthropy as a social and economic question4 ,since #ahgh1 the year which may be taken as the beginning of the period of the ,woman's ,exchange1 nearly one hundred exchanges have been organized1 all1 with scarcely an exception1 growing out of philanthropic motives1 but philanthropy governed by the principles of the present day4 ,the statement of the object of the exchange presented in their constitutions and annual reports will make this clear3 8,the object of this ,association shall be to aid women by helping them to help themselves2 and in furtherance of this design1 to maintain a depot for a reception and sale of woman's work1 or of articles in her possession1 of which she may wish to dispose1 subject to the approval of an examining committee40 ,cincinnati1 ,ohio4 8,as a means of providing a way for industrious and needy women to help themselves without neglecting their homes and families1 it is indeed a charity that cannot be too highly estimated and is worthy of substantial support40 ,president's ,report1 ,decatur1 ,illinois1 #ahij4 8,the prime object of the ,woman's ,industrial ,exchange of ,minneapolis is3 ,first--,to assist women who must maintain themselves4 ,second--,to assist girls or women to pursue a course of study as a means of support40 ,fourth ,annual ,report1 ,minneapolis1 ,minnesota1 #ahhh4 8,there are few charities that appeal more strongly to public sympathy than those whose aim is amelioration of the sufferings of women1 for whom the struggle of life is beset by a thousand almost insurmountable difficulties40 ,san ,francisco1 ,california4 8,the object of this ,association shall be to maintain in the city of ,little ,rock1 ,arkansas1 a place for the reception1 exhibition1 and sale of articles1 the product and manufacture of industrious women1 and to assist by such means as may be found efficient to that end said women to turn to personal profit their talent and industry for earning an honest livelihood2 to facilitate a sale of such articles as the women aforesaid may have or desire to dispose of2 also generally to assist women in their efforts to earn an honest maintenance by their own industry1 by and through such instrumentalities as the society may find conducive to that end40 ,little ,rock1 ,arkansas4 8,in addition to the attainment of the chief object of the exchange1 namely1 assisting a needy woman to turn to personal profit whatever useful talent she may possess1 it is also of some moment to have demonstrated the practicability and possibility of the work in other directions40 ,new ,orleans1 ,louisiana1 #ahhh4 8,the exchange has1 during the past year1 been mainly supported by the exertions and untiring energy of the board of managers4 ,the ladies in that way have demonstrated the ,christian charity that fills the good woman's heart when she is able to assist her sister woman40 ,president's ,report1 ,augusta1 ,georgia1 #ahia4 8,the object of this society is to furnish a depository for the reception1 exhibition1 and sale of articles made by ladies attempting to support themselves40 ,stamford1 ,connecticut4 8,the ,philadelphia ,exchange for ,woman's ,work is an institution formed by a number of women of ,philadelphia for the purpose of helping women to help themselves40 ,philadelphia1 ,pennsylvania1 ,circular of #ahij4 8,among the number of charities which seem to be constantly increasing in our large city1 we must again bring to the notice of its friends the ,woman's ,work ,exchange and ,decorative ,art ,society of ,brooklyn40 ,annual ,report1 #ahhi4 ,the object of the ,woman's ,exchange is thus seen to be charity1 not charity pure and simple1 but charity having a double end in view4 ,the first and most important aim is the direction into remunerative channels of the work of 8gentlewomen suddenly reduced to abject penury10 with the secondary aim of encouraging 8the principle of self-help in the minds of girls and women1 who in the future1 if necessary1 will be helpful and not helpless when misfortune comes40 ,in carrying out its object1 the exchange receives under specified conditions all articles coming under the three general classes of domestic work1 needle-work1 and art-work4 ,the domestic department includes all forms of food that can be prepared by the consigners in their own homes and sold through the exchange4 ,these articles form a dozen different classes and comprise more than two hundred and fifty varieties4 ,they include every form of bread1 pastry1 cake1 small cakes1 cookies1 cold meats1 salads1 soups1 special and fancy desserts1 preserves1 jellies1 jams1 pickles1 sauces1 and delicacies for the sick4#ag ,in the department of needle-work nearly a hundred different articles are enumerated by the different exchanges1 and the number is practically without limit1 since it includes every form of plain and fancy sewing4 ,the art department is for the special encouragement of decorative art1 and its possibilities as well as actual achievements are very great4 ,these three departments are found in all the exchanges1 but each exchange1 according to its locality and the consequent needs of the community1 adds its own special line of work4 ,a few receive scientific and literary work1 others arrange for cleaning and mending lace1 re-covering furniture1 the care of fine bric--brac1 writing and copying1 the preparation of lunches for travelers and picnic parties1 and a few take orders for shopping4 ,all the exchanges have connected with them an order department1 which is considered an especially satisfactory and remunerative part of their work4 ,in fulfilling its aim1 the exchange thus enters as a competitor into the industrial field1 though without consideration on its own part of this side of its work2 and it is as an economic factor1 rather than as a charitable organization1 that it is considered in this chapter4 ,the place it has already won in this field is shown by the fact that there are now in operation about seventy-five exchanges1 a few in small places in thinly settled localities having been abandoned1 and these are scattered through twenty-three states and the ,district of ,columbia4 ,a few of them are carried on by private enterprise1 and make no public report1 and several organizations have as yet made no statement of their financial condition4 ,sixty-six of them1 however1 receive work from nearly sixteen thousand consigners1 to whom they paid last year1 according to their last annual reports1 a total amount of more than #djj1jjj4 ,the following table shows the amount paid consigners by the ten largest ,exchanges3 ,new ,york ,exchange for ,woman's ,work1 #ea1jjj ,boston ,women's ,educational and ,industrial ,union1 #cd1eaj ,cincinnati ,woman's ,exchange1 #bf1iib ,san ,francisco ,woman's ,exchange1 #bc1cgb ,baltimore ,woman's ,industrial ,exchange1 #ae1ejj ,philadelphia ,exchange for ,woman's ,work1 #ad1efb ,columbus ,woman's ,exchange1 #ac1jjj ,minneapolis ,woman's ,industrial ,exchange1 #ab1gia ,topeka ,ladies' ,exchange1 #aj1jjj ,milwaukee ,woman's ,industrial ,exchange1 #i1hbd ,it is of interest also to note the total amount paid to consigners by different exchanges since their organization4 ,the following table will show this3 ,new ,york ,exchange for ,woman's ,work 7#ab years71 #dag1dce ,cincinnati ,women's ,exchange 7#h years71 #age1acj ,new ,orleans ,christian ,woman's ,exchange 7#aj years71 #agc1bbc ,boston ,woman's ,educational and ,industrial ,union 7#f years71 #adh1ehh ,st4 ,louis ,woman's ,exchange 7#h years71 #ee1jjj ,san ,francisco ,woman's ,exchange 7#e years71 #ej1jjj ,rhode ,island 7,providence7 ,exchange for ,woman's ,work 7#aj years71 #dh1dfi ,richmond 7,va47 ,exchange for ,woman's ,work 7#g years71 #bg1cbd ,st4 ,joseph 7,mo47 ,exchange for ,woman's ,work 7#f years71 #ai1bcc ,the ,woman's ,exchange regarded as an economic factor must be considered in three aspects3 7#a7 ,as a business enterprise2 7#b7 from the point of view of the producer2 7#c7 from the standpoint of the consumer4 ,viewed purely as a business enterprise1 the exchange is a failure4 ,having charity to a particular class as its object pure and simple1 no other result could be expected4 ,aside from the few private exchanges that have been started as business ventures1 but two or three are self-supporting4 ,that at ,new ,orleans has been self-supporting from its organization1 and it has been one of the best organized and most successful of all the associations4 ,some of the organizations go so far as to say that self-support has never been an object with them4#ah ,in the great majority of the exchanges a commission of ten per cent is charged on all goods sold1 but this sum is inadequate to meet current expenses4 ,the exchange1 therefore1 relies for its support upon private contributions and the ordinary means adopted by other benevolent organizations for increasing their revenues4 ,the treasurers' reports show that part of the funds at command have been derived from charity balls1 calico balls1 rose shows1 chrysanthemum shows1 flower festivals1 baseball benefits1 picnics1 excursions1 concerts1 bazars1 lectures1 readings1 ,valentine's ,day cotillon suppers1 concert suppers1 club entertainments1 carnivals1 kermesses1 sale of cook-books1 flower-seeds1 and ,jenness-,miller goods1 and in some instances from raffles4 ,this fact alone separates the exchange from other business enterprises4 ,having no capital to invest1 it must pursue a hand-to-mouth policy1 and employ means for increasing its resources which would never be considered by other business houses4 ,in a few cases where exchanges own their buildings and sublet parts of them1 or where they are able to maintain a profitable lunch department1 it is possible more nearly to make both ends meet4 ,under other circumstances the exchange becomes poorer as its business increases1 and there is a fresh demand for subscriptions and entertainments to meet current expenses4 ,it is true that the exchange does not wish to be considered a business enterprise and be judged by ordinary business rules1 but the fact that it enters the business field as a competitor with other enterprises makes it inevitable that it be judged as a business house1 and not as a charitable organization4 ,the persistence with which different exchanges iterate and reiterate the statement that their object is charity 8to needy gentlewomen10 and not financial return1 is evidence of a consciousness of their present ambiguous position4 ,as long as the exchange undertakes business activities1 it cannot escape judgment by business principles4 ,the exchange has from the first hampered itself with many hard and pernicious conditions4 ,the requirement is universal that all consignments shall be made by women4 ,valuable industrial competition is thus shut out1 and the exclusion of men from the exchange is as unreasonable as the exclusion of women from competition in other occupations4 ,there are many household articles1 the product of inventive and artistic talent1 which are the handiwork of men and should find place in the exchange4 ,the second restriction found in the majority of exchanges is that no consignments shall be received except from women who state that they are dependent for entire or partial support on the sale of the articles offered4 ,some of the early exchanges made at first the additional requirement that the work offered should be by women who had formerly been in affluent circumstances but were rendered self-supporting by changes of circumstances4 ,the latter requirement has now been abolished1 and in a few of the more recently organized exchanges1 especially in the exchange departments of the ,woman's ,educational and ,industrial ,unions1 the requirement of the necessity of self-support has been abandoned4 ,some exchanges also modify this condition so far as to state that all the proceeds of sales made for those not dependent on their own exertions for support must be appropriated to charitable purposes1 and at least one exchange apologizes for accepting articles from young girls who had the necessaries1 though not the luxuries1 of life1 on the ground that since these girls give the results of their work to charity1 the exchange is teaching them a valuable lesson4 ,the principle is a pernicious one1 and is never recognized in other enterprises4 ,just as long as society asks concerning any article 8,does the maker need money80 and not 8,is it the best that can be made for the price80 just so long a premium is put on mediocre work4 ,it is a question never asked in other kinds of business2 the best article is sought1 regardless of personal considerations1 and it is at least an open question whether in the end the interests of the individuals to be benefited by employment are not thus best served4 ,if the same principle were applied to the legal and medical professions1 society would be deprived of the services of many whose help is necessary for the preservation of its best interests4 ,the application of the same principle elsewhere would cause every producer to withdraw from the industrial field as soon as he had gained a competence4 ,the result would often be that as soon as an individual had reached great skill in producing an article1 he would be forced to step aside and yield his place to others4 ,moreover1 society has a right to demand the best that every individual can give it2 and just as long as the exchange persistently denies itself and its patrons the benefit of the best work wherever it is found1 regardless of money considerations1 just so long it will fail to secure the best economic results4 ,it does not indeed concern itself with these results1 but it cannot thereby escape them4 ,but aside from the injurious economic effects in thus limiting production1 it places the whole idea of work on a wrong basis4 ,it assumes that work for women is a misfortune1 not the birthright inheritance of every individual1 and that therefore they are to work for remuneration only when compelled by dire necessity4 ,moreover1 every individual has the same right to work that he has to life itself1 and to shut out the rich and the well-to-do from the privilege is as unfair to the individual as it is to society4 ,indeed1 it may be assumed that the members of this class are1 as a rule1 better qualified for work than are other classes1 since wealth has brought opportunities in the direction of education and special training1 and society loses in the same proportion as it deprives itself of their services4 ,it is true also that the higher the standard set in any department of work1 the greater the improvement in the work of all workers in the same field4 ,but not only does the exchange deprive itself of positive good in thus refusing to accept the best wherever it is found1 regardless of money considerations--it puts upon itself the positive burden of enforcing a questionable condition4 8,necessity for self-support0 is a relative term2 and when the responsibility of the decision is put on the consigner1 the danger is incurred on the one side of shutting out from the privilege of the exchange many who are unduly conscientious1 and on the other side of encouraging deceit in regard to their necessities on the part of the less scrupulous4 ,the exchange must be ever on the alert to guard against imposition and fraud2 and however much it may disclaim the idea1 it must to a certain extent make itself the judge of its consigners' necessities4 ,when this alternative is forced upon it1 it must perform a task difficult in proportion to its delicacy1 and one that would be resented in the business world as an unwarranted intrusion into private affairs4#ai ,the exchange by the use of these methods prejudices itself in a business way in the eyes of many who would be valuable consigners4 ,a third restriction that has fettered the exchange has been the geographical limitation imposed by many organizations4 ,many receive no consignments from outside the state1 some ,new ,england exchanges limit consignments to that section1 a few restrict consignments to residents of the city1 and others1 while having consigners in all parts of the country1 congratulate themselves1 as does one association1 that 8two thirds of the proportion of money paid out goes to the ladies of this city40 ,still another exchange1 on the ,pacific coast1 complains bitterly of the fact that articles have been sent to it by persons outside the state1 and not dependent on their own labors for support1 8but who would speculate upon the charitable spirit of the public10 and its president's report recommends that it 8prohibit exhibits from the ,east altogether40 ,this restriction undoubtedly grows out of the idea that the exchange is a dispenser of charity and should therefore aid first its own friends and neighbors4 ,it is a spirit akin to that which in medival and even in modern times has resented the entrance of new workers into any occupation or community4 ,but it must again be insisted that while the exchange is theoretically only a benevolent association1 it is practically a business house1 and as such must be judged by business principles4 ,the most successful business firm that should adopt the policy of purchasing its supplies only within the state or city would soon find its trade decreasing1 while for a new house to adopt the policy would be suicidal4 ,even the present high protective tariff is not so absolutely prohibitory as is this provision of many of the exchanges4 ,aside from other disadvantages1 the plan prevents the infusion of new ideas so necessary to healthy growth1 and it renders almost impossible that market criticism which secures the best industrial results4 ,it is in distinct violation of that principle of commercial comity between states which led the framers of the ,constitution to prohibit both import and export duties on all goods exchanged between the states1 and to that extent is out of harmony with the recognized policy of the country regarding interstate exchange of commodities4 ,a fourth economic difficulty is the fact that the exchange has no capital4 ,it does simply a commission business1 and it is a recipient of whatever goods are sent it which reach a certain standard2 its attitude is therefore negative rather than positive4 ,its consigners are obliged to purchase their own materials in small quantities in retail markets1 and therefore to place a higher price on their articles than would be the case could the materials be purchased by or through a central office4 ,this lack of capital and its passive attitude prevent the exchange from keeping its finger on the pulse of the market2 there is no connection between supply and demand1 and no way of establishing such connection4 ,this difficulty1 which is encountered in all business enterprises1 is multiplied by the number of the consigners4 ,the exchange refuses to accept articles if they do not reach a fixed standard1 but not because the market is glutted4 ,the loss accruing from an overstocked market1 it is true1 falls immediately on the consigners rather than on the exchange1 but the exchange suffers directly through the loss of the commission retained on all goods sold1 and indirectly in acquiring the reputation as a business house of keeping in stock articles not in demand and of failing to supply the market with others that are4 ,the exchange as a business enterprise is also open to other criticisms4 ,it is not self-supporting1 and therefore gives a partial support to women who have come into competition with women not receiving the assistance of the exchange4 ,the well-meant charity is thus instrumental in keeping at a low rate the earnings of women who do not receive such partial support4 ,many women are too much the victims of prejudice and false pride to come out openly as wage-earners1 and to these the exchange gives its assistance1 to the disadvantage of those who struggle on unaided by it4 ,it has employed 8gentlewomen0 in its salaried positions1 and by this restriction practically carried out1 though not embodied in its rules1 it has deprived itself of the services of some who would have been of valuable assistance through the business experience and executive ability they could have brought to bear on this work4 ,it has required that all its consigners shall be known by number and not by name1 thus allying itself1 as regards one custom1 with penal and reformatory institutions4 ,the exchange by its limitations has encouraged the idea that women can work by stealth without being guilty of moral cowardice1 and it has fostered the spirit that carries lunches in music-rolls1 calls for laundry-work only after dark1 and does not receive as boarders or lodgers wage-earning women4 ,it has countenanced a fictitious social aristocracy by referring so uniformly to its consigners as 8needy gentlewomen40 ,it has said in effect1 8work for remuneration is honorable for all men2 work for remuneration is honorable for women only when necessity compels it40 ,but while the exchange is open to serious criticism from a business point of view1 it has accomplished much and has in it still greater possibilities4 ,it has set a high standard for work1 and insisted that this standard should be reached by every consigner not only once or generally1 but invariably4 ,it has maintained this standard in the face of hostile criticism and the feeling that a charitable organization ought to accept poor work if those presenting it are in need of money4 ,it has shown that success in work cannot be attained by a simple desire for it or need of it pecuniarily4 ,it has taught that accuracy1 scientific knowledge1 artistic training1 habits of observation1 good judgment1 courage and perseverance are better staffs in reaching success than reliance upon haphazard methods and the compliments of flattering friends4 ,it has raised the standard of decorative and artistic needle-work by incorporating into its rules a refusal to accept calico patchwork1 wax1 leather1 hair1 feather rice1 spatter1 splinter1 and cardboard work4 ,it has taught many women that a model recipe for cake is not 8,a few eggs1 a little milk1 a lump of butter1 a pinch of salt1 sweetening to taste1 flour enough to thicken2 give a good beating and bake according to judgment40 ,more than all this1 it has pointed out to women a means of support that can be carried on within their own homes1 and is perfectly compatible with other work necessarily performed there4 ,it has in effect opened up a new occupation to women1 in that it has taught them that their accomplishments may become of pecuniary value1 and a talent for the more prosaic domestic duties be turned into a fine art and made remunerative4 ,it has enabled many women who have a taste for household employments in their various forms to take up such occupations as a business1 when they would otherwise have drifted into other occupations for which they have had no inclination4 ,the exchange thus assumes a not unimportant place in the history of woman's occupations4 ,the factory system of manufactures transferred the labor of many women from the home of the producer to the business establishment of a corporation4 ,the anti-slavery agitation and the founding of ,mount ,holyoke ,seminary and ,oberlin ,college gave women a more prominent place as teachers and in the professions4 ,the ,civil ,war opened the doors of mercantile pursuits4 ,it has been through the ,woman's ,exchange that women have been taught that a means of support lies open to them at their own doors2 and thus the exchange has done something to relieve the pressure in over-crowded occupations4 ,the advantage that has been taken of this new idea is widespread4 ,the sixteen thousand consigners on the books of the exchange are but a part of the still larger number of women who are turning to practical advantage their tastes for sewing and cooking in all of their various forms4 ,before the opening of the exchange1 as still1 indeed1 women seeking remunerative employment were forced to go into one of the four great occupations open to women--work in factories1 teaching1 domestic service1 and work in shops4 ,but it has been impossible for all women desiring occupation to find it in these four great classes of employment4 ,many desire employment1 but are forced to carry it on in their own homes2 others have no taste whatever for any of the lines of work mentioned2 and conditions under which many kinds of work are performed render other occupations obnoxious to others2 still others prefer work which gives greater opportunity for the exercise of individual taste and ingenuity than do some of these occupations4 ,such women have found through the exchange a means of support and opportunity for work which they could not find elsewhere4 ,they are learning that society is coming to respect more the woman who supports herself by making good bread1 cakes1 and preserves than the woman who teaches school indifferently1 gives poor elocutionary performances1 or becomes a mere mechanical contrivance in a shop or factory4 ,they are finding that the stamp of approval is ultimately to be put on the way work is done rather than on the occupation itself4 ,thus it is that hundreds of women from ,maine to ,texas and ,california are obtaining for themselves and others partial or entire support by making and offering for sale1 either through business houses or private orders1 cake1 bread1 preserved fruit1 salads1 desserts1 and an innumerable number of special articles1 in addition to the products of artistic needle-work and decorative art-work4 ,not only are these articles found in the large cities1 but in country villages many women are engaged in such work and often find a ready sale for it without the trouble and expense of sending it to the city markets4 ,in one village of only five hundred inhabitants one young woman makes and sells daily thirty loaves of bread4 ,in a small ,eastern village another bakes and sells daily from thirty to a hundred loaves of bread according to the season1 and cake and pastry in the same proportion4 ,the demand for work of this kind is as yet limited1 and therefore the net profits are in most cases small2 yet in some instances a fair competence has been secured4 ,one person in a country town has made a hand-some living by making chicken salad which has been sold in ,new ,york ,city4 ,another has cleared four hundred dollars each season by making preserves and jellies on private orders4 ,a third has built up a large business1 employing from three to five assistants1 in making cake4 ,still another1 living near a ,southern city1 has built up 8an exceedingly remunerative business0 by selling to city grocers pickles1 preserves1 cakes and pies4 ,one cause given for her success has been the fact that 8she has allowed no imperfect goods to be sold2 everything has been the best1 whether she has gained or lost on it40 ,a fifth has netted one thousand dollars a year by preparing mince-meat and making pies of every description2 and a sixth has1 with the assistance of two daughters1 netted yearly one thousand five hundred dollars above all expenses1 except rent1 in preparing fancy lunch dishes on shortest notice and dishes for invalids4 ,still one more began by borrowing a barrel of flour1 and now has a salesroom where she sells daily from eighty to a hundred dozen ,parker ,house rolls1 in addition to bread made in every conceivable way1 from every kind of grain4 ,more moderate incomes are made by others in putting up pure fruit juices and shrubs1 in preparing fresh sweet herbs1 in making ,saratoga potatoes1 and consomm in the form of jelly ready to melt and serve4 ,so successful have been these ventures that some of those engaging in them have acquired not only a financial profit1 but a wide reputation for the superiority of their goods4 ,in some instances the articles made are included in the catalogue of goods sold by the leading dealers in fine groceries in ,new ,york ,city4 ,these illustrations have been taken from the single department of domestic work2 similar ones could be given from the class of plain and fancy needle-work and decorative art work4 ,surely it is better for the individual and better for society that these persons should turn to useful account their various talents1 rather than attempt to enter many of the overcrowded occupations and do work for which they have neither talent nor inclination4 ,but not only is the exchange directly and indirectly of value to producers1 it is of equal importance to consumers4 ,it simplifies many housekeeping problems in families where there is more work than can be performed by one domestic employee and not enough for two1 by making it possible to purchase for the table and other household purposes many articles made out of the house of the consumer4 ,in a similar way it is of assistance in all families who do 8light housekeeping40 ,it also enables them to purchase articles ready for use which have been made under the most favorable conditions4 ,a specific example of this is seen in the preparation of fruit for winter use4 ,this is at present done in the family of each consumer1 but the canning in cities1 by individual families1 of fruit1 often in an over-ripe or a half-ripe condition1 is as anomalous as would be the making to-day of dairy products in the same localities4 ,the canning factory has come into existence to meet the demand1 but the canning factory cannot meet the needs of private families1 since the great perfection as regards results is secured only when articles are handled in small quantities4 ,if all fruits could be preserved in the localities where they are produced1 the consumer would gain not only in securing a better article than can now be produced after shipment1 but the cost would ultimately be lessened1 since fruit could be thus preserved at less expense than when it is shipped to cities and there sold at a price including cost of transportation and high rents4 ,ripe fruit demands the most speedy and therefore the most expensive modes of transportation2 preserved fruits can be shipped at leisure1 by inexpensive methods4 ,the consumer must also be indirectly benefited as well as the producer1 from the fact that such a policy would prevent a glut in the market of such perishable articles and the consequent discouragement on the part of the producer1 sometimes ending in a resolution to grow no more fruit for market1 owing to the loss entailed4 ,what is true of the purchase of fruit thus prepared is true also of numerous other articles4 ,scores of articles such as boned turkey1 calf's-foot jelly1 chicken jelly1 chicken broth1 chicken croquettes and chicken salad1 pressed veal1 mince-meat1 bouillon1 plum pudding and many miscellaneous articles could be thus produced under more advantageous conditions than at present4 ,moreover1 many abandoned farms could be utilized as fruit farms1 or for other purposes1 which are now too remote from shipping centres to permit the transportation of ripe fruit1 but could be made of use through the exchange4 ,another advantage gained by the consumers is that they are thus able to take advantage of specialized labor4 ,this1 again1 is evident in the domestic department4 ,the consumer is usually obliged to depend on the skill of a single cook or baker1 while through the exchange the works of many producers are placed side by side in competition1 and thus in the end the highest standard is secured4 ,for both producer and consumer1 therefore1 the exchange is of advantage in thus affording an avenue for specialized work4 ,it thus makes possible to a certain extent the division of labor which has been but partially accomplished in the household4 ,another field of work open to the exchange is in becoming a medium for the exchange of workers as well as of work--of affording a means of communication between workers in different lines or between the producer and consumer4 ,very much of the work now done in the house by those living there could be done to better advantage by those coming in from outside4 ,special skill in arranging rooms1 hanging pictures1 preparing for lunches1 teas1 or other social entertainments1 repairing furniture and wardrobes1 fine laundry-work1 special table-service1 etc41 could be performed for housekeepers by those who retain their own homes and yet are able and anxious to give a few hours daily to outside work4 ,the exchange1 through a bureau of information1 could accomplish much for both those wishing work and those wishing workers1 as well as in a business way for itself4 ,in many ways1 it is thus seen1 the exchange is in harmony with the economic and industrial development of the time4 ,as far as this is true it has in it the elements of permanence4 ,wherever it runs at right angles to present economic tendencies1 it must be open to criticism and also contain in itself the germs of subsequent failure4 ,if all idea of charity per se could be eliminated from the exchange1 if the word 8gentlewoman0 could be dropped from the pages of its reports1 the by-law limiting consigners to self-supporting women stricken out1 its consigners known by name instead of by number1 and the idea abandoned that it is to help women to help themselves only 8when misfortune comes20 if it could cease to be supported by donations1 kermesses1 charity balls1 and miscellaneous entertainments2 if it could refuse to constitute itself a judge of its consigners' necessities2 if the name could be changed to ,household ,exchange1 or one signifying the character of the goods sold rather than the nature of the makers2 if1 in other words1 the ,woman's ,exchange could be put on a purely business basis and become self-supporting1 it would cease to be what it now is1 8a palliative for the ills of the few10 and become what it aims to be1 8a curative for the sufferings of the many40 ,,footnotes3 #ad ,this article was first published in ,the ,forum1 ,may1 #ahib4 ,it is now republished without alteration from the original manuscript4 ,in the intervening years some exchanges then existing have been abandoned1 and new ones have been organized1 but a somewhat careful inquiry has disclosed no essential modifications of the principles for which the ,woman's ,exchange stood in #ahib4 ,the conclusions reached at that time therefore remain unchanged4 #ae ,annual ,report of the ,board of ,managers of the ,ladies' ,depository ,association for #ahij4 #af ,annual ,report for #ahij4 #ag ,a very full list is given by ,f4 ,a4 ,lincoln1 ,directory of ,exchanges for ,woman's ,work1 pp4 #bd-bf4 #ah 8,but it is not to be understood1 because of this surplus1 that the ,woman's ,exchange is in any sense self-supporting4 ,such is not to be expected1 and has never been any part of our scheme4 ,the surplus comes1 as was always anticipated1 from public benevolence40 ,third ,annual ,report ,woman's ,exchange1 ,san ,francisco1 ,california4 #ai ,how difficult the task is may be inferred from the following extracts from annual reports of two exchanges4 8,while we can by watchfulness avoid any considerable number of such transactions 7consignment of goods by other than needy and distressed gentlewomen7 on the part of the residents of this coast1 we are utterly helpless in cases coming from the other side of the continent1 for which reason ,i think it is just and prudent to stop such exhibits altogether40 8,a prevalent opinion in the community1 and one that does us no little harm1 is that we help many well-to-do women4 ,it is a very difficult1 as well as a very delicate matter to learn just how needy our depositors are2 we do not attempt to do so4 ,we assume that they need to earn money from the fact that they desire to become depositors4 ,but we gradually become more or less familiar with their lives1 and we can assure you1 as a rule1 our money is well paid out40 8,sometimes people unwittingly make very damaging statements4 ,a short time ago a lady remarked to a friend that the exchange was not accomplishing any good--it only helped well-to-do women to earn pin-money1 and verified her statement by giving the name of a wealthy lady who said she was a depositor4 ,the matter was inquired into and the said name was found1 but we also learned that the ticket had been bought to give to a needy woman1 who became the depositor40 ,the ,riverside ,press ,electrotyped and printed by ,h4 ,o4 ,houghton ,co4 ,cambridge1 ,mass41 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4