MAORI MAIDS AND DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8406, 22 April 1907, Page 5

MAORI MAIDS AND DOMESTIC SLAVERY.

(To the Editor). Sir, —I am rather late in the field with these lines, as it is in connection with one of your leaders of the issve of the 10th, in which reference is made as to the employment of Maori girls and women as domestic servants. Under proper conditions of work, viz., fair hours, fair remuneration, and being treated on an exact footing as women employed in shops, etc., I should recommend the Maori maid try her hand at domestic servic, bat under present conditions! No! Most positively and decidedly not. There are thousands of white women slaves i.i the colonies as it is, simply through the deplorable and uos.vstematic methods of domestic seivice, and after watching this servarf Ration for yetrs I would advise the Native maid of these shores to endeavour lost id clear of domestic slavery, as it is being carried on today; yes, ?rd all" maids if it comes to,that, unless she c<»n find.a fair situation with fair hours, and what I i .'II frr are few and far between. Now, sir, wojld you consider it frir that had finished their day's duties they h;<d to siny rib rat the office all the i eve.ii-. 1 ;?, and were rru'ally avowed, j fls it weve oif the cha ; n one .'ight per j week. How would that suit? providing (hey were living on the p/emises. This is merely a cO*r>i«aii:.o.\ but this i/,,. he <a.e with he unfortunate female doaicsJc seiva t, and roi only thr.t, ohe is worki.'g from moi.i till right and Scndays as well in most crzcs.

If tbere is a cl?ss of geauine workers my syinpptbicsgo oot -o, it is the home workers I write of, and, honestly, I wojld advise the Mrori maids of ZeMandia to look lo:->g end carefully before they lrrp. I ''?nd : diy &(-at3 that afi u 2r my investigations, that we have not folly emerged from the days of slavery Sh'.vny! That is the word. It is very rgly, but veiy true, and it is about time there wss a complete alteration. There is a stir in Wellington to rectify m?l + ers, and j to bring about a fair strte of things, but unless it becomes general throughout Cod's' Own Corntry, as* we allege we live in, I do not see how it will be of permanent benefit. If the Maori girl will take up some, duties in a shop, office, etc., she will be looked up to and respited, and we will lift our tile to her and call her Miss So-and-So, but if the falls into domestic work we will call her "Mavy Jane, the Slavdy." How often have I beard the remark "She is only . a slavey !" And I will add, as good, as human, and wi!h as much feeling as the rest of us, and in a great many instances more, as she has tasted of the bitter' side of life, and after all, the bitter side tends to make them feel for others. I really do think everyone should try and help this class of worker to get ahead of the present condition of affairs, and until there |is a change I would not advise the Native race who originally held these isles to venture to domes-' tic service. 1 admit it is the most important thing in life for a woman to be a queen of the home. Domestic service is honourable, good, yes and as good as everything else, as we are more or less servants of each other, except the loafers (often times with millions). Let a proper system be introduced, and proper hours, etc., and I would advise women, whether pakeha or Maori, to do a turn at domestic service, • as it fits her for the life of a mother when she is presiding' in her own home. This is an important question, but few seem to realise it. The only suggestion I can make is that the domestic workers form their unions, , and send women representatives out to lecture through out Maoriland on the question, and I trust somebody interested in the ranks of the domestic workers will make this suggestion in writing to the Union in Wellington. It is the best way I see to set the question into a regular blaze, and have something done of a lasting nature, and all who wish to contribute to aid the thing can do so. I am sure I do not know if these lines will do any good. I would really like to see something of a really permanent beneficial nature for these deserving class of workers brought to a successful issue. How about forming branches of the Domestic Workers' Uniun in the smaller inland towns and elsewhere? It could be accomplished Without any great effort. No doubt great numbers of people will say they treat their home workers with

every consideration, and the employees in some cases may be satisfied, but the cold, hard, cruel fact remains all the same, that there is real genuine right-down slavery among the home workers in the this great spot on the earth called the "Working Man's Paradis-." I'm afraid the men have got the lion's share of the Paradise so far as hours and conditions of work compared with the domestic slave. The very irony of the thing—"Britons Never Shall Be Slaves!" Bosh! Let us try and alter the state of the slave market, and then let us talk of introducing the dusky Maoriland < maids to it. In the meantime 1 would say to them to stand clear 1 of tjie domestic slave business. Let them import their servants from the dear Motherland if they wish, but I say again, "stand clear." I am a believer in fair play for •women as well as for men, but women do not get it in thousands of things, and if anybody is aware of the fact more than this write)- I should be pleased to meet the party. I am not prepared to enter into any discussion on this matter. I have: had my say, but it will not finish, here by a long way. • I object to< slavery, and affirm that slavery exists under the good old Union Jack to-day, and will do my utmost to suppress it, and so will everyone else if they have a spark of good feeling for their**fellow-beings. I see by the latest from Wellington that the employers have failed to arrive at a satisfactory agreement with the Domestic Workers' Union there, and we shall now see what will be the result of the white slaves glorious attempt to break the cursed bonds that have held the domestic workers for years when the matter comes before the proper authorities. I propose the establishment of branch unions to that organised in Wellington in all inland and coastal towns, and urge those interested in Masterton to follow the grand lead shown by Wellington. Of course, I do not. know if there has been any move in the matter over in that direction, but a town that can move right away to the front in the formation of an Anti-Chow League, can form an Anti-Slavery League, the most beautiful and humanitarian move that it is possible to make, and I trust to see it an accomplished- fact. It is ' all uphill work, but once these Unions are firmly established it will be smooth sailing. If ever I wished success to a movement it is this one, and success there will be. And once domestic work is placed on the right footing I would advise thousands of women and girls if necessary to go to one of the most useful and helpful occupations that will t fit them for the future home life, and this undoubtedly includes the Maori maid.—l am, etc., ARTHUR PICARD. New Plymouth, April 18th, 1907. (Theje are, no doubt, faults on both sides connected with the domestic workers' question. Arbitration would in the end decrease the amount of dissatisfaction that at present exists among the mistresses and their employees.—Ed. W.A.)