SERVANTS OR SLAVES ?
S.11,—.1 have been trained at one of the best London hospitals, and I stoutly protest against your phrase " pet sonal and professional slavery." We, the slaves you mention, signed our contract of our own free will, knowing full well what ward work was like ; if we found ourselves in any difficulty later on, we could break our contract, but mostly we did not wish to. Some young women (or rather their fathers) pay heavily for professional training ; we got ours free For myself, 1 look back with nothing but gratitude for the teaching I got, howsoe'er imparted, and if the authorities took an interest in our goings-out and comings-in, it was in the interest of our health, and that we might nurse the better. The food was good, plain and plentiful, we were allowed to entertain visitors, and had a great deal done for us.
By all means, make the present-day young women as happy and comfor- able as possible, but please don't call the rest of us slaves, or did you mean servants? I hope you did, for that would have been a high compli- ment in my humble opinion.—Yours faithfully,
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