AMENDMENT OF THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSA- TION ACT.
[To MS EDITOR OP TIER SPECTATOR.") STE,—It is with profound satisfaction that I have read in the Spectator of March 16th Mr. Tallack's letter on the Work- men's Compensation Act. This hastily passed measure seems to have no limits in its application as between employer and employed. I know of a wealthy man with a hobby for gardening who has, fearing the somewhat undefined liabilities of the Act, discharged seven of his workmen. I know of a clergy- man who has dismissed his sexton, of another who will do without his caretaker. It is no exaggeration to say that this measure will throw thousands of respectable men and women out of employ. But it is on the subject of domestic servant; I wish to engage the attention of your readers. The Bill was intended to protect this very class, but it will work disastrously in their interests. Only to-day a friend search- ing for a house-parlourmaid said she bad interviewed no less than four girls, members of the Friendly Society (and there- fore girls of good character), who said they could find no ladies willing to engage them on account of some slight physical .defect. It has been well said that the entry of young girls of the working classes at the growing age into houses where they have ample food, sanitary conditions, and may gain an insight into hygienic laws is a benefit to the whole nation. The British workman has decided this for himself, for those who work among this class know that by far the larger majority have wives who have been domestic servants. But under the operation of the Act all housekeepers will be anxious to reduce their staff. And if the "betwixt-and-between" girl is done away with, where will the future upper servant be trained ? And what will become of a number of women not physically strong, or slightly defective, who have found comfort and shelter in domestic life as indoor servants ? Not only will the supply in a profession not at the Present moment overstocked be cut off at its roots, but the physique of the nation is threatened. In vain will the League for Physical Improvement strive to bring in enlightened measures if the working man's daughters are doomed by this unjust and unnecessary law. Then, again, have the temptations to the unscrupulous been duly weighed ? With compensations on so unprecedented a scale, many will not be able, either through voluntary maiming or through concealment of radical defects, to resist the temptation to secure for themselves a comfort- able competence. Many householders shrink from looking into the question; but are they so very certain that the insurance companies in whom they trust will really meet, or continue to meet, all the liabilities which are at present not fully defined ? Moreover, the Bill is a retrograde movement. After many years of strenuous work, a committee of delegates representing the principal societies for the benefit of women and girls induced the County Council of London to press through Parliament a Bill for the registration of registries. Though only in operation some eighteen months, it has come into operation not only in London but in several large towns. By the closing of bogus and ill-managed registries it has purified the stream of domestic service, and is raising the status to he that of an honourable profession commending itself to the thoughtful parent. It is, indeed, to quote from Mr. Tallack's letter, a matter of urgent public need that a Bill should be promptly introduced to amend the Act in question—I am, Sir, &c., A HOUSEKEEPER FOR FORTY YEARS.
[Though we do not deny that there are dangers in the present Act, we trust and believe that the results will not be as bad as our correspondent fears. The fact that the bulk of female domestic servants can be insured at about three shillings per head per annum will soon make masters and mistresses realise that they need not dread the unknown obligation. No doubt this three shillings will ultimately come off wages, but that is, either way, a small matter. That the high-class insurance companies will be able to meet any liabilities that they may incur in the matter of insurance there need be no sort of anxiety. The individual risks will be so small in amount and so widely spread that the insuring of servants will probably turn out a lucrative and safe branch of business.—En. Spectator.]
Previous page
