DOMESTIC SERVICE

is the performance of so-called menial functions in a household. In the Old World it is a well-defined occupation and those who follow it as a life work frequently attach themselves to families all their lives. The pursuit has long since been controlled by tradition and social usage, which have cla ed domestics as inferiors, with the result that the work they do came to be viewed as degrading, especially as education spread. In England, where domestics grew to be a special cla , the calling has a legal status. The law stipulates the conditions under which a servant may be engaged, paid and discharged. The march of modern democracy is fast breaking the bonds which have so long restricted domestic service to a plane of ignominious servitude, or so it has been popularly regarded under the old conditions. In the United States domestic servants have shown a spirit of independence and have raised the grade of their calling by organization. In democratic countries generally, especially outside Murope, there is a growing difficulty in securing adequate and efficient help, owing to the better hours, pay and social status of other callings.