A BRITISH HOUSEWIVES' ASSOCIATION

A GREAT deal of interest has been aroused by the proposal to start a British Housewives' Association, and many people are asking for information respecting the scope and methods of work of such an organization.

When the women of Sweden obtained the vote the first 'thing they did was to establish Housewife Associations in very district with a central office in Stockholm for the purpose of watching over the interests of women and _children. There arc similar associations in Denmark, Finland, and Norway, and those of all four countries are affiliated, !'making one great Housewives' Union of the North. Australia has Housewives' Associations in five States, Western Australia, Tasmania, Queens- land, New South Wales and Victoria, grouped in one Federated Australian Housewives' Union. America has a Housewives' League and an American Home Economics Association ; the League is affiliated with the Australian Housewives' Association, and the founder of the latter association, Miss Portia Geach, who is also the President of the Sydney organization, is at present in New York, whilst the Vice-President of Victoria is in England.

The American Home Economics Association has its own journal published monthly at 25 cents per copy.

It is proposed to organize a British Housewives' Associ- ation on a basis wide enough to include everything con- nected with household management and household work inside and outside the household ; this is described under the generic expression " Domestic Service," just as the ;words Civil, Army and Naval Services are used to describe all service connected with civil needs and those of the Army and Navy. The ideal of a British Housewives' Association is to raise " Domestic Service " thus under- stood, as Florence Nightingale raised sick-nursing.

The scope of such an association is tremendous.

1. It -is educational. There are not only the basic subjects of household technique, cooking, cleaning, etc., to be studied ; the importance of the housewife as con- sumer has never been sufficiently appreciated ; she has never understood it herself, but it is an essential feature of national economics ; the housewife represents the purchasing power of the nation ; she is the principal consumer for whom trade exists ; our national prosperity depends not only on what she buys but on how she uses her purchases. The recognition of the importance of the .consumer is a feature of modern economics. It was not junderstood by early writers on the subject. Its recog- nition by economists during the last fifty years brings into 'prominence as a logical sequence the importance of the housewife's job, and as a corollary, that of her assistant.

Housewives need to learn just how and where it is important in this respect and in what way they can best serve their country. Popular lectures by trained economists are required to disseminate this knowledge.

In addition to economic instruction with its accom- panying illumination of values, education is required in psychology and ethics, for the purpose of dealing fairly with those with whom housewives come in contact as employers of labour in its widest acceptance. Both these sciences require to be translated by experts into everyday terms and applied to everyday's most common needs. Right thinking is the first step to right action.

2. It should provide a centre of information, a clearing house to which members can contribute information and from which again it can be distributed according to the requirements of members. This information might range froth a cookery recipe to the best method of dealing with the servant question and increasing the Supply. One young wife will want to know how much time a washing machine will save ; how to prepare the evening meal so that her afternoons may be free ; about kitchen cabinets ; about costs and prices in relation to incomes . . . The young housewife wants to know about marketing . . . whether to send laundry out or have a woman in, she wants to know the truth about food values and how to apply this knowledge to the food for the family ; she wants to know which are the best utensils and labour- savers, &c., for her purpose, for every household is individual, each housewife has her own special problems. To give all this help satisfactorily experts in each department arc needed who have themselves gone through the mill as a civil engineer goes through the " shops." A housewives' association should employ a staff of such experts for its members. The best will be those who combine home experience with scientific training.

The developments of usefulness of a national association are almost limitless ; each succeeding generation will have its own problems associated with differing conditions and different social environment. Compare the proceedings of the Royal Society in the days of Evelyn and Wren with those of to-day for the truth of this statement.

3. At present a mass of good work is being done ; an association should unite or strengthen individual efforts.

4. It should open up new occupations for girls and women connected with varying forms and degrees of domestic service, in the household, in the institution, in commerce, and in the government of the country. In so doing it should relieve congested occupations and pro- fessions, reduce the numbers of unemployed, relieve rates and taxes, and increase trade.

5. Above all it should raise the status of both the housewife and her assistant. This it would do automatically through the first four means.

The Australian Housewives' Association has the confidence of the Australian Government, the Press, and the public generally because it has done so much good work.

Such an association cannot, however, be organized in a day ; the first need is a central information bureau to be supported by members' subscriptions ; an essential point is that the movement be supported by young housewives and workers of all classes, and that the association should be managed not by one person, but by a representative council, and shall have an executive committee elected by members, according to a sound constitution and well- considered rules. There is much work to be done in this matter of organization before such an association can be established. Much tact will be required.

Another point—Housewives' Associations are by their very nature, non-sectarian, non-party, and democratic ; they are not Trade Unions, but simply associations of housewives and domestic assistants united for mutual support and help in their own work. They help to take the drudgery and guesswork out of housekeeping and household work, and to give the housewife more leisure and money to spend. If they suzeeed they should result in the opening up of new well-paid occupations, and thus relieve unemployment, rates and taxes. Domestic service, whether in one's own home or in that of a stranger, can sometimes be very lonely work ; it cannot fail to be a great help to many to feel they are members of a strong associa- tion organized in their interests and controlled by its own members.

It cannot fail to be a great inspiration to the nation that its wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters should think it worth while to unite to study domestic problems for the purpose of solving them and automatically raising the standards and status of Domestic Service. It is very much to be hoped I new association will be able to afford to pay a woman graduate in Economics as secretary. As a nation we are getting too accustomed to having things done for us; an attempt to unite on our own initia- tive for the purpose of helping ourselves should have a good effect on national character and surely deserves respect and sympathy. When women wanted the vote they united to win it, and did not apply for official help and Government subsidies. The address of " The British Housewives' Association, Ltd." (registered under the Industrial and Friendly Societies Acts, 1893-1913), is 70 Victoria Street, London, S.W. 1.

ANN POPE.