the American servant (if one can be found); on the contrary,
none is more faithful or more efficient. But in some respects he is unique
among the servants of the world. He does not see that there is any inequality
between him and his master. His master, or should I say, his employer,
pays him certain wages to do certain work, and he does it,
but outside the bounds of this contract, they are still man and man,
citizen and citizen. It is all beautifully, delightfully legal.
The washerwoman is the "wash-lady", and is just as much a lady
as her mistress. The word "servant" is not applied to domestics,
"help" is used instead, very much in the same way that Canada and Australia
are no longer English "colonies", but "self-governing dominions".

We of the old world are accustomed to regard domestic service
as a profession in which the members work for advancement,
without much thought of ever changing their position.
A few clever persons may ultimately adopt another profession,
and, according to our antiquated conservative ways of thinking,
rise higher in the social scale, but, for the large majority,
the dignity of a butler, or a housekeeper is the height of ambition,
the crowning point in their career. Not so the American servant.
Strictly speaking there are no servants in America. The man, or the woman
as the case may be, who happens for the moment to be your servant,
is only servant for the time being. He has no intention
of making domestic service his profession, of being a servant
for the whole of his life. To have to be subject to the will of others,
even to the small extent to which American servants are subordinate,
is offensive to an American's pride of citizenship, it is contrary to
his conception of American equality. He is a servant only for the time,
and until he finds something better to do. He accepts a menial position
only as a stepping stone to some more independent employment.