At the present time a public discussion of domestic service meets with little else but jest and ridicule, while in private life the social stigma is cast on all engaged in it, as is the case in no other occupation. To attempt to dignify labor by saying, “we must dignify labor,” savors of the old problem of trying to raise one’s self by the boot-straps. No concrete method by which this is to be done is ever suggested, and until some plan is adopted by which the personal dignity and independence of the employee is recognized, and his industrial and financial independence is secured, domestic service will continue to be under the industrial and social ban. When this improved condition is brought about, there will be established what Professor Jevons considers the best of all trade-unions—that between the employer and employee. It must be frankly said that the plan of adopting profit sharing in the household is a theoretical one; and to say it is “mere theory” is often considered an unanswerable argument with which to meet every new proposition. But theory lies at the basis of all successful action; difficulties have come in household service often because it has been conducted without theory—in a short-sighted, haphazard, hand-to-mouth fashion. It is known, however, that the experiment has been tried successfully in a private family, and this perhaps saves the proposition from the charge of being only theory. It has been tried by Mrs. X, a university graduate, after one and a half years’ experience in housekeeping. The experiment was made in a college town where the cost of provisions was rather above than below the average. The family comprised four adults, including the Irish maid rather above the average in intelligence and ambition. The plan provided for an allowance of $40 a month for living expenses, including groceries, meats, fish, poultry, butter, milk, cream, ice, candles, kerosene oil, and incidental expenses. The last included breakage and the replacement of worn-out kitchen utensils. The best materials of all kinds were purchased, and practically nothing was ever thrown away. The food was simple but abundant. The co-operation between employer and maid consisted on the part of the employer in planning the menu, especially the making up of left-over materials, the pricing of all articles in the market, and keeping the accounts accurately; the maid gave all orders and carried them out. The profit sharing consisted in dividing equally between employer and maid whatever had been saved at the end of the month out of the $40 allowed for running expenses. The results of four months’ experiment were as follows: Average monthly expenses before profit sharing began $41.25 Expenses first month after 36.74 ” second ” 43.75[324] ” third ” 41.58[325] ” fourth ” 36.28