South Australian Literary Societies' Union


South Australian Literary Societies' Union was a peak or advocacy organization of literary societies in South Australia. It organised competitions between the member societies and established a "Union Parliament" to debate issues of the day.
In 1932 a similar organization named Literary Societies' Union of South Australia was founded.

History

A popular form of social and intellectual entertainment for young gentlemen in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Adelaide was the literary society, which at its peak numbered around fifty, some, perhaps most, attached to churches. Facilities and entertainments enjoyed by members apart from companionship of like-minded individuals, and perhaps a little networking, may have included:
Early in 1883 several of these "self-improvement" bodies resolved to have a tournament to test their various literary skills on stage before an audience.
Preliminary contests for the "impromptu speaking" and "elocution" sections were held some weeks prior to reduce the number of contestants to a workable half-dozen.
Original poetry and essay were judged weeks beforehand.
It was a condition of entry that debating partisan politics and sectarian religion was forbidden on penalty of disqualification.
Thanks to some excellent organisation and the willing participation of some very distinguished public figures, the competition, held 16 August 1883 at the Adelaide Town Hall, where fifteen societies were represented, was deemed a success, though the standard of judging was questioned, and a useful profit realised and shared between the Children's Hospital and the Home for Incurables.
Associations represented in the competition were: Adelaide Young Men's Society, North Adelaide Young Men's Society, Pirie Street Young Men's Society, Trinity Young Men's Society, St. John's Young Men's Society, Port Adelaide Young Men's Society, Norwood Social and Literary Club, St. Andrew's Young Men's Society, Caledonian Literary Society, St. Bartholomew's Young Men's Society, Hindmarsh Young Men's Society, Archer Street Young Men's Society, Unitarian Young Men's Society, Glenelg Literary Association, and the Hindmarsh Literary Association. Prominent among the instigators were W. H. Selway and T. H. Smeaton Claims by W. D. Ponder that the concept was his were refuted by George Hussey.
The Union was founded in September 1883 as a conference of 16 literary societies.
The Union's first official tournament was held in the Adelaide Town Hall on 12 September 1884 and followed a similar format. Participating societies were the Kent Town Mutual Improvement Association, Adelaide Young Men's Society, Norwood Literary Society, St. Andrew's Young Men's Society, Pirie-street Literary Association, Glenelg Literary Association, Unitarian Young Men's Society, Y.M.C.A. Literary Society. Judges included Sir Henry Ayers, the Hon. R. A. Tarlton and Dr. E. C. Stirling. The poetry section was won and read by a female, Though ostensibly all-male, several of the Union's member societies admitted women as associate members.

Growth and decay

The Union comprised 18 member societies in December 1883, 34 in 1887, 35 in 1894, but only 23 in 1897.
Membership recovered somewhat by 1899, thanks largely to the efforts of secretary Best, and by 1904 there were 44, but by 1910 interest had collapsed and in 1915 consisted of only seven associated societies. By 1913 the newspapers were devoting much of their space to the likelihood of war, and from 1914 literary attainments were a long way from the minds of most young men, and the societies would have been greatly depleted by those sent overseas.
In 1920 there were only five member societies. The Union still existed in 1926, but little information is readily available.
In 1932 a similar society was formed, titled the Literary Societies' Union of South Australia. A 1937 newspaper article, after charting the rise and fall of the original Union, identifies the new Union with the original: "The continued growth of the Literary Societies' Union of South Australia, as it is now called, is proof of the societies' worth."

Yearbook

Yearbooks were published in 1884,
1885,
1886,
1887,
1888,
1889
1890,
1891
1892
1893, and 1894. There was no yearbook published in 1895 and 1896 due to costs, then resumed in 1897 when the Union's finances had recovered. Further yearbooks were published in 1898 and possibly the next year or two, but newspapers' interest had waned and were not mentioned.
The yearbook, which had started as a simple record of the Union's activities, membership and finances, had increased in size and scope year by year until it boasted around 150 pages and included full texts of contest-winning articles and members' contributions.
Then doubts arose as to the usefulness of such a publication, appearing so many months after the annual tournament. Plans were made to replace the yearbook with a monthly magazine, but that may have never eventuated.

Other activities

;Some other officeholders
Union Parliament was an early innovation by the Literary Societies' Union, and similar to model parliaments elsewhere, but arguably the most successful in Australia. Participants in Union Parliament were all members of associated literary societies, the number of delegates from each society being proportional to its membership. Sittings were held fortnightly, originally in the Oddfellows' Hall in Franklin Street on alternate Thursdays and latterly on alternate Tuesdays at the YMCA hall, and attracted members of the public to witness the proceedings.
Certain positions in Union Parliament were elected annually by members of the Literary Societies' Union:
The role of Governor was attached to whoever was the current president of the Literary Societies' Union.

The first year

The first sitting was held on 8 May 1884, and the Cabinet consisted of:
non-party officers were:
Subjects debated in the first sitting of Union Parliament were: Federation, free and compulsory education, the Bible in schools, stamps and progressive taxation, in many cases anticipating debates in State Parliament. Ashton delivered his first Budget Speech on 10 July 1884.
This Ministry lasted only a few months; it was brought down over a Bill for revision of the tariff. The new Ministry consisted of:
In over 40 years Union Parliament had just three Speakers:
At first Union Parliament was regarded by the general public as a little presumptuous, and the object of some humour, but by virtue of the seriousness with which the members treated their hobby, this attitude receded. Members undoubtedly benefited by the experience and lessons learned, as witnessed by the number of public figures who remembered their time with the Union Parliament fondly.

Other Union Parliaments in South Australia

Some South Australian country towns established their own Union Parliaments. Saul Solomon, MLA for East Torrens 1887–90, was a founder of the Union Parliament in Mount Gambier in 1891.