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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 76

The Federation of Literary Associations

page 76

The Federation of Literary Associations.

Thinking over our social conditions, and the forces among us that might be utilised for the public good, it has often occurred to me that in the various literary associations with which this city and some other parts of the colony abound we have a large amount of ability and energy, which, so far as practical results are concerned, may be said to be largely wasted.

There can be no doubt that these associations are exercising a good educational, influence on our young people, but they seem to have no higher aspiration than this. They might do much more. Among them they embrace not only the very ablest of our young men and women, but many in middle life and more advanced in years; yet what influence have they upon the public mind, or the actions of our Government, or of our public men None whatever.

My idea is this: These societies should federate. Their relative positions should be ascertained—as I believe is done now—by public competitive debates. Then before the final close of [unclear: t] session the committees of the two premier societies should meet and select three or four of the most prominent of the political or other social topics of the day, and cause these subjects to be debated during the next session by all the federated associations, to the exclusion, if necessary, of all other subjects, and the annual competitive debates should be on one or more of the subjects so selected.

By this means many hundreds of people, probably thousands, would be discussing all over the country, and at the same time, the same problems. This could not fail to have an educating influence on the public mind. We sadly want, some school in which to educate our future statesmen. We have none now. An organisation like this might, do something towards supplying the want.

It might be commenced as a provincial affair, and in time extended into a colonial institution. This would lead to the great questions of the day being discussed in circles where every class is represented, and where the political demagogue would have but little influence. We certainly want some means of creating a healthy public opinion on social questions.

The effect, too, would certainly be to largely increase the number of these associations, to bring into them older and more experienced men and women, and to give them a standing and an influence they have not hitherto had. They would become a power in the State. When we remember the influence exercised page 77 on public opinion in the 16th century by those not over-refined institutions, the Rhetoric Clubs, we surely may reasonably expect that combined action by our literary associations would have a beneficial influence now.

Our great want in all social matters is leaders. How many really prominent men have we! In Parliament, in politics, in the professions, even in trade and commerce, as compared with the men of 50 years ago, they are conspicuous by their absence, and this seems to me to be more prominently the case with regard to our young men. It is all too much dead level—all wanting to be masters, and few, very few, able to lead.

We are not alone in this matter. We see the same thing in Australia, and to a large extent in America, and notably in France. Why is this, and what are the causes that have led to such a result?

My opinion is that here the main causes are: The influence of our educational system, and the influence of trades unionism, and our labour laws. In France it is probably due to militarism more than anything else. They are all soldiers, and soldiers require but few leaders.

Our educational system as a national system is perhaps not capable of very much improvement, but when you have hundreds of schools—almost our only schools—all teaching the same subjects, all having the same standards of excellence, all working in the same grooves of thought and action:, the effect must be to cramp individual development, to stifle genius.

It was recognising these facts that led me during the election contest, of 1887 to advocate subsidising and encouraging private schools, and I still think this ought to be done. Private schools have each their different methods and different, standards, which certainly tends more to develop originality of character than win possibly be done in public schools, where the methods and the standards of excellence are the same throughout. In private schools, more especially boarding schools, which generally are smaller than our public schools, the teachers also have much better opportunities of studying and developing the individual characteristics of their pupils.

Then, trades unionism. While these unions have without doubt done a great deal of good in the past by compelling employers to deal more justly with the employed, yet their levelling tendency and their destruction of individual excellence cannot be denied. One of their great objects is to secure to the most inferior man the same pay and the same position as that accorded to the very best. Such a system must tend to destroy superiority in workers of every class and reduce them all to a dead level of mediocrity.

How is this evil to be met and counteracted? The only way that I can see is to give more efficient protection and encouragement to the free workers, and to do away with the abominable page 78 Seddonian provision in our labour laws, giving precedence of employment to union men.

It is scarcely possible to estimate the degrading influence that the introduction of this provision into our labour Acts will have on our working classes. What it means is, that the veriest idler and loafer who can manage to pay his subscription to a trade union, must be employed in preference to the best man or woman outside of the unions. No free man or woman is to be allowed to earn a living if the "Great Liberal Party" can by any means prevent them. The object, of course, is to try and drive them all into the unions, so that their votes may be more easily manipulated by the political demagogues.

My object just now, however, is not to discuss labour unions and labour laws, but to point, out their tendency to drag everything and everybody down to the lowest level of mediocrity, and to show the necessity of bringing some influence, to bear to counteract this undesirable state of things.

What, of course, is wanted, more than anything else, is the diffusion of knowledge. We want to get a more general and a more intelligent discussion and investigation of the great social questions of the day.

We want some organisations which will drag out of the common level rut the more active minds among us, and convert them into leaders of public opinion, real intelligent leaders of men. Somebody may, and I hope will, be able to show a better plan than I have suggested.

I think that what is wanted, in the first place, is a federation, not an amalgamation, but federation of the various literary associations, mutual improvement societies, and parliamentary unions. If these were worked on the plan indicated, I believe they would soon embrace among them most of our ablest men and women, both young and old, for they would feel that they were exercising a real influence on public thought and action, an influence that must be for good.

It will be curious to note in the future how many leading men and women have been educated in the Government schools.

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