Listen to episode 144 of The Adelaide Show podcast, which was published May 25 2016, to find out which story is fake.
Hard work and social purity in Adelaide
Evening Journal Jan 1883
Some strong speaking was indulged in at the meeting at Port Adelaide a few evenings ago for the establishment .of a branch in that town of the Social Purity Society. In some respects, indeed, it was too strong—not, of course, in regard to the enormity of the conduct of those who lead young girls astray, but to the alleged bad pre-eminence of the city of Adelaide in vice. Port Adelaide, does not contain one house of ill-fame. The city of Glasgow, nearly ten times as large as Adelaide, and directly connect by shipping to our fair city has more than 1000 prostitutes. Yet in this city it is asserted there are no more than a handful of women absolutely known to be leading immoral lives, and the police have strong suspicions that that recent work has indeed kept this figure very low. the real number is at least 1,000. In fact many can see that the rapid growth of Adelaide has indeed kept this city very virtuous and busy and saved our police the growing problem of dealing with vice as seen in the Eastern States and indeed our early years.
The proved divorce reform
The Register Sept 1928
South Australian society in general has possibly benefited, and has certainly been intended to benefit from our insistence upon the principle that marriage ought to be as nearly indissoluble as possible. , But; whatever the -gain in social stability : from this restriction of the grounds for divorce— and even here there is a debatable question—there can be no possible doubt that our communal welfare, in so far as it has been advanced by the stringency of the marriage bond, has been so advanced at the cost of incalculable individual suffering. It is a nice question in social ethics how far personal comfort should be subordinated to the general good, and at' what point individual liberty should be restrained. Obviously, if the marriage laws were 'reformed' to the point of complete laxity, individual liberty might be expected soon to produce universal licence; but there must be' a desirable mean between the virtual abandonment of legal control, and the maintenance of unnecessary and harsh restraints. Dispassionately examined, the present Government’s proposed amendments to “the Matrimonial Causes Act seem to” approximate to that mean. Mr. Homburg will inevitably be accused of attempting dangerously to weaken the marriage tie; and disaster will be predicted as the unavoidable consequence of the passage of the measure. (Couldn’t get divorce from criminal in jail, mentally deranged, violent person, constant drunk etc.)
Women should be up and doing
Country has no use for “slackers” everyone should give a helping hand
Chronicle Jan 1941
Under the pen-name “Charity” a writer has introduced this subject for discussion. Her invitation is to discuss the “shirkers” and “slackers” among her own sex “just for a change.”
Dear Wu— I have always enjoyed your letters, and your discussion on bitterness was of special interest. Although it is rather late, may I offer my appreciation of that talk and a suggestion that selfishness is the cause of most of the troubles experienced in this life by all of us. Even today there are people who, when invited to help outside interests tell you that their time is too taken up with their home and family life to be bothered, suggesting that charity should begin at home. Don’t you consider they come under the heading of slackers and shirkers, even more so than some of our menfolk who are receiving white feathers?