Marines Club (Themiclesia)
 Marines Club building since 1900 | |
| Formation | 1857 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Lord Ghor-′an |
| Purpose | Social gatherings for officers and notables |
| Location |
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The Marines Club (冗人會, nunk-ning-kwaps) is a social club founded to improve the social standing of the Themiclesian Marine Corps, imitating the many social clubs that have sprung up around officers in other regiments. It was founded by Lord Ghwar-′an in 1857. The club currently has a membership of 152.
Charter and governance
The Club possesses a charter of incorporation from the City of Kien-k'ang. The charter regulates the club's running, funding, admissions, and rules of behaviour. Article 1 establishes the positions of President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Club and outlines their respective duties. Article 2 regulates the membership of the club and requires prospective members to procure six letters of recommendation and forbids the admission of "persons of uncertain provenance". Article 3 governs the rules of behaviour by club members while on premise. Articles 4 through 6 lay down rules for other miscellaneous matters. Article 7, particularly, bans the heraldry of the South Army on club premises and imposes a fine of €1 (a considerable sum at the time) for every laudatory reference to that force.
Social renown
In the late 1800s, the Marines Club became a fashionable place for parliamentary peers and MPs to dine and was particularly known for its Sieuxerrian fare. Surviving menus show diners were treated to 12-course meals paired with imported alcohol that began at 7 p.m. and ran until midnight. This development is usually attributed to Lord of Gwah-lang (雊陽侯), Navy Secretary during the M′i Government (1887 – 89). It is rumoured that he preferred this organization to the Naval Officers' Club because the latter was too far from his home.
In the first half of the 20th century, the club dinnered every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday in a formal setting, requiring white tie dress code; on Tuesdays and Fridays, a dinner buffet was held, and members arrived in black tie or uniform. No dinner was served on Thursdays as this was public dinner night at the Naval Officers' Club, and most socially-active Marines officers would be there instead. The importance of social clubs grew in the pre-PSW period as social meals shifted from private homes to them. Themiclesians usually dined at home on Sunday evenings, entertaining relatives. Military officers, in particular, were known as a party-going bunch; those who shunned parties frequently found themselves shunned in their careers or were suspected of radicalism or unorthodoxy. Conversely, unpopular opinions, such as republicanism, were deemed more acceptable if "outed" in a social setting. Bit M'ang, who was a member of the club from 1911 to his death in 1936, was a vocal proponent of abolition of the monarchy, and his sentiments though never accepted by most officers found respect when openly raised amongst his peers.
During the PSW, club culture experienced a significant setback due to wartime disruption, and after the war, clubbing never fully recovered its social functions. Elite socializing was once again confined to the private home, though now usually in the countryside. As a result, dinners were reduced from six to four then three nights a week by 1960, and white tie attire was mandatory for only a few occasions in the clubbing year.[1] With exceptions in 1951 when the club hosted the prime minister and in 1957 the emperor himself, the six-month social season ceased to be relevant at the club after 1968.
Finances
Lord Ghor-′an entailed a nearby piece of housing land as the club's source of income; this land could not be sold by the club, and proceeds must be used by the club's committee. In 1870, an act of parliament modified the entail, allowing it to be developed into rowhouses that were springing up in Kien-k'ang at that time. This re-development nearly quadrupled the club's income even after the developer retained half of the houses leased. Through accumulation of funds, the club in 1899 purchased the rights to the developer's half, which in turn permitted the club to stop collecting food charges and hire an extra Sieuxerrian chef and three sous-chefs. In 1919, the rowhouses were redeveloped into the Garnet Hotel, the club retaining a fixed (but undisclosed) percentage of the hotel's revenues. As the hotel evolved to be a well-renowned social destination in its own right, the club became financially one of the most stable regimental clubs of the Themiclesian social scene. This income allowed it to survive past the 40s, when such exclusive organizations nadired due to collapsing gentry money and power in the Pan-Septentrion War.
Known members
- Lord Ghor-′an (荁安君)
- Lord M'reng (顭君)
Charitable work
The club's most recent outline of its expenditures provide that around half of its annual proceeds go towards charities of various descriptions. Three-fifths of that portion, valued at $2.6 million in 2018, was donated to the SSAS (Shell Shock Amelioration Society), and one-fifth to the SAS (Smoke Abatement Society). The last fifth was given to local art galleries and planting trees. The other half went twoards upkeep of club premises, provision of food and entertainment to its members, and administrative overhead.
Controversies
In 1979, the club was reported on various newspapers for refusing to admit Mew L′ang, a well-decorated Marines officer, while inviting Daw Pjuk, a renowned television show host. Daw spoke about receiving such an invitation on his show and a willingness to join the "esteemed club" but felt encumbered by the club dues. On the other hand, Mew learned of this fact and published his frustration on The Spectre, the Themiclesian Marines' newspaper, criticizing the club for playing favourites. A handful of other columns commented on this matter and turned the focus towards social class.
The club initially made no response but later published a statement on Jan. 2, 1980, saying that the club's rules, "very regrettably, preclude Mew's inclusion." They point to Article 2 of the club's Charter, which provides that members must be "individuals of recognized background and decent standing in society", and say that Mew's family history could not be traced further than the birth of his maternal grandfather in 1879. Later, it was leaked that the Club's admissions committee blackballed Mew because his paternal grandfather might be born out of wedlock, an undocumented migrant,[2] or both, which disqualifies him as an individual of "recognized background". Furthermore, Mew was neither a peer nor a "person of remarkable reputation", which would overcome the foregoing limitation.
On the other hand, Daw was invited to join because his great-grandfather was Captain-general of Marines in 1892 – 98 and because he was well-known in journalistic and media circles. Perhaps more informatively, the great-grandfather came from the gentry of Lem Prefecture and was son-in-law of the 5th Lord of Ran, the less-than-successful son of the 4th Lord of Ran, Prime Minister of Themiclesia from 1833 – 37. Daw later wrote that the reasoning of his invitation was made quite clear in the invitation letter he received and that he felt regret for discussing this matter in public when it should have been confidential.
Despite Daw's efforts to suppress the issue, cancelling his show for two episodes, the editors of The Spectre went into mouth-foaming rage over it and published numerous philippics about the club. They uncovered 41 previous refusals to other marines who applied (usually officers at retirement) and published interviews with 30 of them, seemingly representing indignation across the marine corps that "a club founded and reputed for their betterment" could "so infamously disregard them". However, The Capital Correspondent and The Wall[3] re-interviewed the 11 whose response were not published and discovered a countervailing narrative. These interviewees stated that the Club was there to advocate for social recognition in favour of the Marines, and it was "no use to admit people who don't have clout." A senior NCO who was discharged in 1930 said that "if people like us were allowed to join, the Club would lose all prestige and be unable to fulfill its purpose".
The Wall also approached a few of Marines officers in 20s and 30s, who all seem to think The Spectre was unreasonable.[4] In response to The Wall’s reporting, The Spectre told them to "stick to foreign policy". On Feb. 4, 1980, The Wall’s editor called The Spectre "editorially unconscionable and dishonest" and "ironically disregarding the freedom of the press as a member of the press." Next week, The Wall printed that it "stood together with 14 other university presses and 8 news agencies and calls upon the Kien-k'ang Journalistic Association to censure The Spectre." The Army Academy's Dippy Library also officially stopped subscription of The Spectre as it is "not currently a credible source of information," but The Spectre actually saw its subscriptions rise by 4% due to the unfolding drama. Ultimately, the Association was moved to give out only its fifth punative ruling, ordering the editors of The Spectre to pay $4,000 each in fines for exaggerated reporting.
In other regimental presses, several took a neutral position towards the issue. The Echo, the newspaper for the Fourth Division, wrote that "dishonest reporting, which we are convinced has transpired, is to be censured; nobody benefits from a lying press." But it also wrote that "The Spectre is to be credited for bringing a poignant issue to the fore and fearlessly arguing for an unorthodox position" and that "the club's rules are arcane and does not reflect the values of modern society." They say that their position is tenable without resorting to fraudulent reporting. The Liberal newspaper The Times of Themiclesia commented that the club is "a private club, founded on private initiative and private money; and so it should be autonomously governed and not subject to journalism bordering libel." The Review wrote that while many regimental clubs have become officers' veterans associations and are chartered this way, Marines Club has not; as such, it should not be compelled to admit new members on regimental grounds.
See also
Notes
- ↑ Around 1900, Themiclesian elites recognized a "club calendar" where individuals might gather at certain clubs on certain dates, whether members or not. This was part of the Themiclesian social season which was imitative of the Tyrannian archetype, though it possesses native roots as well. During such open days at the club, members expected to host socially- and politically-important individuals and enjoy the privilege of speaking to them in an informal setting, while other visitors would learn about the club's activities (if any) and prestige. The Marines Club's dates were from August 10 to 16, usually.
- ↑ In the 19th century, "respectable" individuals moved only with invitation or recognition by the respectable circles in his destination, since he stood lose political and social franchise if he was not recognized. If an individual showed up in a city census without recognition by its gentry, it was widely assumed he was an escaping tenant or servant seeking a better living.
- ↑ The newspaper of the Army Academy.
- ↑ At the time, most Marines officers were graduates of the Army Academy, and they were invited to respond through various alumni networks.