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MESSAGE TO THE CONVENTION
President Emeritus Paul P. Harris, Chicago
To
my Friends Assembled at Seattle:
Greetings and best wishes, especially to our dearly beloved
International President, Sydney Pascall, the first from
overseas.
In
days of adversity prepare for prosperity.
Adversity purifies the blood‑stream; prosperity pollutes it.
No
nation ever became great through prosperity. Nations become
great through adversity. The Roman Empire became mighty during
years of adversity, impotent after years of prosperity.
Prosperity encourages physical and intellectual indolence;
indolence leads to decadence. Prosperity is not cultural; it
frequently is anti‑cultural.
To
be sure, 1932 is suicide year, ‑ another evidence of the fact
that it is a mistake to appraise business above life. Many have
broken under the stress of adversity but they had been
previously cracked under the strain of prosperity. The adversity
which they proved unable to endure would have been unbridled
prosperity to their pioneer grandfathers, who never suffered the
blight of too much prosperity.
Take a look at the list of prominent men who have crashed the
door to eternity within the present year. Contrast them with the
eight thousand school teachers working without pay in the city
of Chicago. Have the poor school teachers been committing
suicide ? No, they haven't even struck. They have never suffered
the degenerating influence of prosperity; they have a cultural
background; yes, resources within themselves.
What the world needs today is another renaissance, one as mighty
and as resistless as that which swept over Europe at the close
of the Middle Ages. Rotary should play a leading part in such
renaissance; it would be in keeping with the tenets of Rotary.
Jazz has had its day; it has been tried and found wanting. Let
us try culture for a change. Of all periods, there has never
been one to compare with the present for the inauguration of a
new era. The time is ripe. We have been disillusioned; disgust
with the old order is prevalent, and encouraging developments
are already manifest.
Medical men bear testimony that plain food, more rest and simple
living have resulted in marked improvement in health. The
managers of public libraries state that the circulation of books
is increasing rapidly, and, astonishing as it may seem, a
decided turn to the better classes of literature has taken
place.
The switch from unrestrained extravagance to unrestrained thrift
has been so abrupt and extreme that it has bankrupt many old and
well established industries catering to the former popular
demand.
Public and private schools, colleges and universities are
crowded to the doors and adult education has reached the high
watermark. The reclamation of the radio is under way. Rotary is
a form of adult education. The late Senator Burton designated it
the most effective form.
The moral tone has been appreciably raised by the turn to simple
living and the enjoyment of gardening and other forms of outdoor
recreation and labor.
Fathers of Rotary, there's a special lesson to be learned from
suicide year. The dean of men in a great university recently
announced that ninety per cent of the failures in the
institution which he has served for more than thirty years are
traceable directly to prosperity. Most any young man who has
been well trained can stand adversity; few can stand prosperity.
Are your sons of the few or of the many? In any event give son
at least a sporting chance.
Let us have done with this worship of prosperity lest it do away
with us. In days of adversity prepare for prosperity, the
supreme test of mankind.
Sincerely yours,
PAUL HARRIS.
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