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CONVENTION MESSAGE [1943
St. Louis]
Friends of St. Louis Convention Number Two: Greetings!
Our attendance is lighter this year, and that is designedly so.
If there are disadvantages in that fact, they will be offset by
our getting nearer together than we have ever been before. I
hope as we look back at this convention, we will think of it as
the most cordial, neighborly and friendly convention Rotary
International has ever held.
We
shall miss our friends of "overseas" but I am sure in spirit
they are with us.
Volcanoes of shot and shell are still in a state of eruption.
The surface of the earth and the air above, the surface of the
seas and the waters beneath it shake with the furies of
contention in this world. The Creator made this planet a
suitable abiding place for his children and they have made it a
shambles. The question as to whether or not there is such a
place as hell is no longer a matter of speculation. There is a
hell and it's in the here and now. Is there a kindly light to
lead us on?
When the bombing of Britain was at its height and homes and
ancient monuments were being demolished, it seemed to many of
our overseas friends that they had come to the period of total
darkness. There was a light, but shell‑shocked folks could not
see it. How much can human nature endure? Well, that much at
least. Men and women bereft of homes and children groped about
in the debris for family treasures and household necessities,
spectacles, tooth brushes, collar buttons, etc., and as they did
so the dim light became less dim.
It
was not remarkable that under such circumstances some of our
overseas friends wondered whether Rotary was worth salvaging.
All wonder is now passed, Rotary in Britain is stronger, more
human and kindlier than ever before.
What is true of Rotary in Britain is also true of Rotary in the
countries of Continental Europe wherever it has been possible to
lift its head. Rotary has stood the test of fire and blood and
manifestly is destined to endure.
It
is interesting and gratifying to learn that working together in
a common cause has resulted in substantial gains in the morale
of the members of the various overseas clubs. It is very clear.
It requires no prophetic vision to see that community service,
as a result of the war, will come into higher favor.
The one thought which is at present occupying the minds of all
is: "What of the future?" How did it happen. that we have
drifted into war Number Two before the wounds of war Number One
are healed? Admitting the fact that the ill‑starred Treaty of
Versailles did its part to keep the flames of hatred alive,
there were other reasons, such as economic needs and commercial
rivalries.
Wars are not the only manifestations of reversion to savagery.
When nations are not fighting other nations, class is fighting
class; few are interested in the cause of peace or in anything
except the privilege of going their own sweet ways.
While Rome burned, Nero fiddled and by so doing merited the
contempt and the maledictions of the ages. But we must in good
conscience admit that the Neros are not all dead. We Moderns
have different ways of showing our indifference to human needs.
The modern correlative of playing a fiddle while Rome burned is
the consecration of our lives to the business of "Keeping up
with the Joneses" while our Rome burns.
We
Rotarians have an antidote for this mental and moral breakdown.
Our slogan is "Service above Self." If applied earnestly and
unremittingly, it will restore the patient to normalcy and bring
him the happiness he has been seeking in vain. Happiness is not
to be found in possessions. That truth has been borne home to us
time and again. Happiness is a state of mind, it comes unsought
and it is the by‑product of wholesome, sensible and unselfish
living and thinking.
Throughout time there have been protestants against the idea
that happiness is to be found in possessions. The Great Teacher
said that happiness comes from within. The destitute philosopher
Spinoza refused the gift of one thousand dollars because he
feared it would pervert his mind.
But we don't need to go back into history to find examples of
lives which are in accord with the spirit of "Service above
Self." There are many in our midst all of the time. Every Rotary
club has members who are living examples of the doctrine we
profess. Where, for instance, is there an educator who chose his
profession as a means of getting rich?
On
the other hand, there are in every city and village throughout
the land those who have no ambition higher than that of
accumulating possessions in order that they and their families
may "Keep up with the Joneses."
During one year of the depression, a score of millionaires in
the city in which I live took their own lives. Not one of them
was destitute. They and their families had plenty to eat and to
wear and substantial roofs over their heads. During the same
period, ten thousand school teachers suffered payless pay days
for nearly a year. They did not commit suicide; they didn't even
strike. Their responsibilities were too great to permit it. Many
of them were destitute but they kept at their tasks. To my mind
there could be no more impressive illustration of the meaning of
our slogan "Service above Self."
Fathers have been heard to say that they could subscribe to the
plan of placing service above self if they had only themselves
to consider but that they must put their sons and daughters
beyond possible want.
As
a matter of fact, it is the boys and girls themselves who suffer
the most from great possessions. It requires more character for
children to survive great prosperity than it does to survive
adversity. Fathers, have your children that necessary character?
Senator Dolliver said: "Give a boy ten thousand dollars and it
will ruin the boy and won't do the ten thousand dollars any good
either."
Thomas Arkle Clark, dean of men at the University of Illinois,
said that nine‑tenths of the students who failed were
overprivileged. Those who were underprivileged seldom failed.
No! Dad; No! Son. There is nothing in this business of "Keeping
up with the Joneses" for you. Excitement and transitory pleasure
may be found that way, but happiness never.
This is the machine age and the machine has its place. It should
not, however, be permitted to dominate men.
Technology is important but not the most important thing in
life. Men are more important than machines. Schools of
technology meet with popular favor because their graduates are
in demand in industry, and industry is able to pay the top
price. In a social order where "Keeping up with the Joneses"
plays so important a part, lucrative positions fit the needs of
the hour. So the advance in technology continues rapidly,
leaving matters of greater importance far behind. Before we
arrive at the point where we know how to make wise use of one
machine another appears in the market.
In
the meantime we stand woefully in need of a better way of life.
What profit that industry creates wealth if it must be
dissipated in war? Obviously the first need is to know how to
live sanely and justly; other things will follow.
The remedy is not through closing the doors of the institutes of
technology until we can catch up in still more important
matters. The remedy is to build other technological institutes
dedicated to the technology of international cooperation and
peace. It surely should be as much the duty of science to
promote peace as to promote the effectiveness of war. Nations go
to war as a result of emotional disturbance. Rage makes war and
rage dictates terms of peace. Nothing serviceable has ever been
accomplished by rage.
Our technological institutes for international cooperation and
peace should be equipped with research departments to delve down
into the causes of wars, past and present. Studies should be
made of the peace‑time contributions of the various nations in
the realm of science, music, literature and art. After the
carnage is past it may seem the part of wisdom to win the enemy
back into productivity again.
The Carnegie Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Pan
American Union, and Rotary International are all working in the
right direction, but they fall far short of accomplishing the
desired results. When the lives of millions of our youth and
billions of our national wealth are at stake, we must not think
in small terms. If we can mobilize our universities, colleges
and high schools in the interests of war, can we not mobilize
some of them in the interests of international cooperation and
peace?
Princeton University, Columbia, Harvard, the University of
California and some other great American universities have
established schools for the education of students in public and
foreign service, but again I say, they are not enough. Every
university, every college and every high school in North America
and in all countries should teach the science of peace until
this unconscionable epidemic of wars is stamped out as
completely as science has stamped out other forms of disease.
There must not, there shall not be a World War Number Three.
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