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CONVENTION MESSAGE [1944 Chicago]
By
Paul P. Harris, President-Emeritus, Rotary International
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
To
my friends, Rotarians and ambassadors of good will, greetings:
For the third time in the history of the movement, the
Convention comes back to the city of its nativity. Welcome, a
thousand welcomes, on Rotary's "homecoming" day. May your stay
be pleasant and profitable.
1
hope that all of you will find time to visit Rotary headquarters
before you leave Chicago. We are proud of the efficient staff
and of the true Rotary spirit it maintains. Headquarters is
Rotary's "Exhibit Number One." The workers are happy as well as
efficient and in normal times the turnover is negligible.
Practices which have proven themselves valuable in Rotary Clubs
have been adopted by the staff; for example, the use of the
first name and singing of Rotary songs at the staff meetings. To
some it may seem strange to hear a messenger boy address our
international Secretary as Phil, but at headquarters it does not
seem strange ‑ it is taken as a matter of course. The morale of
the staff does not suffer from such practices. The morale is
improved. Employees never abuse their privileges.
The strict discipline of subordinates pertaining in some
business organizations does not pertain at headquarters. The
staff is thoroughly democratic and it has been clearly
demonstrated that democracy pays. Big business would profit
greatly and many strikes would be averted if management would be
more democratic and cultivate the friendship of the men who
labor with their hands. The hackneyed phrase "familiarity breeds
contempt" has been sadly overworked. Only he who deserves
contempt need fear it and there are none such at headquarters.
We
might think of Rotary today as something like a great river, the
surface of which is disturbed at times, but the current moves
irresistibly on. The surface of Rotary is whipped up at times by
the political winds which play upon it, but Rotary moves
steadily onwards; the fiat of despots is unable to stem the
flow.
The loss of Clubs in middle Europe during the present war has
been far more than offset by the organization of new Clubs in
other parts of the world. There has never been such an awakening
of interest in Rotary. Now, as never before, right‑minded men in
all civilized nations see the need of promoting international
understanding and good will and no better way of accomplishing
this objective has as yet been made available than Rotary's
world‑wide fellowship of business and professional men.
I
have been privileged to visit many countries in the name of
Rotary, and the more I visit, the more I am disposed to conclude
that there are no great fundamental differences between men and
between nations. None are entirely good, none entirely bad. The
great mischief‑maker is misunderstanding. Every nation has
contributed much to the sum total of human happiness.
As
soon as is consistent with safety, the conquered nations must be
restored to productivity in science, music, art, and literature
for the benefit of all mankind, and school children must be
taught of the contributions which all nations have made to human
welfare. By such means the cause of international understanding
and good will may be advanced. There are many other ways of
obtaining the desired results. New ways are constantly
appearing.
I
visited a camp of war prisoners in Alabama last winter. It was
conducted by the military authorities with fine regard for the
welfare of the prisoners. The officer in charge informed me that
when information of the humane treatment of prisoners in
American camps got back to enemy countries, our own boys in
their prison camps thenceforth were treated with similar
consideration.
 There
is no better assurance of the advancement of international
understanding and good will than is to be found in our camps for
war prisoners. It would be too much to expect that these
prisoners will become ambassadors of good will; but it is not
too much to expect that these camps will serve to disabuse their
minds of false beliefs as to the ideals of Americans, and that
war mongering during coming generations will not be so popular
in their respective countries as was the case at the beginning
of the present war.
Another understanding and good will factor will be the teaching
of foreign languages in schools supported by the government, as
a war measure. The more languages men speak, the better the
understanding and the more the good will.
So
my friends, ambassadors of good will at home and abroad, let us
continue in our course; it's a good course and it leads to
peace.
(Applause)
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