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Messages from the President PAUL P. HARRIS
Rotarianism is a step in the evolution of humanity and in the
emancipation of man from the exactions of unceasing servitude to
the interests of self.
Possibilities of the Divisional Plan.
The divisional plan possesses unlimited possibilities. It is
even rational to look for permanent business alliances as a
result of the development of intimate and friendly relations
between members of the various lines.
For example, the Rotarian haberdashers throughout the world
might develop a reputation for a particular class of goods,
service and prices so that the Rotary wheel on a window would
have a meaning to non-Rotarians as well as Rotarians. The
character of goods, service and prices to be adopted by Rotarian
haberdashers would, of course, be decided by the subdivision of
haberdashers, and as each would have the benefit of the
experience of all others and as many heads are better than one,
it is fair to assume that good judgment would be used. If
co‑operative buying were to be considered wise and proper, the
advantages would instantaneously multiply.
This department of a united National or International Rotary
developed along legal, moral and practical lines, to its maximum
of efficiency, would be worth a million dollars of any man's
money.
We
do not believe that the Rotarian scheme should be used as a
means to effect monopolistic combinations, nor do we believe
that it will be so used; but we do believe that there are many
features of cooperation which can be so utilized as not to be
inimical to the interests of the public, and such features can,
we believe, be developed to the highest possible point of
efficiency under the Rotarian plan.
Mr. Eugene MacCan, secretary of the New York Club, is a florist,
and has a store on Broadway. His enthusiasm for Rotary has led
him to place a large Rotary wheel on his front window in
conspicuous view of the multitudes of the "Great White Way."
We
have heard that wheel mentioned by Rotarians from cities other
than New York, and we have heard it mentioned by men who are not
Rotarians - who know of Rotary in their home cities. We do not
know that these men made
purchases from Mr. MacCan, but we believe that if they bad been
intending to make purchases, they would have felt much more at
home in dealing with Mr. MacCan than in dealing with any other
New York florist.
Rotarians enjoy an enviable reputation. It is a valuable asset.
The reputation must be maintained, to the end that its value
does not diminish as time goes on and to the end that the public
be not deceived.
The divisional plan affords opportunities of inestimable value
to profitably utilize our national reputation, and we trust that
its possibilities will be developed to their rational limit.
International Teams.
In
carrying out our international policy, we see the importance of
bringing our American cities into closer relationship with our
foreign cities. We have thought that it would be a wise
provision, to couple certain American cities with certain
foreign cities; with the end in view of promoting exchange of
ideas and friendly and business relationships.
As
the Rotary Clubs have been longer established in the United
States than elsewhere, it is thought that we may be able to
extend a helpful hand to, our foreign brother Rotarians. We
believe, nevertheless, that the benefits will not be one-sided;
that foreign Rotarians will have many new ideas which will be
beneficial to us.
In
order that there may be some competition and a friendly spirit
of rivalry, we have conceived the idea of appointing
international teams. They are as follows:
Seattle and Vancouver,
Minneapolis and Winnipeg,
Kansas City and Belfast,
St. Louis and Dublin,
Pittsburgh and Manchester,
Philadelphia and Glasgow,
Buffalo and Toronto,
Boston and London, and
Detroit and Montreal.
We
have suggested that each Rotary Club appoint a committee to
attend to the work. The committee in the Kansas City Club is
known as the Belfast Committee, the committee of the Belfast
Club is known as the Kansas City Committee.
We
have made our selections from progressive American clubs and
they should be able to give our foreign friends the best
conception of American Rotarianism. Much will be left to the
initiative of the committee.
We
trust that all clubs that are interested will act expeditiously
and without waiting for many suggestions from us. We think that
is an opportunity worth while if studied with care and
developed. We shall expect interesting reports at the convention
of the work of the international teams.
The Educational Value of Rotary.
The business side of live may be divided into two departments;
the money earning department and the money spending department.
Both call for the exercise of our best talents. What does it
profit a commercial organization to transact a stupendous
business if it cost more to get the business than the business
earns? What does it profit a business man to produce an income
of twenty-five thousand dollars a year if it costs him thirty
thousand to live? There is a homely old expression, “A woman can
throw more out of the back door with a spoon than a man can
throw into the front door with a shovel.” The woman gets the
worst of the old adage, but it was born at an age when men
lacked their present efficiency in the use of the spoon.
It
is not so much a question of how much one makes as it is a
question of how much one saves. The real study is to find a way
to preserve the proper relative proportion between expenditure
and income, is it not?
Let us save:
Not too much, or we shall become niggardly and narrow.
Not too little, or we shall know want.
Let us save just enough so that our lives may count for
something worth while to ourselves, our dependents, the world
and the friends we have in it.
Rotary seeks not only to teach us how to make money, but also
how to intelligently spend money.
Let us grow to know ourselves and our respective businesses
better in order that we may the more intelligently earn money.
Let us know our fellow Rotarians and their respective businesses
better in order that we may more intelligently spend the money
we earn.
When your brother Rotarian sells you his merchandise, he desires
it to fit your requirements. All things else being equal, there
is no more profit in selling a suit of clothes that does not fit
than there is in selling one that does; besides your Rotarian
friend is a business builder and hopes to meet you again some
day.
To
consummate a mutually profitable transaction, both buyer and
seller must think. It is generally easier for the seller to do
this than for the buyer. Why? Because the commodity under
consideration is in his line, and he has taught himself to think
about things that are in his line.
To
sell goods is now conceded to be a science. We have schools of
scientific salesmanship, and we know how much they have done and
how much they are doing. It is the education of the vendor.
Perhaps in the evolution of mankind some prophet will arise who
will establish the first school organized for the purpose of
affording opportunity to study the science of purchase It will
be the education of the vendee.
Nor is Rotarian education complete when we have learned how to
buy and how to sell. We have our places in our respective
communities to fill, and each community has its own special and
serious problems to contend with. If Rotary is to turn out well
educated men, it must turn out men qualified o bear all the
burdens of citizenship, for after we have sold our goods and
made all of our purchases, we have yet to live.
Let Us Get The Habit.
Have you never experienced a desire to help some fellow over a
rough place in life's pathway or to just help him anyway,
because he is your friend. Yes, you have, because you are a
Rotarian and you have not only experienced the desire, but you
have also experienced the gratification of realizing your
desire. You have helped some one at some time, whether that some
one needed it or not, from the sheet love of helping. If he
needed it you probably benefited him; if he did not, you perhaps
were the chief gainer.
If
I were to do that same thing and then repeat the experiment a
few times, I might acquire the habit. Habit makes character
‑makes me. I cannot lose in an experiment the inevitable result
of which will be to make me better‑stronger, can I?
I
saw a friend leaving his office early yesterday. He said that
business was dull, nothing doing, and the chances are that he
will leave it early again to‑morrow and that there will continue
to be little or perhaps nothing doing. There are periods in the
lives of most men, let them be, as a rule ever so busy, when
there is a lull in the storm, when perhaps the time is too brief
to enter upon a long task, too long to throw away.
If
one has the habit, a little concentration of thought may reveal
in a second where he can, by a telephoned word accomplish more
for the other fellow than he could for himself in a whole day's
work, and isn't it worth while?
Working for the other fellow calls for the exercise of a new set
of faculties. We have been working for ourselves so long and
with such absorbing interest that working for the other fellow
comes at first, about as naturally as does chirography to the
toes, but faculties as well as muscles can be developed. All
that they need is exercise.
There is no reason why we should not ultimately be able to bring
to bear upon the problems of others the same ingenuity that
characterizes the efforts which we direct to the benefit of
ourselves. Let us get the habit, and it will pay because "As we
unselfishly help others to succeed, we make progress toward
success."
Get Sky Enough to Cover.
The thought has come to us: "Some good day after the big fight
is all over, I am going to have a few acres of good rich earth
all my own where I can dig and grub and let life's cares ooze
off, to my heart's content."
How about those acres, anyhow? We have a recollection of having
heard them well spoken of. The soil is said to be rich in the
properties that make for good crops, but how about spring rains
and summer sun? What use to us will rich acres be if the sky
above them is to fail us? When we buy our acres let us make
certain that title includes a perpetual easement to a favorable
sky large enough to cover them; and before we buy, while the
fight is still on, it may be well to remember that one can't
even do successful battle in darkness. There ought to be sky
enough to cover the battlefield and the sky ought to be
illuminated by optimism, courage, tenacity, progressiveness and
desire to render good accounts of ourselves during our
respective periods of service.
The Strength of Greatness.
Among the sayings of Abraham Lincoln is the following:
I
do the very best I know how‑the very best I can; and I mean to
keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right,
what is said against me won't amount to anything. if the end
brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make
no difference.
This philosophy of Abraham Lincoln looks to me like pretty good
sentiment, and as adaptable to business men as any others.
PAUL P. HARRIS.
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