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Message
of the President Emeritus
This
message was read before the assembled delegates on the opening
of the Twelfth
International Convention at Edinburgh, June 13
 To
all Rotarians the Convention of 1921 has been of great
significance. To many minds it seemed the parting of the ways.
Yesterday our Rotary was a child; today in strength and vigor,
it steps out into the world while we who rocked its cradle find
fascination in the spectacle. Shall this Rotary of ours be of
influence in the larger affairs of the world? Is it indeed the
case that there has been and is a very special need in the
affairs of nations for the presence of that spirit which we call
Rotary?
There is
unusual significance in the fact that this Convention was held
in the classic and beautiful city of Edinburgh, the Edinburgh of
John Knox; Edinburgh, rich in historical interest; Edinburgh,
the city of culture, religion, education. Rotary is a product of
the West, expressive of the freedom, the democracy, the good
fellowship of the wind‑swept prairies. This Convention was a
fine test of Rotary and affords excellent opportunity to judge
as to its future. If the spirit of Rotary can bridge the chasm
that lies between the freedom of the West and the conservatism
of the East, we need have little fear as to its adaptability to
other conditions to be met with elsewhere.
The motive
power of Rotary is friendship. This is true today; the same
statement could have been made in equal truth yesterday and let
us hope that it may be truthfully made throughout all time.
 As
the minds of men expand to embrace world visions, the hearts of
men must expand to a conception of friendship which includes all
men, a friendship which not only tolerates national differences
of opinion but also recognizes them as the natural heritage of
circumstance and environment and as potential servitors of
mankind; necessary to civilization's highest purposes. No nation
may ever again live within itself; the measure of a nation's
progress as well as the measure of an individual's progress must
ever be its readiness to learn from the experiences of others.
May we never more be provincial, never more pedantic. The
self‑sufficient nation of the future will not only be very
lonesome, it will also be very useless, useless to itself as
well as to others. It will fall hopelessly behind industrially,
commercially, politically and spiritually. Natural resources
will carry a nation so far and no further, but there is no limit
to the heights which may be attained by a
spiritually‑minded, industrious, broadly intelligent people
anxious to learn of the customs, resources, industries and
commerce of other peoples.
 Rotary
believes that the better the people of one nation understand the
people of other nations the less the likelihood of friction, and
Rotary will therefore encourage acquaintance and friendships
between individuals of different nations. No circumstance has
disturbed the serenity of the relations of Great Britain and the
United States for more than one hundred years.
Intercommunication begets understanding, understanding begets
friendship, friendship means peace. Every American Rotarian
should be a consistent reader of that wonderful little magazine,
The British Wheel. No American businessman should be too
busy to read carefully one representative British weekly and
every British businessman should read regularly one of the best
American papers. May we have a better understanding of each
other's industrial, social and political problems, and the
solutions of them. Rotary is a pioneer blazing the trail to the
finest and at same time the mightiest of human conceptions and
aspirations, all‑inclusive friendliness.
The
creators of enthusiasm have done their work well in Rotary and
it is fortunate that it is so, for so great a project must
depend to a large measure upon the enthusiastic support of its
followers.
We
recognize the fact that enthusiasm has various ways of
expressing itself. There is the exuberant enthusiasm which
expresses itself in song and laughter and then there is also
the serious, quiet enthusiasm that expresses itself in
thoughtful, painstaking work. Both are useful, both are
necessary; the former because it makes men healthier,
happier; the latter because in the final analysis, upon it
depends the real progress we are to make, the real
esteem in which we are to be held, the real position which
is to be ours in the affairs of men. It is customary and
proper that sentiment soften the judgment of Rotarians in
matters pertaining to Rotary; but the world's verdict will
not be sentimental. We shall gain that measure of justice to
which we are entitled - no more. If our philosophy is
unsound, rest assured it will be known; if the principles we
profess to stand for do not find expression in actual deed,
we shall come face to face with the disapproval which our
conduct will merit.
Rotary's
success or failure in its efforts to popularize its ideal of
service thruout the world will depend upon the thoughtfulness,
the humbleness and purposefulness with which it goes about its
task.
It has,
very naturally, had its greatest growth in the United States,
but Rotarians of other nations must not be led to conclude that
Rotary is so characteristically and predominantly American that
the influence of Rotarians from other countries can be but
little felt in the movement. He who contributes most to the
common cause will rise to leadership, be he from nation large or
nation small, be he from a nation well represented in Rotary or
be he from a nation of few Rotary clubs; and what is true of the
individual is also true of the country which he represents. It
has been well said that there can be but one proper leadership
and that is leadership intellectual and spiritual; to tolerate
any other form of leadership would be to defeat the very purpose
for which we exist. God grant that Rotary be clean and free from
the corrupting influences of politics.
American
Rotary recognizes the fact that its preponderance of numbers
imposes peculiar obligations; it is mindful of the fact that
there is but one way for majorities to treat minorities and that
is fairly and with special consideration of their special needs.
Since the
beginning of civilization, there has been a surplus of sayers of
things. If there is any one particular in which I would have
Rotary distinguished from other organizations, it is in that
quality of character which results in the doing of things; if we
may but be known as an organization composed of men of
determination and action, we need concern ourselves no more as
to the world's verdict.
It is our
purpose to mobilize the vigorous forces of successful commerce
and industry in an effort to raise the standard of civilization
thru promulgation of the ideal of service. The ambition is a
lofty one but not impossible of achievement. To accomplish the
desired result, Rotary must necessarily avail itself of every
possible opportunity of extension and every reasonable means of
expansion not inconsistent with our present plan of structure.
The larger cities should have as many Rotary Clubs as there are
distinct business centers, provided such policy be acceptable to
the clubs already established in such larger cities. Boys work,
to which Rotary has so enthusiastically lent itself, is the best
possible means of impressing the ideal upon generations yet to
come. No one who is conversant with what our boys have done can
be pessimistic as to the outcome. Conceptions difficult of
attainment to the adult are accepted as a matter of course by
the youth of our lands if patiently and persistently presented.
Pessimists
will continue to contend that selfishness is now and must
necessarily always be the dominant motive in life; but Rotary
contends that selfishness is a habit and that habits change as
enlightenment increases, that it is not rational to suppose that
men will perpetually resign themselves to the pursuit of pounds
and dollars while there still remain other more enjoyable and
satisfactory things to do.
It is
reasonable to expect that it will be fashionable some day to
build lives instead of fortunes.
Much of the
New World’s material progress has been the result of the
material help of the Old World. The financiers of the old world
supplied us with the wealth wherewith to stretch railroads
across our fertile fields to the end that the old world might
better feed and the new world supplied with other material
necessities, but the contribution of the old world to the new
has been far more material. We of America have inherited the
tradition and the principles which make agricultural,
industrial and progress practicable. We have accomplished much
thru the aid of British money but we have accomplished more,
infinitely more, thru the aid of British ideals.
There is no
knowing to what ends the sinister influences of some of our
American newspapers and movies might have taken our American
young manhood had it not been for the counteracting influences
of organizations which first came into existence in the British
Isles. It has indeed been a rare procession of organized forces
which you have sent to our shores. The Puritans, the Pilgrim
Fathers, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Salvation
Army, The Boy Scouts. It is with bated breath that we
contemplate what our civilization might have been without them.
We must
come to a higher and fairer appraisal of the part that the great
writers of the past have played in the civilization of which we
are so proud. Harried Beecher Stowe struck the shackles from the
limbs of a million American negroes while the whole civilized
world sensed an urge upwards.
We in
America shall never outlive or outgrow the influence of Charles
Dickens. We have, in tearful suspense, watched with Florence
Dombey as Paul's frail bark floated down between the green banks
and the rushes out on the boundless sea, and in so doing
discovered something within ourselves of which we little knew.
Every American school, public and private, every American court
of justice bears testimony of Dicken's wonder working pen.
American manhood has been more sympathetic because of
Copperfield and Nickleby, American womanhood the sweeter because
of Little Dorrit and Agnes and Nell. American civilization might
have stood the stress of the times without British pounds and
shillings but American life certainly would have lacked much of
its savor had it been without companionship with the illustrious
men of letters from across the sea.
In closing
this message, I can not refrain from alluding to myself to the
extent of stating that the Edinburgh Convention has a very
special significance to me. Edinburgh is the city in which my
wife was born and bred. We frequently live together the scenes
of her childhood, the memories of which are to her precious,
sacred indeed.
We join in
expressing our heartfelt best wishes and our profound hope that
Rotarians of her world and of mine will have joined on this
occasion in happy union; that many friendships will have been
formed; that such friendships will continue as long as life
lasts and that this Convention will serve to cement in firmer
and more friendly union the two great English‑speaking nations,
the first necessary step toward the attainment of the loftiest
of all earthly aspirations, the brotherhood of man.
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