Jules Verne and Edward Bellamy were men of action, the world
has yet to learn of it. They were, however, exceptionally
competent in the field of dreams. It required a generation
to write the dreams of these two men in facts, but it has
been done.
In one way or another the following paragraph became one of
the object‑clauses of Rotary International and was given the
number six:
"The advancement of understanding, goodwill, and
international peace through a world fellowship of business
and professional men united in the Rotary ideal of service."
It would have taken a man with far‑sighted vision to have
even dreamed such a thing twenty-five years ago. Is it now
to be written in fact?
During
the latter part of March, 1924, 1 received a letter from
far‑away Japan; it was signed Tsunejiro Miyaoka, past
president of the
Tokyo Rotary Club.
I was impressed with its fine spirit of friendliness and I
answered with equal warmth. Some time later I was informed
that my new‑found friend had been elected a delegate from
the Tokyo club to the Toronto Convention and that he and
Madame Miyaoka would stop in Chicago on their way to Canada.
I set about the task of learning something of our
prospective guest and what I found out was considerable.
I learned for instance that he was a graduate of the law
department of the Imperial University and that he entered
the diplomatic service of his country during the year of
1887, since which time he had enjoyed many honors, among
them that of being charge d'affaires and later minister
plenipotentiary to Washington, first secretary of the
Japanese legation at Berlin, charge d'affaires to Germany
and to Belgium; and His Imperial Majesty's Minister Resident
and principal law officer of the Japanese department of
foreign affairs.
I learned that he was an honorary member of both American
and Canadian Bar Associations.
I learned also that Madame Miyaoka had served for many years
as lady‑in‑ waiting to Her Imperial Highness Princess
Higashi Fushimi in which capacity she had attended the
coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.
On the arrival of this distinguished Japanese in the United
States, at the suggestion of the president of the Chicago
Bar Association, I wired him an invitation to be the guest
of honor at a special luncheon of the Association.
The
invitation was accepted and it became my privilege to
introduce him to some of the leaders of the Chicago Bar
among whom was the late Edgar A. Bancroft.
As this incident followed soon after the passage of the
exclusion act, Mr. Miyaoka's brief address to the members of
the Chicago Bar pertained mostly to that subject.
During the course of the sojourn of Mr. and Mrs. Miyaoka in
Chicago, Mrs. Harris and the writer had the good fortune of
becoming well acquainted with them and of cementing a
friendship which we hope will prove to be enduring.
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Does the Sixth Object of Rotary have any practical
meaning? Is it possible for an organization of limited
membership, like Rotary, to have any appreciable effect
on the destinies of a nation?
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Can personal friendships grow into national friendships
in such manner as to promote the interests of peace?
Within three months from the meeting of Edgar Bancroft with
Mr. Miyaoka at the luncheon of the Chicago Bar Association,
the former received his appointment as United States
Ambassador to Japan, and a second time I had the honor of
bringing these two delightful men into friendly
relationship.
When Edgar Bancroft left Chicago he was bearing a great
burden of sorrow, Mrs. Bancroft having passed away a year or
so earlier. He was therefore especially appreciative, upon
his arrival in Japan, of the courtesies extended to him by
his friend Tsunejiro Miyaoka. It was Miyaoka who introduced
Edgar Bancroft to the Japanese courts and he and Madame
Miyaoka entertained our Ambassador in their home. Professor
Soper of Northwestern University, who was born and raised in
Japan, says that there is a warmth and a depth to Japanese
friendships which is almost incomprehensible to people of
other lands; such friendship Mr. Miyaoka extended Mr.
Bancroft and friendship could not have been better placed.
Of all men whom President Coolidge might have sent to Japan,
none could have been more happily chosen. He was a brilliant
speaker, a scholar, and with all, a most lovable gentleman.
Last February Edgar Bancroft was guest of honor at the
anniversary meeting of the Rotary Club of Tokyo.
It was through Rotary that these two men, a great American
and a great Japanese, won highly valued friendships. Can
anyone doubt that the friendship of Edgar Bancroft and
Tsunejiro Miyaoka helped to relieve the diplomatic strain of
the past year? Can anyone doubt that this friendship will
serve to promote a better understanding between the two
great countries, the United States of America and Japan?
During the course of the world war, I heard a conservative
Scot, Thomas Stephenson of Edinburgh, tell a representative
of the British government in Chicago "This thing never would
have happened if Rotary could have been established
throughout Europe ten years ago."
I have been reliably informed that the influence of members
of two Rotary Clubs, Dublin and Belfast, was one of the most
potent factors in settling the Irish problem.
A very few weeks ago the Honorable Edgar Bancroft,
Ambassador to Japan, was taken seriously ill. No more tender
solicitude could have been manifested by his own people than
was manifested by his friends of the Orient. Hour by hour
they waited news of his condition and when the sorrowful
moment came, two nations were plunged in grief. Throughout
the hours of suspense none were more anxious than Tsunejiro
Miyaoka; the influence of his friendship was ever present.
On the day when the remains of the American Ambassador were
taken aboard a Japanese warship f or transportation home, a
great military procession formed, and tens of thousands of
spectators saw the highest tribute paid which it is possible
for one country to pay to the representative of another.
Dr. C. B. McAfee, of Chicago, who preached the funeral
sermon for Ambassador Bancroft in Tokyo, declared that he
had never witnessed a more august or more impressive
ceremony. "There was every evidence of sincere grief. Mr.
Bancroft in his ten months of service as the representative
of America had been the bearer of goodwill." He eulogized,
the deceased as "one whom Japan learned to trust because he
ways what he seemed." The services in Tokyo were attended by
the prime minister and his cabinet, representatives of the
royal family, and diplomatic representatives of various
other countries; high officials afterward accompanied the
body from Tokyo to Yokohama for the last journey home, while
warships in the harbor fired a salute as the body was being
taken by launch to the cruiser.
As I think of Edgar Bancroft and Tsunejiro Miyaoka, I am
reminded of the friendship of Walter H. Page and Lord Grey.
Here were two high government officials of America and
Britain who were able to supplant formal and officious
governmental red tape with an abounding courtesy and honest
friendship. Working thus they were able to contribute
tremendously to the cause of international goodwill.
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When I think of Washington and Lafayette, of Lord Grey
and Walter Page, of Tsunejiro Miyaoka and Edgar
Bancroft, I feel that, after all, international peace
and goodwill depends upon the individual more than upon
governments.
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Is the Sixth Object clause of Rotary International a
dream?
Yes, but it is a dream that we can make come true. Our
confidence must never falter. I believe that there is
justification for our faith, in the lives of great men such
as these, who were faithful to their trusts, who could be
friendly, and who were "what they seemed."
