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Then Came the Enemy
[October 1928]
Message to the Pacific Rotary Conference at Tokyo
By
Paul P. Harris
President Emeritus of Rotary International
To
my friends in attendance at the Pacific Rotary Conference in
Tokyo, greetings and best wishes.
In
times of peace, prepare for war.
At
a time when civilization had attained dizzy heights, when
granaries were full, spindles working overtime, trees of the
forests fully grown, churches overflowing, universities and
colleges pouring their graduates into life:
THEN CAME THE ENEMY
The enemy is patient and farseeing; he bides his time. There's a
time to wait and a time to strike. The time to strike has
frequently been called the "zero hour," sometimes the
"psychological moment."
He
came, not noisily, boisterously, because to have done so would
have been to defeat his cause. The enemy was clothed in the
wisdom of years, possessed of the cunning of the fox. He was no
mean enemy.
He
crept stealthily into the homes of men of all walks of life, the
homes of poets, ministers, law makers, historians and
philosophers and also into the homes of peasants, seamen,
bricklayers and draymen; he even managed to elude the guards and
to slip through the doors of penitentiaries and alms houses. The
enemy was in fact almost omnipresent; almost omnipotent; the
only place he dared not go was into the graves of dead men.
The wisdom of waiting for the psychological hour is manifest
when one remembers it takes time to fill granaries, erect
factories, grow trees, build churches, colleges and
universities. When the psychological hour arrives, the product
of all of these institutions will be needed, sorely needed.
Intolerance may be vice or virtue, dependent upon what it is
directed against. Intolerance of intolerance is a virtue. War
may be either vice or virtue; the most virtuous war is the war
against war.
Then came the enemy.
But even then, his presence was unknown. Neither storms nor
plagues can be seen; one sees their effects only. Four
devastating years were the result of the depredations of the
armies, four never to be forgotten years from which there can be
no recovery. Untold millions of lives have been the penalty;
young Pasteurs, Edisons, Mozarts and Tennysons slumber today
among the millions in the crimson poppy fields.
Science wages incessant Warfare against the deadly germs which
prey upon humanity. Science must wage incessant warfare against
the enemy. But who is the enemy? What is this vigilant,
relentless all‑pervading force that paralyzes the better
instincts of men; that plunges nations into strife, destroys
homes, creates hell on earth? Though unseen, it is not unknown.
Psychologists have termed it “Fear.”
Fear begins its work with childhood; it creates fantastic
bugaboos; it fills the darkness with hob‑goblins, and in adult
life it fills the unknown world with enemies; but fear is
ignoble, it must therefore conceal its identity.
Fear puts on the mask of "Courage." He who shrieks his fears
loudest becomes a national hero, a patriot. He sends other men
of less‑conspicuous vocal attainment to war. He remains to keep
the home fires burning.
The best antidote for international fear is international
understanding; the best way to cultivate international
understanding is through business and social intercourse. All
nations are respectable and covet the goodwill of mankind.
Racial superiority most frequently exists in the minds of men.
The backward nations of today become the forward nations
tomorrow, and the world realizes rich dividends from the change.
National progress spells international progress; we must
encourage, not discourage, the initiative of men. As a means
thereto, let us make common cause of the extermination of the
most deadly of all enemies, vigilant, conscienceless,
remorseless, relentless ‑ Fear.
Friends of the Pacific Rotary Conference, God speed and bless
your efforts. |
