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The Rotary anniversary period is to me my special
opportunity of having a fling at passing events, of joining for the time
being with the small but growing circle of earnest men who pin their
faith to the written word and of renewing my touch with all of my fellow
Rotarians. Rotary is twelve years old this month.
The first twelve years in the lives of humans constitute
the period of transition from infancy to adolescence; from tiny,
helpless babyhood to romping, healthful boyhood or to blissful, bashful
girlhood; past the threshold of promise to the beginning of actual
realization of life. Rotary, if worthy, will outlive generations of men,
and as worth while things go, has not as yet past its day of swaddling
clothes. You and I may still continue to rock the infant cradle and to
search with unflagging interest for baby's first small tooth.
There are nearly
thirty thousand
Rotarians in the world today, a stupendous number as compared with the
membership of ten years ago, few as compared with the population of a
great city, state or nation. There are wards in Chicago whose aldermen
represent in the city council a constituency of more than twice the
number. In point of numbers we occupy a position only relatively
important.
Inspiration in Growth
We have not begun to exhaust our possibilities of
material growth. Had the great war not put a stop to proceedings, Rotary
undoubtedly would ere now have been established in some more of the
belligerent countries. How far‑reaching the influence of a truly
international association might be in international disputes is
difficult to foresee. One thing is certain and that is that its tendency
would not be to aggravate differences. Who knows but what some day there
may be a truly international association of Rotary clubs, representative
of various national organizations and qualified to act in matters of
international scope? Rotary will continue to grow materially that her
power may be greater. The opportunity for extension in
South American
countries,
Australasia [Asia]
and in all parts of the civilized world is undeniable. The development
seems inevitable. There may perhaps some time be
ten members to
every one of the present day.
Whence is to come the man power with which to cope with
the problems incident to increased membership? Where shall we find men
such as Klumph, Albert, Galbraith, Gundaker, and Pidgeon, who can and
will make the sacrifices necessary to service on future boards? The work
is almost stupendous. We owe a great debt of gratitude to these big,
broad‑minded men.
There is inspiration in growth. Our increase in numbers
must be even more rapid in future than in the past if we desire to hold
our leadership in the race. There are now several other organizations
formed on our general plan. Some of them permit as many as four
representatives to each line. Such obviously have a great advantage. We
cannot be oblivious of the fact that some of these organizations are
making wonderful progress. This is no period in the life of Rotary for
smug complacence. If we indulge in it, we shall be beaten ignominiously
in the race.
May we win the victory and may ours not be an easy win!
Success to them, that they may be worthy of our rivalry. They may prove
to be the most helpful influence that has ever been brought to bear upon
us. Intolerance is hatred's most prolific hatchery. Under the old
conception of religion, hatred born of intolerance struggled with love
for mastery. If there must be denominational Rotary, let there
nevertheless be friendliness.
Election of Members
Possibly the existence of rival organizations may prove
to be an incentive to Rotarians to permit more than one club to a city
on the theory that the existence of more than one Rotary club would be
preferable to the existence of several similar but unaffiliated clubs.
Much has been written about the importance of admitting
to membership only those of highest standing. In view of the fact that
our membership is limited, it is an especially important consideration.
If we are to affect the practices of the trades represented we must do
so thru powerful personalities. Members must be of high standing if the
club is to be. But let the rating be of character, not of finances.
There are many big little men and as many little big men. Let us not be
forgetful of the fact that Christ himself if on earth this day would be
unnamed in the books of Dun or Bradstreet.
Men come and live and go, without ever haying made worthy
demand upon the big man inside. Within you and me there is a man and
there is a superman. Will there be a crisis in your life or mine so
imperative, so undeniable that you or I will of necessity cast off old
self and drag this superman from within? How would it seem to be so
engrossed in a purpose so great, so exacting, so unselfish that time
would stand stock still?
These Are Mighty Times
In the life of Rotary, will there be a crisis so
imperative, so undeniable that Rotary will mightily raise itself above
itself and throw off all that is trivial? These are mighty times. This
is a serious age, more in keeping with deep, intense thought than with
fun. It would seem that the world has made more progress in the last ten
years than in preceding centuries. Theology, law, medicine, and last but
not by any means least, business, have simply burst the walls of
worn‑out precedent and dogmas that have held them captive and have come
into the light of truth and to recognition of the fact that service is
life.
Possibly within the next ten years we shall arrive at the
point where it will be thought as sacred a duty to train the character
of youth as to train the intellect, when sociology will be considered as
essential a feature of religious training as the books of Moses. How
much better a place to live in is the world today than it was two or
three centuries ago. Can you realize the fact that men of those times
were burned at the stake just for thinking?
Perhaps no institutions have developed more in point of
character than clubs. It is a far cry from the boisterous conviviality
of the early English clubs to the purposefulness of Rotary of today.
Play has its proper place in the affairs of men and boys, but life must
not be all play.
I am a believer in universal service, not with sword and
bayonet but with a pick and shovel. If I had my way every boy regardless
of birth and station would have his day, not in digging trenches from
which to kill, but in making good roads over which commerce could flow,
in tilling the soil that there might be an abundance for all. By dint of
universal participation in humble and wholesome service, I would raise a
democracy so secure that political storms could not shake it, for its
foundation would be the bed rock of reality.
I would increase life's measure of happiness by
increasing Men's capacity to enjoy. The present day quest of happiness
too frequently begins and ends with the pursuit of wealth and in
oblivion of the fact that there is a theory of equitable compensation
running thruout nature's laws; that happiness must be earned. Life is a
scheme of service and the sooner that fact is understood, the more
readily we shall be able to adjust ourselves, the larger our reward, the
more abundant our happiness.
Understand Nature's Laws
We must have a better understanding of nature's laws.
They are more humane than human laws, tho inexorable. The fact that
nature's laws are inexorable is the most humane of all their
manifestations. Consideration of that characteristic discourages
infraction. A child intuitively withdraws its hand from the hot stove
and is wise enough never to put it on a hot stove again, while the adult
criminal continues to transgress with reasonable chance of escape. If
punishment were certain, crime would be practically unknown, and we are
learning things about punishment these days‑that it should be a means of
making, not of ruining men. Violation of the laws of hygiene means
punishment of the severest kind because it affects health, upon which
happiness so depends.
He who breathes deeply has the better chance of thinking
clearly. He whose mind is right is most likely to be morally right and
to understand the doctrine of "Service above Self."
In my town there is a young multimillionaire who recently
gave $100,000 for a rug. Last winter it was said that human lives could
be saved in Armenia for about ten dollars per head. If the report is
true, the price of the rug in terms of human lives was ten thousand
lives. Think of it, the lives of ten thousand men, women and children!
This same young millionaire is a likable man. I have no doubt but what
he would have risked his own life to have saved the life of any one of
those Armenians had the situation been such that it appeared to him to
be the thing to do. The trouble is that he permitted his thinking to be
done by the dames and beaux of fashion. He broke no man‑made law and yet
in the sight of God is there any difference between sins of omission and
sins of commission? Shall we ever understand that the other fellow's
necessities should have precedence over our luxuries, our absurdities?
If so, we shall attain the estate of the brotherhood of man. |
If Rotary fails to find a way to rise above its present
limitations, the grandeur of our development will be but comparative. It
is to be expected that Rotary will be inspired to draw upon the big man
inside, to rise far above self and its surroundings; tho prevented from
great numerical growth by its plan of membership, it can nevertheless be
without spiritual limitations. In the broader sense, Rotary may well be
all things to all men. We may limit the number of those who bear the
responsibilities of Rotary but the best that there is in it must be open
to all. Ours has become an endowment too rich to be confined to any
organization the membership of which is in any manner restricted.
How Rotary Can Grow
Rotary will have begun its real growth when it begins to
put into systematic and practical operation its plan of making all
Rotarians representatives of Rotary in their respective lines of trade.
In this manner it becomes possible to minister to the needs of all. Here
is our open door. If all other means of ingress and egress be barred and
fastened, let this door always be open.
The late Dr. Münsterberg
said that the Will is the man. Certain it is that the will of man dwarfs
titanic difficulties, rises above genius and holds dominion over all
mortal things. If the will of man once gives the command, this world
will know no more war, no more intemperance, no more pestilence, no more
want; because after all has been said and done, these are simply
ridiculous things.
You say I am dreaming? Five years ago, I would have said
as much to any one making such a statement; but times are changing
wonderfully, Friend. Today even the man about the town, the bon vivant,
is predicting National Prohibition; and war is committing suicide. I
wish that it might be Rotary's privilege to deal the hideous monster a
farewell thrust, the only perfectly lawless thing loose in the world
today in a civilized nation.
Right here I want to make an admission, and in advance to
explain that I am not making it for flattery's sake. I am making it
because I am deeply convinced of its truth. I want to admit that in my
humble opinion the one irresistible force that is making prohibition
inevitable is the force that stands back of good business. Ministers and
reformers have been battering against the fortress of intemperance from
time immemorial. Doubtless they have helped greatly in many ways; they
have helped business to a clearer understanding of the injurious effects
of the use of liquor.
Finally the business world has awakened to the fact that
alcohol and efficient business will no more mix than oil and water.
Railroads and other great industries not only demand of their employees
that they do not drink during business hours, but they say further‑"We
cannot afford to have in our employ men who drink at all." The Illinois
Steel Company now permits a milk wagon route thru its entire plant and
publishes a bulletin educating employees in the effect of the use of
liquor. One of their bulletins recently came out with the significant
inquiry‑"What has booze ever done for you?" There is not much that is
sentimental about the way that business handles big questions, but the
business man generally brings to bear a keen insight.
Service and Economy
The business crusade against dishonesty is no less
effective than its crusade against intemperance. Dishonesty's great ally
is extravagance. Economy is the culture that will put the dishonesty
bacteria out of business when once it gets its forces together in the
business blood‑stream. Few men are intentionally dishonest. In most
instances they are driven to it by desperate social requirements. Many a
man has been behind the bars, a martyr to his family's extravagance and
his own weakness, and many another man has lost out in the business race
as a result of his having made excessive charges to cover high expenses.
One can sometimes get a pretty good idea as to the quantity and quality
of service a young lawyer can afford to render, by taking note of what
he spends his money for and how he spends.
Are you interested in service? You are interested in
economy then. Some people despise it and if circumstances make its
presence necessary, they will cover it over with a hundred and one
little pretexts and shams, not half so slightly as rugged honest
economy, the Most underrated of all human virtues. Bear in mind that I
am writing about the economy that makes men and women, not the economy
that makes misers; the economy that is necessary to enable one to
measure up to his full responsibilities and to do his share of the
world's work whatever its rigors may be. Economy also is a great aid to
business in that it is the enemy of that old murderer which men call
worry. They are making a science of economy in Europe today and
civilization will profit by their experiences.
If extravagance affects honesty, how disastrous then must
it be to charity; and the question arises‑How long may we avoid life's
responsibilities on the plea of being broke?
Penal statutes against waste, and compulsory insurance to
be provided by the government at cost will go a long way toward
abbreviating the list of prevalent evils. I stand for simplicity and
against extravagance and luxury in the life of Rotary. Let us not
indulge in costly and fantastic demonstrations so long as there are real
purposes yet to be served.
The Will of Rotary
There are two available methods of abetting national
crime; one is by openly assailing opposition to it and the other is by
declaring remedial measures impracticable. "I can't" never built any
telephone systems nor railroads. "I will" built them. The "can't"
men and women have spiked many a good gun. Pessimistic friends did as
much to retard the development of the prohibition movement as optimistic
enemies, and there will be those who will continue to deride world peace
theorists until the day when theory will give way to fact. Peace among
nations must be the order of the day; and if commercial boycott proves
inadequate to quell disturbances then armed force must be resorted to.
It is an easier matter to interest men in war than it is
to interest them in peace; it therefore requires more moral courage to
talk peace than to talk war. Fourth of July oratory has a natural
leaning toward the bellicose. George
Bernard Shaw has said that Americans seem to know that their
institutions are great and glorious, but know nothing of them beyond
that fact. I think that Americans would do well (and can at the same
time be quite as patriotic) to turn some of their oratory toward
educating their fellow countrymen to the idea that there are other
people in the world besides themselves entitled to a view‑point. How can
we be certain that the other fellow needs a whaling before we know
anything else about him?
If the will of Rotary once gives the command, Rotary may
place itself in the very vanguard of progress; but its step must be
quick and certain, for the pace is terrific.
Not Pharisees but Rotarians!
There are many church going people who get little benefit
from their church affiliations. Why? Because they view church going,
bible reading, and prayers as ends and not means to ends. Sermons to
such are not an inspiration to deeds, but merely an enjoyable sensation,
a warming, cheering influence. Having been born in the right spot,
geographically speaking, their theology is sound, their orthodoxy
unimpeachable. Such are not real Christians or real Jews; they are
modern Pharisees, very observant of forms and ceremonies and very
forgetful of the needs of men; and so may it not prove to be the case
that we shall have to face the same conditions in our own circles?
We shall have to watch our steps closely lest Rotary
prove to be to us a mere thrill, a sensation to be experienced at club
meetings, not a means to an end‑ the welfare and happiness of men. May
we be Rotarians, not modern Pharisees!
Researched and scanned by
Dr. Wolfgang
Ziegler, 30 September 2003
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