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Racial Ridicule–The Seeds of War |
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The following article is another in a series of messages from the men
who have been at the helm of the movement that has become Rotary
International. Frank L. Mulholland, the fourth Rotary President,
presented this think-piece on war, racial ridicule and the Sixth Object
of Rotary, which appeared in The Rotarian in May of 1934. The reader
will note that the writing was very concise, logical, well-thought-out
and orderly. That was not because Mulholland was a Past President of
Rotary. Rather, it was an indication of his education and training.
Originally from Toledo, Mulholland was a graduate of Albion, and was
nationally known as an expert in Labor Law. The series, called a Past President's Page, ran in The Rotarian in the mid 1930s. Those submitting Past President's Pages included Paul Harris, Glenn Mead, Russell Greiner, Frank Mulholland, Allen Albert and Arch Klumph. Doug Rudman Racial Ridicule–The Seeds of War By Frank L. Mulholland President, Rotary International (1914-15) THE UTOPIAN dream created in the minds of some members by the advent of the Sixth Object into Rotary must be dispelled by the crushing realism of fact in order to reach the practical possibilities of its purpose. No man in Rotary feels more keenly than I, the desire, the hope, the inspiration that this objective may be more than an exotic vision doomed to destruction upon the reefs of misguided indifference. If Rotary is to achieve its goal of sympathetic understanding among the nations of the world, it must meet a new challenge. Individual Rotarians must nurture the idea in sincerity; must adopt it in practice. For the past six months, the ghostly spectre of the fear of war has permeated the hearts of the people of all nations. The press, our conversation, our thoughts, have dwelt upon the ever increasing propaganda that nations are baring their fangs in sullen preparation for the defense of nationalism. The international optimism and hope of a few years ago is fading like the morning mist of a summer day. The tom-toms are beating, and fires are being rekindled for rehearsals of the war dance. The muttering rumble of hate is increasing in volume in utter disregard of the bloody debacle of only fifteen years ago. Espionage, armament, secret alliances, censorship, and other off springs of Mars are again showing their faces over the heretofore peaceful horizon. None of us has the desire to slip into the indescribable horror of another world conflict. Our friends across the sea have no desire to drag their loved ones into graves beside the fathers, brothers, or neighbors so recently sacrificed to no avail. Yet the world is ripe for another sacrificial offering to the Gods of Despair. In whose hearts burns this passion for war? To what may we attribute this malignant growth? Rotary to me has held the promise of real achievement. I rejoice in my many friendships in Japan, China, Germany, Great Britain, and other nations of the world. I revere their affections, respect their convictions, and love them as the men that they are. The thought is abhorrent that I should ever face them over the bloody field of battle with the lust to kill, to maim, or to destroy. It is inconceivable to me that they could burn with a passion to bring sorrow, futility, or death to me or mine. Experience has taught us the contrary, however, and the cultivating of the seeds of hatred has brought father and son in the death throes of imagined principles; brothers at each other's throats with bayonet points; friends in the grapple of mortal combat. This international friendship which we are so prone to wear merely as a cloak must become a living thing. It must progress from its pre-natal state, and be born into our every-day routine. It takes little self-analysis to discover the existence in most men of all nations the germ of prejudice and partiality, which we must destroy. It lurks in more aggravated stages in some than in others, yet the natural barriers, the products of generations of nationalistic thought, are not easily destroyed. You may say, what is the solution? MAY I respectfully suggest that the Italian, Frenchman, Pole, Hungarian, or any other citizen of a nation foreign to our own, is imbued with a pride of country which resents the slurs so commonly bandied on careless lips. Ridicule, more than anything else, breeds hatred. Much has been written, and I would like to vouch for its veracity, that the tendency to scoff at the customs of the people of other lands does much to bring about a lack of understanding. We must remember that however strange and absurd the manner of living of our friends in other countries may seem to us, our method of doing things seems equally absurd to them. If we could carry the Golden Rule into actual practice in the dealings among the people of the world, we would be close to a solution of this problem. If you and I, as we penetrate the four corners of the earth, and as we welcome to our shores the people of other nations, would respect them and their customs, having in mind that we would appreciate their respect of ours, the step would be forward. If when we think of the lands to which others owe allegiance, we would not see them as the pink or blue blotches of a geographical map, nor as a kingdom or republic, their people as Fascists, Nazis, Yankees, Liberals, or Conservatives, but would think only of individuals, human like ourselves, with our own like and dislikes, we would be reaching in the right direction. Would it please you to see the citizen of a nation foreign to yours salute your flag? Then salute his. Would you appreciate his rising to the notes of your national anthem? Then rise when his is played. Would you desire his giving you an unprejudiced hearing as to your country's side of a debated question? Then keep an open mind until you hear his side. Would you be gratified in his respectful observance of your customs? Then show him the same respect. It is now and always has been my hope that Rotary might provide the medium through which individual understanding might prove to be the iron links which would form the chain that binds war in oblivion. The formality and policy behind diplomatic negotiations proves too great a barrier to surmount. The one sure but slow approach lies in you, as individual Rotarians, not as a group, a district, an area, or an international organization. When you will accept it as your individual duty to be man to man, friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor, with those in other countries who are just as conscientiously and sincerely grasping for the higher ideals of the Rotary movement, then there will be a swing of the pendulum towards this intangible something for which the world is hungry. That, as I see it, is the challenge to Rotary in its Sixth Object. It is a challenge to each Rotarian, and as we meet it squarely, fairly, and fearlessly, the tom-toms will stop beating, the fires will be smothered, the fear will be dispelled. Idle words must be replaced with heart-felt sincerity. It is truly an object worthy of Rotary and Rotarians. |
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