ROTARY OF THE WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1926, Page 11

ROTARY OF THE WORLD

DENVER’S CONVENTION AMERICANS AND THE BRITISH. DIFFERENCE IN TEMPERAMENT. What docs Rotary mean in Denver, the centre where the last convention was held? It seemed that every one of the city’s 400,000 inhabitants vied with one another to give a royal welcome to the delegates attending the convention; The City Council spent thousands in decorations, and no st«ne was left unturned in the endeavour to provide hospitality. That was the experience of Rotarian “Jim” Jackson, of Wanganui, who was the representative of the New Plymouth and other clubs at the huge gathering. Last night he told New Plymouth Rotarians of his travels and Rotarian experiences in America, in England, and in France. He compared the different temperaments exhibited at the meetings in the several countries, and made his address more interesting by a wealth of humorous and highly illuminating incidents. President Nesbit Smith was in the chair, and briefly introduced the guest. A Rotary Convention was the highlight of Rotary, said Rotarian Jackson. He had gone to Denver more as a student than as a delegate, to try to gain a grip of this great movement, this thing that was weaving a web round the world. What did he find? Denver was a city of 400,000 inhabitants, situated on high ground in the middle-west of America. And let it be said to their credit that the whole of that 400,000 people came forward and joined with one accord and one heart to welcome Rotary. They looked neither for frill nor for reward, and he had thought to himself would the Oddfellows in this country do that for the Masons, or the Masons for the Oddfellows? No, each society would, welcome its own members only. Yet he had to acknowledge that whenever Rotarians were banded together in that city representatives of other organisations were there to extend their welcome. THE CITY EN FETE. Every morning when the president came to sit down at his table it was graced with flowers from some outside society. It was as though they had said, “That’s our part.” One expected a kindly welcome from Rotarians themselves, but the New Zealand delegate found it a very pleasant surprise that these people should be better Rotarians than many Rotarians. In the streets it was the same. They had been decorated by the City Council, which had spent thousands to give a proper welcome to the delegates from around the world. Surely this was an example for every civic body, said Rotarian Jackson. How better could the sixth object of Rotary be carried out than by charity to others? No distinction should be made whether a town were welcoming a Rotary Convention, a Masonic gathering, or a trade union congress. Every motorcar in Denver and every tramcar was at. the disposal of the visitors, of whom there were 9000 on the register. The convention opened with a magnificent tableau of nations that had taken six months to prepare. “If ever I felt proud that I was a New Zealander it was the night Rotarian Charles Rhodes spoke,” said the speaker. Rotarian Rhodes followed able speakers, but his delivery was so clear and to the point that :he was accorded a great ovation. The morning session was held in the big auditorium and was occupied by set speeches. The afternoon w r as devoted to a multitude of subjects set down for discussion in various halls in the town, and delegates had the choice of which they should attend. In the mornings addresses on different topics were given by men from various parts of the world. One heard foreigners speak in the English tongue and interpret thoughts in that language. Pride of place in this connection liao to be given to an Italian Rotarian, who was the president of the Bank of Italy, and concerned in various other organisations in that country, as well as being a vice-president of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. He told of the efforts Italy was making to improve her methods and her world standing. The Government there had set up an international committee with offices in London and New York, and all foreign business had to pass through the hands of this body. In this way foreign trade was stabilised, and if individuals could not meet payments the committee met them for them. The result was that Italian credit was rising in the estimation of other countries.

It was no use making a great deal of money by means just escaping between the limits of legal and moral censure, this Italian speaker had said when touching on the subject of serving by vocation. It was no use believing that this eould be atoned for by giving money to charitable objects. They had to serve the community through their vocation. IDEALS AND PRACTICE. Professor Hudson, of the State of Illinois, took as a subject the application of Rotary ideals to practical life. He crowned his address with a wonderful simile whose scene was laid in Paris. There Napoleon’s tomb embodied the practical in life. The man was remembered only for the glamour surrounding his life. Over the way, however, was a figure of Christ. That represented the ideal. Nearly 2000 years had passed since Christ had lived, and yet his influence was still felt and was extending. Professor Hudson had emphasised that, his audience should not interpret that only ideals were wanted to the exclusion of practical things, for both were necessary. Sir Harry Braddon, of Sydney, spoke of Rotary as an opportunity for development. Many men joined the movement without knowing anything about it, he had said, and they floundered along afterwards, but he had found —and Rotarian Jackson confirmed the impression—that individual Rotarians gradually awakened to the role they were to play, with the result that their attitude towards life became changed for the better, especially in their own homes, where brighter and happier conditions prevailed. Tom Davis was one of the three candidates for the position of president of Rotary International. He was a most genial man, but in the speaker’s opinion was not just of that calibre needed to earry the office through. He had taken as the subject for his address, “Do High Ethical Standards Pay?” Arthur Sapp, another candidate, had attempted to answer the question, “How Rapidly Shall Rotary Grow?” Harry Rogers, the third candidate, had taken as the title of his address, “Whose Fault!’ None

getting an absolute majority, Arthut Sapp stepped on to the platform and asked permission to retire, and projaised that Harry Rogers should be unanimously appointed president. Sapp's action greatly ap[>ealed to the delegates, and Rogers was elected to an office for which he had the necessary attributes. The final words of his fighting speech were: ‘‘Give unto the world the best that is in you and the best will surely come back.” LABOUR AND ROTARY. On the Saturday afternoon a rodeo was held in Denver. Most exciting scenes were witnessed during the taming of wild horses, and the bull-dogging of steers. The latter would be caught by the horns by a man who would vault to the animal's, back and eventually bring it down. A big ball was held, the children were entertained, and every afternoon there was something to occupy the delegates’ attention. And all thia led to the question often asked: “What is this Rotary?” It was not a religion, and there was no penitent form, said Rotarian Jackson. It did. however, instill the ideas that there was no difference between an individual and the community, that an individual was one of the community in whieh he Jived and he must work for its betterment. Rotary said there was absolutely no difference between Capital and Labour. William Green, president of the American Federation of Labour, had given an address in which he had emphasised there was no difference lx-tween Capital and Labour, and that they could come together in amity. There was not a trouble that could not be settled at a conference of the two sections, Mr. Green had said. He spoke for the millions of people in America who believed in collective bargaining in everything, but they also believed in honouring a contract. That was the aim of the American Labour Federation, and that was why there would be no general strike while William Green was president. Rotarian Green had stated that the organisation of Labour had done more than anything else for the uplift of the world, and Rotarian Jackson said he wai inclined to agree with this. If the betterment of society had been left to the people on top we would still have been in chains. The movement must come from the bottom. Honour and decency were the best way to show the light to amity and peace. The coal strike in England had just commenced when Rotarian Jackson arrived at At the Rotary meeting the incoming president had spoken most appreciatively of Mr. Baldwin’s calmness and hope in the face of trouble. What u wonderful people the Americans would be, said the president, if, like Britons, they could say in the hour of adversity that they had the courage and faith to face the trouble. Then the call was made for visitors, and Rotarian Jackson found he was the only representative of the British Empire in the room. When given the opportunity to address the gathering, he explained that after hearing the president’s tribute to Mr. Baldwin he was prouder than ever to belong to the British race. DIFFERENT RACIAL ATMOSPHERES In New York, “that great metropolia "given up to the chasing of the almighty dollar,” Rotarian Jackson found 500 Rotarians sitting on a summer's day to listen to the finals of a club community singing contest for a gold cup. These were the staid business men of the city, who had forgotten their worries in the vim and “kick” of Rotary. The finalists cut many funny antics and said many funny things in their endeavours to get the most out of the singers in front of them. hl Liverpool the traveller met the good old English atmosphere, quite different from that he had met with in America. The visiting Rotarian was formally introduced to the stockbroker, who could be distinguished by the cut of his coat or the member of an engineering firm, whose dress was of another . type, or to the doctor, who was shaven and strictly correct. Rotarian Jackson , . said he made those remarks in no spirit of ridicule but merely to indicate the difference in temperament of the English. In America he had been greeted with boisterousness, but in England proceedings were much more formal. He drew a vivid comparison between White House and the house in Downing Street where the British Prime Minister lived. This was a dingy, narrow back street, and the house was old-fashioned and unpretentious. The blinds looked in need of repair. He had said to himself, “That’s England 1 That’s where the biggest man in the woild lives, the uncrowned king.” The house next door appeared to be leaning on the Prime Minister’s, and in this lived Mr. Winston Churchill. But these old houses were charming, nevertheless. They were typical of the big, strong British character that was judged by merit rather han ostentation. It was that character that made the British a power round the world, industrially and commercially.

The fault in England to-day lay not with the working men, but with the people to whom the power had been handed without the confidence to carry on. General Gordon had remarked of Chiim that it was a sleeping giant. The working men were the sleeping giants of England. Nine out of every ten foremen in the factories of America were British born, and when the Britirsh Labour delegation had gone to America to investigate industrial conditions Mr. Davis, Secretary of State, who was a Scotsman himself, told them to take the brakes off. When America wanted men she went to Great Britain, he said. After describing his experiences in Paris, Rotarian Jackson concluded by noting the wonderful progress Rotary was making the world over. He thanked the local club for making him its delegate to Denver, and said that while there he had done his best for New Zealand.

In proposing a vote of thanks. Rotarian Thomas List commented on the very interesting nature of the address they had listened to and hoped the visitor would come in the future to one of the

veekly lunchheons. Those present were afterwards enlorained at supper.