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MESSAGE TO THE CONVENTION
"In the
United States also we are trying a great social
experiment; it would have been considered high
treason during the Victorian period. I shall not
express an opinion as to its practicability or as to
the wisdom of the measures adopted to make it
effective. I am not a prophet or a politician; I am
just a taxpayer. I am interested in the new
philosophy of life out of which it arose. In brief
this new philosophy says something like this: "It is
unconscionable that there should be destitution in
this land of plenty." We are trying to outlaw war
throughout the world; we must outlaw destitution
within our own borders. We shall sign a declaration
of independence of the further domination of life by
mere things."
President Emeritus Paul P. Harris, Chicago, Illinois
Greetings, Rotarians. I am especially glad to greet you today
because we are entering a now world, not new in a material
sense. Our automobiles are more powerful but they are still
equipped with the round wheel and in other respects are similar
to former models.
This new world is new in another sense; new in its way of
thinking; in its appraisal of things listed in the catalogue of
life. It is revolutionary but not sanguinary.
The old catalogue listed goods which were considered sacred.
Men, women and children bowed before them in abject humility.
Whether in church, on the golf course or at a Rotary club
luncheon, their thoughts were upon them. They were listed in the
catalogue as possessions. Whatever the spoken prayer may have
been, too oft the inner prayer was: "God grant us abundant
possessions." The hunger for possessions obscured the desire for
the wholesome things of life; it was pervasive of morals,
inimical to higher concepts, destructive of real happiness,
devastating.
In
their heart of hearts, men sensed these things, but they lacked
the moral courage to revolt against them. They were helpless in
the tide of vogue, fashion, habit. Poor men's sons toughened by
hardship arose to take the place of rich men's sons softened by
indulgence. That was one side of the picture; on the other side
was poverty, distress, hunger. In these facts is to be found the
significance, the importance of the new way of thinking.
In
Great Britain within the past few years twenty‑five hundred
large estates have been broken up through the imposition of
death duties and sold to small holders to whom they will be both
property and home. Now these small home owners have a stake in
their country, interests to protect. They constitute a
stabilizing influence, a bulwark against disorder.
Many British people view the change with misgivings. To them, it
is the breakdown of an ancient and honorable institution and to
a marked extent that is true. The British aristocratic classes
did manifest a sense of responsibility for the success of the
existing order. The change took place under the lash of
necessity, the only way it could have come about. It would have
been unthinkable during the complacent Victorian period. It
means of course that to the minds of our British cousins, human
rights are more sacred than property rights.
In the United States also we are trying a great social
experiment; it would have been considered high treason during
the Victorian period. I shall not express an opinion as to its
practicability or as to the wisdom of the measures adopted to
make it effective. I am not a prophet or a politician; I am just
a taxpayer. I am interested in the new philosophy of life out of
which it arose. In brief this new philosophy says something like
this: "It is unconscionable that there should be destitution in
this land of plenty." We are trying to outlaw war throughout the
world; we must outlaw destitution within our own borders. We
shall sign a declaration of independence of the further
domination of life by mere things.
This is the new philosophy, but to Rotary it is not a new
philosophy; it is and always has been Rotary philosophy.
 In
common with the automobile Rotary has undergone changes.
Rotary's engine is more powerful than it once was. In one
respect the automobile has not changed; it still has its round
wheel. In one respect Rotary has not changed; it still has its
ideal of service. There's no disagreeable aftermath of the life
of service. When automobile manufacturers abandon the round
wheel, will Rotary be willing to abandon its ideal of service? I
imagine not. As long as grass continues to grow green; as long
as water continues to flow down hill, so long Rotary will
continue to worship its ideal, the ideal of service. Let us
rejoice in the fact that we are privileged to live in this new
world and may we be leaders in the revolt against the further
subordination of mind to matter.
So
far as I am concerned, I had rather live on ham sandwiches and
snowballs with enough ham sandwiches and snowballs to go all the
way around than to have my choice of all the creations of the
chefs of a thousand Waldorf Astoria's to eat by my selfish
lonely self. This new day is Rotary day ‑ may its sun never set!
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