ROTARIAN CONTENTION.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17220, 10 August 1921, Page 10

ROTARIAN CONTENTION.

FIRST MEETING IN GREAT BRITAIN. (feom ova own cobrespondekt.') LONDON, June 21. For the first time in the history of the club, the Annual Convention of the -Rotarians is being held in Great Britain, and attention is drawn to this minature League of Nations. The RotaTy Club is an American institution which has spread to many other countries, and 1500 of the 3500 delegates who have met in Edinburgh are from the United States. It consists of men elected from a distinct business or profession, with the object of bettering the individual member, his business, home, town, state, country, and society as a whole. The Convention . opened with a pageant in which standard-bearers representing twenty-five nations marched through the stxeets of the city. Enthusiasm grew _to a great pitch, when the Scottish lion and the Stars and Stripes closed the procession, and the. audience sang with great fervour the* various national anthems. A civic welcome was given by the Lord Provost, to which the retiring president replied: • "Fellows, are we glad we are herep" he asked. A resounding chorus of ■'Yes!" crashed from the audience. "We come from many lands, but for no selfish purposes," continued the speaker. "We come not to extol our own virtue, not to belittle the virtues of others. We come not to barter or to sell, not to change boundary lines, not to play a game of politics of how to get most for ourselves and give the least in return. Wo come as men bringing a message of goodwill and friendship from the hearts of men who think for themselves, and will not be blinded or guided by those who. feed upon hatred and discord. The true heart of the peoples from whom we come is not truly represented by the mouthy politician nor Yellow Sensational nor in the trouble-breeding newspapers. Rotary desires to blaze out the trail, to the end that the nations of the earth shall be friends. We are all crusaders marching under the banner of Rotary, on which was emblazoned 'Service above Self.'"

"Let's Try tlie League of Nations." Sir Harry Lauder was one of the speakers, at the Convention. The audience insisted on a song, and after he had complied by singing "The Thing to Make You Cheery," he told them: "You have got enough for nothing." (Laughter.) "Half the world is on the wrong scent in the pursuit of happiness. Sir Harry Lauder declared. "Life is too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrong, What the world wants to-day is statesmanship founded on goodwill. The world has been hungering for generations for a world peace. I was thinking, maybe, the League of Nations would help us. I would say, 'Let's try the League of Nations, anyway.' " Mr Arthur F. Sheldon (Chicago) said the principle of service for which the Rotary stood was fundamental to harmonious human relationship. When the relations between employers and employed and between nations were regulated in accordance with the principle of service as a natural law, the future progress and security of civilisation were assured. If asked, "What are you in business for?" the vast majority would answer, "To make money." Tho correct answer should be, "To render service to the world." Some of the most miserable men he had met had barrels of money People were beginning to tee that selfishness and dishonesty did not pay, and that the law of rigtiteouMiess was the law of sound economics.

A message was received from the King, welcoming th£ delegates to Great Britain, and expressing his Majesty's confidence that the deliberations of the Convention would be of material benefit to the countries represented. Last night tho visitors were the giests of the Aldwych Club. Mr C. F. igham. M.P. (chairman) thinks that every Englishman should go to America as a tonic, and every American should come to England as a sedative. He thinks, too, that the motto of the Itotarians—"Service; not, self"—should be the world motto to-day. {Cheers.) He was hopeful that, as a result of the visit, that motto might take a little stronger hold on the industrial life. The real problem which the people of America and this country had to face _at present was: How far could they eliminate their own selfish interests and work for the common cause of the State? Every man ip. every trade, every member of the Government, every member of Parliament, every preacher, every speaker, from to-day onwards, should preach the Rotarians' motto in every -way. , The Land of the Almighty Heart. In Sir Harry Brittam's view, England and America must got together, and then uney wiU tina that the thmga which unite them are iar- greater than the things which divide.them. As visiting Kotamns, they would find almost 100 per cent of the Press of the country was with them. To Know the l)nited.totatca it was nejceasary to make many visits, but after the first one discovered that tho country ' wnich was known to many as "tho country of tho almighty dollar" was also "the land of tho almighty heart." (Uheers.) It was, only by co-operation on the part of the English-speaking races that the world could be safeguarded. We had cooperated togctner magnificently in war; let us attempt to do so to the best of our. ability in peace. Mr L. 6. Hicks, Atlanta, said American llotarians came over for the Convention in order to get acquainted and to be better friends with the British people, aud to bu'id the foundation of perfect confidence and eternal friendship, which meant great tilings for the world. They had a wonderful time m Scotland, and he would never believe in future in the stories about the (Scotsman and the penny. (Laughter.) They found bii; hearts, generosity, hospitality and universal courtesy in fcicotlana, and thev found the same in London. Mr N. G Pike, Portland (Oregon), said that they would take back with them'a different impression of the British Isles and its people than they had when they came, and they wanted the English people also to have a different impression of-the American people. Never id the history of his country had such a pilgrimage of 2000 real repreoentative business men take place They were getting in touch with British people who, when they came West, would be welcomed and entertained in a similarly hospitable manner. (Cljeera.) There are 908 Rotary Clubs all told. They stretch in the literal sense from China to Peru, and comprise some 65,000 members. Of late, special commissioners from the International Association have visited the Antipodes by reouest Three clubs have been formed, one in Melbourne, one in Sydney, one in Wellington, A greeting was sent by cable to Wellington. ;i It.ran: "Fifty Rotary Clubs Motherland greet first dub New Zealand."'