AIMS OF ROTARY MOVEMENT

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26887, 13 November 1952, Page 3

AIMS OF ROTARY MOVEMENT

Address By World

President

MR H. J. BRUNNIER VISITS CHRISTCHURCH

“Wherever you go, you find that people want to live in peace and harmony. The people of Germany and Japan did not want the last war. They were just in it,” said Mr H. J. Brunnier, president of Rotary International, speaking at a function held in his honour in Christchurch last evening. Mr Brunnier will have been 44 years a member of Rotary next month. About 800 Rotarians and their wives, most of whom came from Christchurch, packed the tea rooms of a large city store. Representatives of Rotary clubs from Auckland to Invercargill were present. “Individuals must take time to know something about local affairs, national affairs and international affairs, then do a little thinking, and then act,” Mr Brunnier said. “Resolutions are not good enough. There are many instances where resolutions are carried and passed on to George, and that’s the last that is heard of them. We have to start the trend to get people a little interested, then get them to do a little thinking, and then act. That is the only way we are going to get peace.” Mr Brunnier described the growth and development of Rotary. He said the movement’s history primarily concerned America, because for a long time, with the exception of the British Isles, the movement did not spread outside America. “Somebody has to be the guinea pigs of every organisation, and we in America were the guinea pigs of Rotary,” said Mr Brunnier. Four Avenues of Service Rotary International had four avenues of service, said Mr Brunnier. They were club service, community service, vocational service, and international service. Club service promoted fellowship and urged “service above self.” Rotarians represented a good crosssection of the community, and it followed that if it was considered that something could be done to benefit the community, it was up to Rotary to supply the leadership, Mr Brunnier said. “I have yet to find a country where Rotary has not benefited the community,” he said. “In New Zealand, Rotary has done a marvellous job in community service. It must be remembered that a community does not go ahead by itself.”

Rotary had also been a great force for propagating better world understanding, said Mr Brunnier.

Mr Brunnier, who was accompanied by his wife, was presented with an album of New Zealand aerial photographs by Mr E. T. Beaven, president of the Christchurch Rotary Club.