INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

Hawera Star, Volume L, 25 October 1930, Page 7

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

SIXTH AIM OF ROTARY ADDRESS TO HAWERA CLUB DISTRICT GOVERNOR’-S VISIT. ■Urging A constructive attitude towards world problems iiv which" fellowship would go hand in. hand with 'honest- business practices, and in which understanding and fair judgment would be paramount, Rioiarian H. J. Guthrie, of Dunedin, District Governor of Rotary for New Zealand, addressed Hawei’u Rotarians. at the weekly luncheon oh Friday on the sixth object of their movement —international service. Rotarian W. F. Buist, the Hawera president, occupied the chair and formally welcomed the. District, Governor. Since the memorable occasion: when tire , sixth object of Rotary was added to the programme, interest had' been groining in the international phase and possibilities of Rotary until the development of international understanding and goodwill had come to be looked upon 1 as- its ultimate aim, said Rotarian Guthrie. Rotary grew ns it was interpreted, rho. sixth object was added, at the Edinburgh Convention because Rot aria ns had grown to it, because of tire thought that had- been given to it- bv multitudes of men in different countries. It was adopted as the. logical sequence of the first five objects, andi only by applying and living those earlier objects could Rotarians attain! it.

THE AIEANIXG OF FRIENDSHIP

What Rotary attempted to bring out in this sixth object was the full meaning of the word friendship and all. o.f its implications,, for only in this way could the problems. of the world be solved. In had io be. borne in mind, however, that theirs was a relatively new organisation, and. that there were many international problems too complex for an immediate understanding. While some of Rotary’s observations might seem rather general instead of concrete, many priceless opportunities had been given it of furthering so great -and powerful an aim.

When, the individual came info Rotary and! found for himself an explanation of the ideal of service, and even when he had applied this ideal to his vocation, and to his community, he would soon realise that these, were but narrow roads. He had to move, forward; and his worldJ-wido relationships demanded merely a wider manifestation of the same ideal. International service as. well a® vocational and -community service depended- -upon the extent of Rotary; but- international ..service was not in itself the extent of Rotary, being merely an, emphasis "of the sixth object.

OVERCOMING OLD FEARS. Rotary was not the .only organisation which aimed at international understanding. There were, indeed, more than 150 others which, emphasised: this very object. And why? Because men had suddenly come to realise that, they were, living in' a different and l wider world, where, in spite of science and commerce., they; still cherished the old and narrow fears and .jealousies. Economic. conditions played some part, but hot all, in determining Avar or peace.

‘War had come, to be ah economic loss to the victors, as well as l to the vanquished. A nation was hot prepared for war unless its pelople believed that war Avas desirable: car necessary. In a democratic community the first step towards, military preparedness' Avas the development of a state of mind. There must be a potential enemy. Fear and suspicion of other nations Avns an essential stimulation to this state of mind. Arid more, these feelings on one side aroused the same on, the, cither, until the process was complete, and only the circumstance, of war was awaited.

Prc,paratio.u for war was now a .chief cause of war. Military disarmament could uot.be effective unless it was aceohiparijed by disarmament, ini thought and feeling, and this disarmament must be gradual and reciprocal. No single effort would suffice, for diplomatic and military cynicism would 1 disbelieve and misinterpret. But sustained and consistent. desire for peace, actively followed by practical steps, gradually would change the temper of nations.

DISARMAMENT OP WAR MIN'D Such a disarmament of the war mind was Rotary’s ever increasing purpose, the application 1 to international affairs of the mott'a, “Service Above Self.” At Luxembourg, the nations of the wdrld had pledged themselves to peace; and with this pledge and this common desire Rotary had fallen into line. Internationalism and universal peace were not topics without actuality. Writings in any of the daily papers, even by such nationalists as Mussolini and the late Primo de Rivera, commonly stressed the necessity of a broader outlook on .world affairs, and for the reconstruction of social: ideas.

Besides Rotary international, there existed a vast number of associations, arbitrations agreemnts, and treaties a” with the avowed object of knitting together the countries of the world. The League of Nations, however inadequate, was merely a public recognition of the fact that isolation was today an impossibility, that national questions were largely world questions, calling for world leadership, and the inter.nuticual mind among peoples. The churches were, with a few exception®, fundamentally international, and so was the air all nations breathed, and the sea routes on which all sailed. The value of the international mind must be obvious to all.

All reasonable men would admii the urgency for great creative effort among nations toward unity of purpose. They agreed that unless some common control could be imposed on the. present headlong race, the history of humanity must some day culminate' in a disaster compared with which the late world war was insignificant. But few had the courage to grapple with so great, a problem, and to propose effective means for such a control.

CAUSES' OF CONFLICT •No effect or permanent preventive of war could be devised which would not clash with present ingrained traditions and prejudices. This was apparent in on examination of the causes of past wars, same of which would' necessarily produce more terrible conflicts in the future.

The.so causes were four: Racial, economic, religious, and domestic. The war producing power of the churches was now practically extinct, while economic. motives were now discredited, though not abolished. Neither trades-

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men nor States could grow rich by killing their -customers, and- the- comnvereiisi spirit, ernee the principal cause of Avar in Europe, was now its strongest obstacle.

The constructive, not the negative, side of international service Avas the side that should be spread and explained, and every Rotarian. every man, could do something to spread and explain- it. “We have not get to send a representative off to some other country to supervise that country's affairs, and show them how to li\-c. ” said 1 Rotarian Guthrie. “That, is not international service. We, want, instruction or education' about the other man—education ■which, begins at home, education of the mind and heart, Avliich makes world friendship possible. If AA'e could just fix that in, our minds, and not judge the other fellow without first knowing him or hearing his. side of the question.”

STUDY AND UNDERSTANDING Ho Avas not proposing that Rotary should go into polities. What Avas demanded was that Rotarians in individual clubs round the world should not only study the peoples' of other countries, but their own peoples. Thus they could find out Avbat were the different national characteristics, what- the problems, and what the possible points of friction.

.. Constructive, not critical, study would alone allay that friction. Mere fellowship Avas not enough to solve all world problems, if it did net go hand in hand Avith honest and fair business practices. Great.Avars -had always been between neighbours, though' they might have had the warmest fellowship. As long as there: Avas> economic injustice or racial injustice between peoples ml nations, men could l cry “peace, peace, and fellowship,” and there would srili be discord and strife.

AIAJORITY GOODWILL

Tbere were two agencies necessary for abiding peace. One was the. agency developed by Governments in defining their rights and working out together the difficulties between them. Rotary bad nothing to l do with that; but it could develop the, second agency, the majority goodwill that demanded peace. The important question of international relations depended upon mutual understanding, and that understanding it. was the work of Rotary to cultivate.

Different methods of advancing international goodwill aud justice had been set out in the Rotary pamphlets, issued after great deliberation by the leaders in the movement. The principal method for this year was international service at home and it was hoped that every club, .however small, would hud something that it might do for the general advancement. “If we would only just take the trouble to find out a little about the other man’s problems, eve would not always be so ready to condemn him for what he does,” he concluded. “We might do a lot by correspondence with clubs in other countries. We want programmes that will broaden l our vision, widen the horizon of all Rotariams, until wo attain .a better understanding and develop a goodwill that enables us to, work out together just proceedings between peoples and nations.” In voicing the thanks of the club to the District 'Governor for his absorbing address, Rotarian l Bui.st said the choice of an. international subject —always one holding great appeal—had been particularly appropriate for the club which had recently been addressed on two occasion's by Mr J. C. Findlater with reference to the efforts of the Monroe doctrine...