SIR HARRY LAUDER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18898, 26 June 1923, Page 2

SIR HARRY LAUDER.

ENTERTAINED BY THE ROTARY CLUB. Sir Harry Lauder was the guest of the Rotary Chib at the weekly luncheon held yesterday at the Savoy. The lounge was decorated with heather‘in honour of the distinguished guest. The president of tho club (Sir George Fenwick) occupied tho chair. He said that this was a special occasion, a® their guest: that, day was Sir Harry Lauder. Not very long since he had read in an Australian paper an appreciation of their guest. Si r Harry Lauder, in which the writer had pointed out that tho world knew him best as a clever Scottish comedian whose metier in life had been to mako people laugh, and rile opinion was expressed that it was a great gift to have the power to create laughter that refreshed tired bodies and lightened sagging minds. But it was shown also that Sir Harry had another side to his character—the desire to make people think kindlier of eacli other —that he was intensely in earnest in his efforts to foster friendliness between man and man, and thug add to tho sum of the world's happiness. Who among those that had mot him and heard him during his present, visit to Dunedin could doubt, for one moment that there lay beneath the Scottish delineator's lighter ' moods the fine attributes of tho man who hacj lofty ideals, who had developed a great love for his fellows, who had become an earnest missionary of good fellowship—who had in him (he spirit embodied in the lines of Burns: That man to man the world o’er Shall brothers be, and a’ that. . And no less so in the fine sentiment of a brother poet that Kind hearts are more than coronets And simple faith than Norman blood. nis fellow-Rotarians of the club had been looking forward to the address they were to hoar tnat day and he would now ask Sir Plifrry to address them.—(Applause.) Tjhe Chairman then explained that the charter for the Dunedin Rotary Club and a photograph of the international, president had come to hand* and Sir Harry would formally hand them over. Sir Harry was an ardent Rotarian, and had something like a record for Rotary, luncheons. Sir Harry expressed the pleasure it gave him to present.the charter and the phonograph, and paid a tribute to the good work the Rotary Clubs were doing. Those present then sang “Rack Up Your Troubles.” Sir Harry said that they had sung it very well, but that there was one fault - they had not got a conductor, and "Lot us get that rignt.” he said, and the song was given again under his direction. After the luncheon had been disposed of Sir Harry Lauder who was received with loud applause, said that when he came before a Rotary Club for the first time in any town or city h 6 was always at a loss, to' know ivhat they expected from Harry Lauder. “I suppose some of you chaps came with the thought that I was just going to crack jokes and sing songs and the dike of that stuff,” said Sir H.arry amidst laughter. “You will have to pay for that.—(Laughter.) That is only my side line.” He belonged, and he was very glad to say it, to one of the .greatest social movements that the world had ever known, and that, was the Rotary Nationale. They had no idea of the magnitude of this movement, It was the greatest social friendly movement in existence to-day. and he believed that Rotary would help very considerably to cement the friendship of the nations of the world. Continuing. Sir Harry said that after the spotlight had ceased to flash, when the wings had been placed against the wall, and the scenery had been disposed of for the night, and everyone had gone homo, then sometimes they began to think of tho situation of the world at present. No man with tjny ideas at all could kit down in a qPiet leisure moment without thinking of the disturbance in the world to-day. It was a kindly thought of the organist who said that jie praised through the organ he played, and it would be a. great thing if the artisan would say that he praised through the tools he plied, or even if the business man would say that ho worshipped with his pen. These were plain words, plain because he had' no desire to preach to them. He just wanted to leave a few kindly thoughts that might help men to help themselves. If they were going to say anything let them weigh their words thoroughly before saying them so that the other fellow would understand them. All the rows in' the world to-day were because men did net understand one another. He would like to bring happiness ov affection and not hell by affliction. The speaker went on to sav that he believed in a man having a little hit in the bank, because debt was a terrible business, and the first chapter in efficiency was to be. out of debt. It wag a grand thing to he out of debt because he believed! that debt incited a, man to be dishonest. There was only one channel whereby a man could he known through the world, and that was through the channel of work. Work had always been man’s friend and not his enemy. Work and wages made a loyal heart. Leisure, of course, was a. very pleasant thing, but it was not good to have too much leisure time. He had been busy since ho was 11 years of age. and that was not yesterday, and work had not done him any harm. Half of the world was on the wrong track in pursuit of happiness—they believed that it was got by being served ,by others. Rotary was service and not self.— (Applause.) He supposed that some of them there that day employed labour and some of them were employed. He did not believe in the paring down policy that many men were talking about to-day. At the same time he did not believe in extremists and agitators. There was something morally wrong when the slacker and the shirker seemed to think that they were entitled to the same amount us men who nut all their brains and intelligence into their labour. The man who put everything into his'work was more entitled to a bigger and better reward than the fellow who did not do it. He believed in putting enthusiasm into 1 the work one had to do. Of course, lots of men got enthusiastic in the little things that did not count instead of the big things. He thought that there was something tragically wrong with us. He had been reading in the papers about new inventions of distinction. After all the horror of the Great War, thev still mein dedicating all their intelligence to manufacturing hellish war material. If (hey had not got, a lesson from the Great War he must come to the conclusion that they were not yet sane. He was quite prepared now to stand for friendship. The Rotary was prepared to stand for the same thing with the nations of the world. He believed more in building friendships than battleships. He believed that there were signs that they were beginning to feel more sane and a little bit more sober. They *ere beginning to despise the mart who was an extremist, a communist, an agitator. He did not like agitators, because they were weeds in the garden of industry. The weed was a drifter, and the world was a poor place for the drifter. The fellow who considered that he should have been in the stream of success Und who was not because ho had missed the ’bus, forgot to post a letter. lost the train—missed his opportunity. What tho world wanted was men of vision. They remembered 1914, when a man said; We will drive as we like. But (he rest of the world said, “No, you will not,” and then they had war. Men and nations must conform to the rules .and regulations of a happy domestic atmosphere —whether it was in a town or whether in one’s own home, and he knew many- of them had to sacrifice a great lot for that little bit—“well, we won’t talk about it any more,” broke off the speaker amidst laughter. There had been so many tears shed in the world during the last few years that they had come to understand that warfare was all wrong. Their boys that they loved with their whole souls would die like dogs in the trenches before very long unless the nations of the world came together. The world had been bathed in tears because men and nations had been unfriendly with each other. He told them in all sincerity’ that the world was looking to the-English-speak-ing people to save humanity. They would have to get together and Rotary was going to help. Thev had got to this point—they must, from the north, the south, the east, and the west get togethei—they would have to do it. He supposed some of them were just like him—they did not know anything about reparations or how the war debts wore going to he paid. Tie did not know. He was not a politician. But he knew one thing: that the world could not get straightened up unless they sat down and looked at the matter from a friendly basis. They wanted vision instead of vanity, partnorr.h'p instead of petulance, and sagacity instead of suspicion.—(Loud applause.) Dn (lie motion of Rotarian James Brown.

hearty vote of thanks was passed to Rir .Harry, those present mining in singing “For J-Tn’s a Jollv Hood Fellow.” The hnifheo" was concluded with the singiiitr of “Will ye po come hack again?” and the National Anthem.