ROTARY AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21627, 23 April 1932, Page 9

ROTARY AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

By Sydney W. Pascals, President, Rotary International. The international problem which is before the world' at the moment, and to which I have directed the attention of all Rotary clubs, is that of the reduction of armaments. The Disarmament Conference arranged by the League of Nations renders this doubly important. I hope that all Rotary clubs will discuss the ways and means of accomplishing a successful result to this conference. All nations are pledged to the reduction of armaments. There is no controversy about that, and therefore we are not introducing a polemical subject into our plans. Many countries are pledged to it by the Treaty of Versailles and other similar treaties. Nearly all countries are pledged to it by the Pact of Paris, whereby all nations agree to renounce war as a means of national policy. This, in all honesty, involves the reduction of all offensive armaments.

What Rotary will aim at, however, is something that goes deeper than this. It is the spirit underlying this attempt at disarmament. It is, if you will, the moral and spiritual disarmament, the casting out from our minds and those of our fellow countrymen of the idea that a foreigner is necessarily an antagonist, that a stranger is prima facie one to be opposed. We recognise that the colour of one’s skin or the accents of one’s tongue do not determine our ethical kinship, that vou find men of spiritual elevation in all races, that there are friends and. foes in each and every nation, and our job is to draw closer those bonds which can and should unite us, we who wear the badge of goodwill and service in every country upon earth. Are we not too prone to be constantly examining the motives and the reasons animating other people? We frequently cannot be certain of these, and we are after all not personally responsible for them. But, what we can be sure of, and what we are responsible for, are our own reasons and motives. Let us be sure that our motives are pure, that we earnestly desire pence, that wo are animated by real wishes of friendship and our conscience will be clear and our actions will throb with sincerest friendliness and goodwill, and will provide no handicap to the realisation of our dear desire for rapprochement and reconciliation. Shakespeare has said:

I hold it cowardice To rest mistrustful where a noble heart Hath pledged an open hand in sign of love.

Moreover, the best way to become trusted oneself is to be willing to place trust in others. The man, too, who shows .you that he is ready to trust you, has given you the most powerful reason for proving yourself worthy of that trust. Just what do we mean in the sixth object, when we use the words “ understanding and goodwill? ” Understanding can mean two things in this connection. First of all, realising the point of view of the other men s comprehending the motives that animate other people. Secondly, clearly knowing the facts about other countries and their problems. It is necessary for us to apply both these methods, for unless we achieve that, we are little likely to be able to advance the cause of international peace and goodwill. I think that in order to understand really motives that cause actions of men of other countries, we must, first of all, be true lovers of our own country. It is the man who is the good nationalist who can be the good internationalist. He is the man who loves his country, with all her faults, and who loves her intelligently because of that which has been built into the very fibres of his being through the years of his growth by the personal and materia! environment of his early years, his home, friends, countryside, school, church, and all the familiar things of everyday life, by the traditions, the art, the architecture, the science, the literature of Ins country. If he truly loves these things, then he is able to understand the love of the countryman of another his fatherland. Thus to be a good internationalist, one must first be a good nationalist. Understanding leads us to realise whv another country adopts a policy that may seem injurious to our own. ‘ It is not our business, nor are we qualified ns a Rotary Movement to propound a remedy or to inaugurate a crusade for political’ and economic reform. Nevertheless. as a body of men united internationally .in the promotion of goodwill, understanding and peace, we have surelv some part to play. We cannot shut ourselves up in our own countries and leave the rest of the world to roll by as it. will The remedy for our present discontents is no mere national remedy, but needs the closest international co-operation and solidarity. We must hffve the closest possible international co-operation, a cooperation that will bring security and prosperity to all nations. Here, surely, Rotary may play a notable part. We cannot have security and prosperity unless we have confidence, unless we remove suspicions, unless each one of us for himself is prepared to enter into a generous rivalry, not as to how much we can get out of the international effort for ourselves or for our country, but how much each man and each nation can contribute from his individual talents and from the resources of the national genius to building up the health and vigour o‘ the body economic. . Service giving is the Rotary principle, and Ht is for us to practise and spread about us with all the ardour that animates our being the spirit of service to others as the great hope of a suffering and distracted world. We cannot as a Rotary movement propound the solution, but we can do much to create an atmosphere in which a solution may be found to push from our patli all the selfishpess, all the suspicion, all the misunderstandings which impede it and to inspire a determination amongst all peoples to find and apply a remedy for the sickness of all nations, , The trouble is world-wide; the remedy must be world-wide, too. I believe that that is being increasingly recognised and that, from all quarters of the globe, there are faint stirrings of movement among the peoples which will grow and grow until it declares itself as a great uprising ot humanity itself to sweep away all human NEW ZEALAND ITINERARY. Mr Pascall will arrive at Auckland at the beginning of next month from Sydney, on a visit to the various rotary clubs throughout New Zealand. He will also attend the New Zealand Rotary Convention to be held in Dunedin in the second week in May. Following is Mr Pa scab's official itinerary:— Monday, May 2.—Arrive .Auckland, 8 a.ui.; remainder of day in Auckland; Rotary lunch, etc., and sight-seeing as time is available; stay at Grand Hotel. Tuesday, May 3.—Leave Auckland by private car for Hamilton; lunch Rota rv Club; leave Hamilton by private car for Waitomo; after dinner inspect Glow-worm Cave; stay at Caves Hotel. Wednesday. May 4.—Leave Waitomo by service car at 9 a.m.. via Arapnni and Putaruru (lunch) for Rotorua, arriving 3 p.m.: evening available for Rotary function; sfay at Grand Hotel.

Thursday, May s.—Leave Rotorua by 9 а. car; due Wairakei 11.30 a.m.; visit Geyser Valley, Araliatia Rapids, Wairoa Valley, Karapiti Blowhole, and Huka Falls; stay at ■ Geyser House Hotel. Friday, May C. —Leave Wairakei by special car at 9 a.m.; lunch at Tarawera; arrive at Napier at 3.30 p.m.: Rotary function at Napier; stay at Caledonian Hotel. Saturday, May 7.—Leave Napier by 8,28; due Palmerston North 12.52 p.m.: Rotary luncheon; leave Palmerston North 3.16 p.m.; arrive Wellington б. p.m.; dinner at Midland Hotel; leave Wellington by the Wahine at 7.45 p.m. S Sunday, May 8. —Arrive Lyttelton 7 a.m.; ‘ overland by motor car to Christchurch. Monday. May 0.-—Rotary luncheon in Christchurch; stay at United Service Hotel. Tuesday May 10. —Leave Christchurch by train at 8.35 a.m.; arrive Timaru 11.25 a.m.; lunch Rotary Club; stay at, Grosvenor Hotel. Wednesday, May 11.—Leave Timaru by service car, arrive Oamaru; lunch Rotary Club; leave Oamaru by train at 5.49 p'.m.; arrive Dunedin 8.58 p.m.: stay at Grand Hotel. Friday, May 13. —Leave Dunedin by 8.40 a.m. train for Lyttelton, en route to Wellington. Saturday, "May 14. —Arrive Wellington; stay at Midland Hotel. Tuesday, May 17.—Leave Wellington by the s.s. Maunganui for America.