PRACTICAL FELLOWSHIP.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 November 1925, Page 6

PRACTICAL FELLOWSHIP.

There was a unique fitness in the choice of a subject made by Mr. A. L. Moore on the occasion of his address to Rotarians on Monday last. Almost on the eve of a Parliamentary election that must inevitably have a very important bearing upon the future of New Zealand; Mr. Moore gave a timely reminder to the public that rotary stands for service before self. Rotary does not concern itself with politics, as such, but its principles are equally as applicable to good government as they are to good fellowship. A nation consists of the aggregate of the units 'therein, hence the duty of rendering service for others before considering self becomes fraught with a far greater influence where the whole nation is concerned than where 1 it is only a case of promoting fellowship and f ndliness among a limited number of individuals. The spirit of rotary particularly lends itself to the conduct of national affairs, because it emphasises in no uncertain manner that services performed must be beneficial to the community, inasmuch as it cannot afford to have failures. The elimination of all thoughts of self and concentration upon service for others is the loftiest- possible conception of man’s position in the life of the nation to which he belongs. It implies that on al’, exceptional occasions, when there is a real need for a particular kind of service to be rendered, the individual should put aside his personal inclinations and throw in the weight of his influence in favour of the general good. In defining the self-made man, Rotarian Moore said “the name generally meant that the individual had developed his mateiial self at the expense of his social and spiritual self.” With that definition most people will agree. He went on to state that his hearers were all born into a social environment and were thereby the inheritors of all the benefits which had accumulated by the struggle of past generations, adding: “From this social environment they had received much. What were they returning to it?” Extending that argument to national affairs, it may be demonstrated that the people of,New Zealand have inherited, or become .possessed of, all the benefits of good government by the - struggle of past generations, and now that the time hafe arrived when the forces of disruption are threatening to deprive the community of the good government that has made the Dominion what it is to-day, it is only right they should ask themselves what they are returning .to it now the need has arisen for service before self. To-day they can answer that query in an exemplary manner. They can use the means at their command place in power a strong, stable, safe and progressive Government, a service that has now become a duty so as to make life better, happier and more advantageous than iever before. The alternative is not to be thought of by anyone imbued with the noble ideal of service bbfore self. No surer illustration of practical fellowship than this can be envisaged.