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ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

H. Reuben Cohen,                                           1111 Main Street
Governor District 781                                   MONCTON, N.B.

May12th, 1996

Mr. J. A. Caulder,

Apt. 422,

4000 Yonge Street,

Toronto 12, Ontario.

Dear Joe:

When I made my talk to the Conference in Fredericton this year I used material largely assembled from your histories. Such is the hunger, it seems, for Rotary information that seldom has a talk appeared to arouse such a response. Percy Hodgson, who was Teenstra's representative, has asked for a copy of it, and this I am sending to him. Also our district has asked that I make a copy available to them, which they wish to have printed and distributed to all of the members of the clubs in the district. I would not want to do this without your prior approval, as this information is in a large part the results of your effort. I am wondering if you will be good enough to peruse the enclosed copy of the talk at your convenience, and let me know what your feelings would be in this regard.

We missed you at the Conference. We would liked to have had you, and as

we are not planning on Denver this year, but Nice next year we hope to see you there, if we do not have occasion get together soon in Toronto.

I want to thank you again for the covers which came for the books. These are much more suitable and attractive and, of course, acknowledge our indebtedness to you on the cover. I am waiting anxiously for volume 4 to arrive so that I can make a duplicate of it for both of us. Can you give me some indication as to when it might be coming? I promise to return it this time much more quickly than the three previous volumes, which took a bit more effort than I had anticipated.

I do hope that things are going a bit better for your family and that you will be able to get away for both the Assembly and the Convention. Please let me hear from you about these if you get a chance.

Yours very sincerely,

REUBEN

Reuben Cohen,

Governor District 781

RC/na

Encl.

Governor of District 781 at his

Own conference at Fredericton,

N.B. – May 4-5-6-1966

In the time that I have this morning I am going to talk to you about some of the early stories in Rotary, many of which I have enjoyed personally and for some time now I have wanted to share them with other Rotarians.

We all have a rough idea of the early days of Paul Harris and some of the other founders, but not too many of us know many of the little anecdotes that help to make the early history of Rotary interesting and alive. Some of the stories are fact, some are legend, but they have become part of our Rotary story and I am going to impart them to you as they have come down in our annals.

We all know that when Rotary was originally founded, the basis for membership was the exchange of business amongst its members, but few of us realize quite how extensive those original business provisions were. In fact, the original by-laws of the Chicago Club established a club statistician, and it was the duty of the statistician to keep a record of, and report at each meeting, the business influenced by the membership of the club. As the other early clubs came

to be formed, each of them also created a club statistician whose duty it was to report at each meeting the volume of business transacted between members and a ledger was kept in each, of these records. Harry Ruggles, who held the printing classification, is reputed to have had the printing work of 110 of the 120 members, while Charles Newton, who held the insurance classification, is reported to have carried the insurance for 90 of the 120 members. A better illustration of how marked this back-scratching was in the early days of Rotary is illustrated by the story about the San Francisco Club where, during a meeting one day, the statistician of the club went out and checked all the hat bands of the members while the boys were eating their meal to see if they were loyal to the hat man in the club; and those who had not bought their hat from the member holding that classification in the club were reprimanded. Of course, this backscratching came to be severely criticized, especially by other businessmen who were not able to get into the club because of the classification principle of membership, and it became a target of charges of monopoly and cartel, and soon the idea came to be watered down to one of "acquaintance begets business", before being eventually, of course, completely wiped out.

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The thing that really seems to have broken the early business angle in Chicago Club was when it organized a committee to help members in trouble and about 10 or 15 of the members would endorse the notes of other members who were having financial difficulties and the banker in the club, Rufe Chapin, would supply the money. You can well understand that this plan quickly became a complete failure, as many a dishonoured note had to be picked up.

Rumor has it, too, that one of the new members of the Chicago Club in its early days started to sell stock in a phony gold mine, and this, too, helped to bring about the change.

Paul Harris, in his later years, always defended this early business idea in Rotary and said that Rotary could not have survived its first two or three years without it and that it served its necessary function in enabling the early clubs to get organized and established.

In the early days, too, there was also a secret clause in the constitution ruling that all business transacted at the meetings was to be kept strictly secret. As Rotary grew, more and more businessmen who were not allowed in because of the one man principle began to charge Rotary with being a secret organization and this secrecy principle was soon dropped as well.

Actually, the boys seem to have gotten a lot of fun out of helping each other in a business way. As an example, it is recorded that Charles Newton, one of the early boys of the Chicago Club, was passing by the parlour of the undertaker in the club, and saw a strange, shiny, white, horseless carriage at the curb. The undertaker explained that it was new-f angled hearse that could also be used as an ambulance, it is reported that Newton immediately ran over to Dr. George Baxter's office, the doctor in the club, to tell the doctor about the undertaker's new vehicle that could serve a double purpose for the doctor's patients, either as an ambulance or as a hearse.

Charlie Newton also tells a story to the effect that when a member, Henry Paul, went into business for himself, twenty-five members of the club assembled near the store and one at a time strolled in to buy a new hat. This, of course, was a fine business advertisement for a new hat merchant and the boys had a lot of fun in the process.

As is sought to change its image and answer its criticism, Rotary got into its first case of community service. In 1906, Dr. C. W. Hawley, an eye specialist, told the club one evening that a young doctor in a Chicago suburb had lost his horse. He was a young and struggling practitioner

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(doctors in 1906 apparently did not have cadillacs) and the loss to him was great. The hat was passed and $150.00 was raised to buy the doctor a new horse. This was the first act of community service in Rotary.

Then in1907 the club was trying to find another worthwhile project and it gathered a group of Chicago's leading men together and these were in favour of a public comfort station being built in the City Hall at a cost of $20,000.00. The endorsement was solid and vocal and had much political and business backing and the approval of the Chicago City Council, so that within a very few days a delegation from the club met with the Council, the legislation was passed, and the comfort station in the City Hall was built, and is still in use. Actually, Chicago taxpayers put up every cent but Rotary got full credit for it, and to this day it is still known in Chicago as the Rotary comfort station.

The first vocational talk was given by Silvester Schiele, who was the co-founder of the Chicago Club, along with Paul Harris, and, of course, its first president. After the club had been organized for some five months Silvester suggested to Paul that members be asked to give a talk on their business. This was the first Vocational Service Talk in Rotary, a practice that has now become universal.

Silvester Schiele was probably Paul Harris closest friend and they first became acquainted in 1896 when Silvester engaged the young lawyer, Paul Harris, to collect a twenty dollar account. This started a life-long friendship and the beginning of Rotary, and Paul Harris has stated that he would often have given us in the first year except for the encouragement he got from Silvester Schiele. Now Paul Harris and Silvester Schiele lie side by side in a Chicago cemetery and on Silvester's stone is carved "co-founder with Paul Harris of Rotary International".

I like, too, the statement of the minister at Silvester Schiele's funeral service when he said "Silvester did not have a Sunday profession and a Monday practice".

The story of the first singing in Rotary is another interesting one. From the early days Harry Ruggles, member No. 5 in the Chicago Club, fought far clean language and once in 1906 at an evening meeting a guest speaker started to tell a story. Harry had heard it before and knew the off-colour ending, so he jumped up and yelled "come on boys, let’s sing", and then he led his club in the singing of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". Not only is this believed to be the first singing in Rotary but also the first time that a

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Group of businessmen ever sang at a business meeting. At this meeting Harry registered in a very startling manner that shady stories were not welcome at Rotary gatherings. It was reported at the time that the would be speaker was embarrassed and sore and Harry Ruggles apologized but the club backed him up, and there and then it was decided that Rotary meetings should be conducted always so that a lady could attend without blushing and this has been the unwritten rule ever since. A Rotary club in Indiana carries this even further, for it has a by-law which is read by the Secretary at ever meeting before the speaker begins his talk. The by-law reads that "no story or jest may be made at this club that could not properly be made if all our wives and daughters were present". It is warming for us to know that at the 50th anniversary convention of R. I. held. in the year 1955 in Chicago, the first four men of the Chicago Club had already left. this world but Harry Ruggles was then still living and attended this convention, and let 15,000 people in the singing of Let Me Call You Sweetheart.

Early in Rotary’s history, it was decided, too, that religion and politics should not be discussed at club meetings. Again, of course, this is one of the unwritten rules. Another practice that is an unwritten rule in the use of first names. Paul Harris

suggested it for the use in the Chicago No. 1 Club, as this was the custom in the little community of Wallingford, Vermont, where he grew up. This use of first names is by no means universal and seems to be general to North America only and does not seem to fit the social pattern of many European and Asiatic countries.

The first bulletin was the suggestion of Harry Ruggles, who was, of course, the Printer in the club. It was a weekly Publication and called the "Rotary Yell" and later changed to the name "Gyrator" which is Rotary spelled backwards, but starting with a G. The Chicago Gyrator is still going strong.

From 1905 to 1958 a new member must have reached the age of 21. Now there is no minimum age limit, except the manual uses the words "adult male person". The word adult has different meanings in different lands.

The magazine, The Rotarian, was born in 1911. It was put together by Ches Perry, who, of course, served as General Secretary for 32 years, and Paul Harris, and neither of them had permission of the clubs but they took a chance. They sold a bit of advertising and persuaded Harry Ruggles to print it. It was called "The National Rotarian" and was a flimsy little thing with only 12 pages. The

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first issue, of course, lost a bit of money but the clubs agreed to make up the loss so that Perry and Harris would not have to carry it.

There were a lot of pranks and horseplay in the early years. One story is recalled about a boxing match. It was arranged by some members of the club and when the two contenders arrived in the ring, one was found to weigh 250 lbs. and the other barely tipped the scales at 95 lbs. Another prank was played on the undertaker when he got an urgent call to come to the local hotel where Paul Harris and Silvester Schiele were living. When the undertaker started to shift the corpse, it moved, and as he lifted the sheet a whole bunch of grinning Rotarians burst into the room.

In the early days of the Chicago Club there were no dues (until 1908), but fines were imposed freely. Paul Harris did not become president of the Chicago Club until1907, and one of the little known stories is that he resigned in the middle of his second year as president, in 1908. There are different versions regarding this resignation - one, is that he resigned over a prank pulled on him at a meeting in which Paul felt his friends had gone too far in charging him, in fun, with a dictatorial ruling. This taught the members early that fun could be carried too far. No amount of coaxing could convince Paul to stay on as president

but he asked that Arthur Sheldon succeed him. The club, led by Charlie Newton, rebelled and Harry Ruggles was elected president to fill out Paul's second year. Paul stayed away from the club for five or six months and Charlie Newton reported that Paul was a great prankster who could hand it out but could not take it himself. Another version has it that Paul's resignation was due to a dissatisfaction with fines and that when he came back into the club he asked that fines be discontinued. This early club election which went against Paul's wishes also caused a lot of ill-feeling, and ever since Rotary has tried to get away from elections as much as possible; so it is obvious that even in the early days Rotarians were after all only human, and as yet Paul Harris had not developed the halo that came with his later years and later maturing Rotary philosophy. He had yet to develop the vision of a prophet. The best was yet to be.

I like, too, to compare expenses. The first year's records show travelling expenses of $17.00, and I like to compare this with last year's expenses where the cost of bringing 278 district governors to the International Assembly at Lake Placid cost something over $300,000.00 alone. I am always intrigued, to, by an item shown in the first year’s expenses

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as $1.67 for legal fees. How they ever hired a lawyer at this price, even in 1905, is quite a mystery.

The history of liquor in Rotary is a most intriguing one. The first luncheon of the Chicago Club cost .50 cents and included some type of liquid refreshment, wine or claret. Some of the boys would visit the Brass Rail before the meeting and would come into the sessions feeling rather Jolly, so the club decided there would be no liquor served at meals. This has become pretty well the general unwritten rule throughout North America. However in many parts of the world, especially in some European countries, some type of liquid refreshment is the rule. Of course in some Asiatic countries liquor is totally prohibited.

One of the interesting tales on liquor in Rotary is a story about Guy Gundaker, one of the grand old men of Rotary, who was a charter member of the Philadelphia Club, organized in 1910. In 1915, at the San Francisco Convention, he was the logical man for president of Rotary International. However, Guy’s wife’s father owned Kugler’s Restaurant, a famous café where liquor was served. At once there was the cry "a salon-keeper for president". Allen Albert was put up against him and Allen won. In 1917, at the Atlanta, Georgia, Guy again was the man with the long lead but the same cry was raised and Rev. Leslie Pidgeon of

Winnipeg was nominated and again Guy lost. Pidgeon became the first international president from Canada, the first outside the U.S., and the only clergyman ever to serve as International President, and it was felt that his election was largely a rebuff to Guy's candidacy. In 1913, at St. Louis, Guy was nominated and was elected unopposed, but in the meantime the U.S. had gone dry with prohibition and Kugler's Restaurant could not sell beer, so apparently Guy was elected on his own merits.

The story of the first Rotary Ann is one that has different versions, although the story that is generally accepted is one that refers to the l914 convention at Houston, Texas. The San Francisco Club took a special train to this convention, and there was only one lady on the train, the wife of Bru Brunnier. During the trip someone came along and said "Ann, are you the only lady on the train?" Ann Brunnier said she was and the questioner immediately said "Rotary Ann". When the train arrived at Houston it was met by a large number of Rotarians and their wives and amongst the group was our friend, Guy Gundaker, of Philadelphia and his wife, Ann. Someone said to Ann Gundaker that they had a Rotary Ann on the San Francisco train and they got up a chant "our Rotary Ann, our Rotary Ann", and she was carried on

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the men's shoulders. Then someone else suggested that they had a Rotary Ann, too, in the person of Ann Gundaker, so there were possibly two original Rotary Anns. Guy Gundaker, of course, became international president in 1923 as I related earlier, and Bru Brunnier became president at Mexico City in 1952. I was introduced to Ann Brunnier at an international convention and asked to shake the hand of the original Rotary Ann. She was dressed in clothes of the turn of the century style and I was told a rather pathetic story. Apparently, early in her life, she had a young daughter drowned in a bath tub as an infant when the mother had turned her attention away for a few moments and Ann Brunnier had vowed that she would never change the fashion of her dress from what she was wearing the day of the tragedy.

I mentioned that the Rev Leslie Pidgeon of Winnipeg was the first President of R.I. from Canada, in 1917-18. The second was Dr Crawford McCullough of Fort Williams, Ont., an eye, ear and nose specialist, who was elected president at the convention at the convention in Edinburgh in 1921-22. The third was John Nelson of Montreal, who was president in 1933-34. He was a newspaperman, author and public relations officer. The fourth and last was Arthur Legueux of Quebec City, who was president in 1950-51. He was a stock-

broker and created much amusement by mispronouncing words deliberately, in his broken English. For instance, the State of Missouri once came out from him as the State of Misery.

Other Canadians who have served with distinction were James W. Davidson, J. Layton Ralston, Dean Donald A. MacRae, and Charlie Burchell. Davidsson was from Calgary and Ralston from our part of the world. Ralston later became Minister of National Defence during World War II and he and Jim Davidson started Rotary in Australia and New Zealand in 1921. Davidson and Ralston took six months of their time and travelled down under, and $2,902.00 was raised as expenses for this project from 37 Canadian Rotary Clubs. Davidson and Ralston took their wives with them and their total costs were something over $11,000.00, although they were paid expenses between them of little more than the amount subscribed. One of the problems, it is reported, the encountered was in the fact that the Australians liked to drink and so always when the two were calling on Australian businessmen to ask them to form Rotary clubs, the first thing that would be offered was a drink. Layton was a teetotaller, so Jim Davidson said on his return that if he had been able to drink for the two of them there would not have been any Rotary in Australia.

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After his return from down under, Jim Davidson set out in 1928, with his wife and daughter, on a journey that was intended to bridge the gap in the Rotary circle which extended at that time from the Caspian Sea to the China Sea, but with one solitary exception a Rotary club in Calcutta, India. Davidson expected to spend eight months on the journey and R. I. gave him $8,000.00. Instead of spending eight months, he spent over thirty months and instead of spending $8,000.00, Davidson spent over a quarter of a million dollars of his own money, money which he never asked to be returned to him. More than two score Rotary clubs in the Middle and Far East are the direct result of his energy. He failed only in Turkey to establish a club, and the clubs established in Athens, Cairo and Jerusalem were considered personal triumphs against exceptional odds. It is correct to say that no man in all Rotary history ever attempted so much and succeeded in the face of such difficulties and were it not for Jim Davidson Rotary would not be the worldwide organization it is today, nor would it have its present worldwide influence. Jim Davidson returned in 1931 completely broken in health and died from a disease contracted in those remote areas. His wife, Lillian, wrote a book about those 30 months called "Making New Friends", which was published in 1934, and tells the whole wonderful story in 175 pages.

Dean MacRae, who was the Dean of the Dalhousie University Law School in Halifax, was responsible for the printing of a special report on Rotary's constitution and by-laws presented at the Atlantic City convention in June 1920, and a further report in 1921.

Charlie Burchell, a Halifax lawyer, who is still living, acted on the commission with Dean MacRae and it was this report that first promulgated the fourth object of Rotary commonly known as the International Avenue of Service, and the name of Dr. Donald Alexander MacRae should always be enshrined in Rotary history as the author, draftsman and promoter of what has become the most important, exciting and rewarding avenue of Rotary service. During his membership in the Halifax Rotary Club Dean MacRae had acted as District Governor, established a new Rotary Club at Charlottetown, the capital city of his native province of Prince Edward Island, and took an active part in five conventions, Atlanta in 1917, Kansas City in 1918, Atlantic City in 1920, Edinburgh in 1921 and St. Louis in 1923. In 1924 he resigned from his position as Dean of the Law School in Halifax and moved to Toronto, where, until the date of his death in 1955, he taught at Osgood Hall Law School. His removal from Halifax, of course, necessitated his resignation from the Halifax Rotary Club,

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and from that date his direct connection with Rotary ceased and it seems most unfortunate that, for some reason for which I have not found an explanation, the Toronto Club could not have made some use of his great talents and Rotary knowledge when he moved there in 1924.

I have talked about great Canadian Rotarians and now would like to mention one or two others whose names are little known today in the Rotary world. One is Edgar F. Allen of Ohio, affectionately known as "Daddy Allen", and when tragedy struck him and his Ohio community it opened up for this Rotarian a path of service by which he fathered, eventually, the world society to aid crippled children. Starting with the establishment of a single crippled children's hospital in his own community in Ohio, he expanded this idea into the international society for crippled children, encompassing most of the Rotary world. He adopted as his motto "keep on keeping on" and once when the society was badly in need of money he went to President Roosevelt, in 1933, with the idea of selling crippled childrens’ seals. Of course, President Roosevelt endorsed the plan and that was the beginning of the Easter Seals Campaign for Crippled Children. Daddy Allen died in 1937, but his work goes on in virtually every Rotary Club around the world, far beyond his dreams, ever developing, ever advancing and never done.

Another Rotary story that is too little known, and where Rotary served the world, is the one of the South American border dispute, where Peru and Ecuador had quarrelled over boundary lines for 150 years. Tom Davis, the R. I, president for 1941-42 secured the consent of the presidents of both these countries to organize a committee of men of good will to try to work out a settlement. Tom and Ches Perry, who was the International Secretary, went to see Cordell Hull, the Secretary of State, who promised the full support of the U.S. Tom then named three Rotarians, one from the Montevideo, Uruguay Club, Serratosa Cibils, who also became president of R.I. in 1953, Cesar Andralde, former Minister of Finance for Ecuador, and Senator Andre Dasso of Peru. These men worked out a plan and President Roosevelt called a conference at Rio where their proposal was adopted and the quarrel was ended. A monument on the border tells the story and acknowledges the tribute to Rotary.

We must think, too, of Ches Perry, of whom Paul Harris has said "if I can, in truth, be called the architect of Rotary, Ches Perry, with equal truth, can be called the builder of Rotary International"; and then Paul Harris himself, our founder, who gave us in his mature philosophy of Rotary that which has provided the

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basic concepts of Rotary precepts and Rotary Ideals. I think that nowhere is Paul Harris' concept and treasured legacy to Rotary better summed up than in his Christmas Message of 1930 where he said:

This is the Paul Harris who brought into Rotary the concept of fellowship, a fellowship dedicated to the building of bridges of friendship to break down the walls of hostility, misunderstanding and intolerance at the club, community and international level, reminding us always that fellowship is never a one-sided coin - akin to the inn located in Scotland high on the side of a mountain, on the door of which there is posted a notice with these words: "In this inn you will find joy and good company, provided you bring them with you".

This is the Paul Harris who attended the Regina Conference in 1929, even though quite ill, and made such a hit with the clubs that Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg all begged him to come and address them. R. I. was not then very rich and when an official went on a trip the clubs participated had to pay all expenses. Overnight trips to each City were arranged for, and tickets bought for drawingrooms, so that he could travel in comfort. A week or so later the railroad sent

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cheques covering refunds, as Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary and a world figure, turned in four drawingroom tickets and took lower berths instead.

This is the Paul Harris in whose mind and personality were born, more than sixty years ago, the ideas and ideals that are now the roots of Rotary - ideas and ideals that were missing from the contemporary life of Chicago as he came to it at the turn of the century - a jungle of dog eat dog. Those to whom he spoke caught the contagion of this great idea, this Rotary of ours, and it has come across the years to us, not because it was easy or natural; but because it is rooted in that which is of abiding worth.

And that, I think, is the reason why we make such a fetish of attendance in Rotary - because you can't catch the spirit of Paul Harris if you attend hit and miss -- for the spirit of Paul Harris is something that has to be experienced, it cannot be explained; it has to be caught, it cannot be taught. You have here a contagion, and unless a man is willing to expose himself to it, he is not going to get the disease. In other words, attendance is not for the building of records - but for the building of Rotarians.

And if you're ever near the little community of Wallingford, Vermont where Paul Harris was raised, make it a point to visit the schoolhouse that Paul attended, which was built in 1818 by one of his great-grandfathers, and is now restored and maintained by the Wallingford Rotary Club as a memorial in his honor, so as to help assure that the building where Paul P. Harris first learned his A.B.C.'s will shine out, night and day, as a friendly beacon for future generations - to remind them of how great an organization can come from such a simple and rural start.

I have given you some of the stories from our history. · I hope that you have enjoyed hearing them as much as I like to tell them, for it is only when we know of our heritage that we can become full appreciative of the rich Rotary legacy it is our privilege to inherit. More than 100 years ago there was a dinner honoring the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. One of the speakers there was Thomas D’Arcy McGee, and in referring to Shakespeare, he spoke in part as follows:-

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It is in this spirit, a spirit of gratefulness and humility, that we should always remember cur roots.

I was privileged, less than two weeks ago, to address the official welcome for the New Richmond Rotary Club into our district. I said to them then that they will come to understand that underlying all Rotary philosophy is one basic precept – dissatisfaction - the same type of dissatisfaction that led famous men to question established ideas and institutions, and to seek to improve and reform them. The dissatisfaction of a Lister, not willing to accept the inevitability of common infection – of a Pasteur, a Banting, a Salk, a Schweitzer – not willing to accept human misery and disease with all their terror.

I told them that Rotarians are constantly reminded that they are ex-

pected to have a healthy dissatisfaction with everything that is capable of improvement through our efforts in Rotary -- reminded, too, that what one man cannot do with his own unaided strength, a club can do -- what one club can't do, a district can do -- what a district can't do, all of us, all 600,000 of us, can do together.

I tried to tell them some of the background of this Rotary of ours so that they would have a better appreciation of the world wide organization of which they were privileged to become a part, and I want to end now with you as I ended my exhortation to this new club, when I said to them - Yes, we have roots in Rotary - roots that go deep, deep and true, to the sources of nourishment. As you attend, as you serve, as you exercise your healthy dissatisfaction with the shoddy, the imperfect, the impure, those roots will become your roots. May they nourish you well for many, many years to come. This is a goodly land into which you have come, this land of Rotary. Possess it, nurture it, cultivate it, and shall be for you a land flowing with milk and honey.

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Acknowledgement of introduction.

Rotarian Charles Morris of New York speaking to a Rotary Club made this statement:

With this declaration by Charlie Morris I am happy to associate myself but our destiny will not come to Rotary. It awaits us. We must go to it. We must realize where and what it is. To me Rotary’s destiny is to accomplish as speedily as possible a thousand times what we have accomplished to date. That is Rotary’s Great Objective.

Last July International President A. Z. Baker gave to the Rotary Clubs of the world "DEVELOPING OUR RESOURCES" as the practical program for this Rotary year. Five ways to do this were indicated to us by A. Z.

They have been quoted in many Club publications but are we all implementing them as we should? It is easy for us to agree with and applaud. an excellent suggestion and then be neglectful about carrying it into effect.

How many of you have in mind A.Z.'s five suggestions? Perhaps it would be well to remind you of them. As I recall them they are:

1. Getting more Rotarians -- not more mere members -- there's a difference between members and Rotarians.

2 Putting Rotary at work where we work.

3. Living Rotary where we live.

4. Cultivating understanding with others.

5. Training youth to follow us.

These are things that all Rotarians should be doing but some of you may be thinking that these things are nothing new, that this has always been Rotary’s program. If so, why has A.Z. reminded us of them? Is it possible that we have lapsed into doing these things in a routine manner without much enthusiasm about

doing them? There is a great deal in Rotary that may tend to become routine procedure.

Our initial enthusiasm for the Idealism of Rotary is liable to die down, to become a sense of duty or obligation, a loyalty to a leader or to a routine, rather than to a cause. To be real Rotarians we must have an eternal flame burning within us or as I heard it put recently:

Have you ever heard it said that it would be wonderful if all members of Rotary Clubs were Rotarians? I have.

Have you ever heard it said that Rotarians are not interested in anything about Rotary outside there own Clubs? I have.

Have you ever heard it said that the average Club and District Conference in this country doesn't give two hoots about Rotary International legislation? I have.

These last two statements, exaggerated although they may be, indicate the possibility of conditions that need

attention by Rotarians. If and where there are such conditions they can be remedied if enough of us have the gumption to change them.

Indifferent as Clubs today may appear to be about participating in Rotary International as they should, they have latent ability to do so which will manifest itself if properly encouraged and stimulated.

For one thing in our Clubs we must not fall into the error of assuming that Rotary International is a beautiful service building in Evanston with its efficient staff of devoted workers for Rotary, or that it is a group of distinguished and especially qualified Rotarians who as officers and officials will do all necessary thinking for the Movement.

Rotary International is an Association of Clubs. It is all of us -- our Clubs and the Rotarians who compose them.

Our Clubs and the officers and committees of their Association must cooperate in the control and conduct of the Association and the determination of its program.

Our Clubs must not only implement locally the Object of Rotary but participate in accomplishing the ultimate universal acceptance of the

Ideal of Service as a way of life, as the way of life.

For the Clubs to participate constructively in their Association there must be participation in each Club by its members.

Rotary essentially is an intangible thing, a mental conception, a human impulse, the echo of a heart throb in 1905 of a man who loved his fellowmen.

In 50 years Rotarians have built a great Movement, to some extent an institution. We want to see it grow greater but most of all it is the spirit, the ideal of the Movement that we want to perpetuate, to have continue long after we are gone.

The Ideal of Service means to be thoughtful of and helpful to others -- not just to some others but to all others, not occasionally but every day, every hour.

We want to get this spirit, this ideal, accepted and exemplified by hundreds of millions of people who can never become members of Rotary Clubs. And to accept and exemplify this spirit, this ideal, one does not have to be a member of any Club.

At a Rotary Convention 32 years ago it was agreed that:

So what I am talking about new idea in Rotary. It is time for us to get a renewed vision of what the Ideal of Service might in human society.

It is true that in the past 32 years -- in one generation -- Rotary idealism plus Rotary practices has inspired or influenced many good deeds by non-Rotarians but have we been keeping up with the times?

There were 35,000 more human births than deaths yesterday. The population of the world is 12,000,000 greater than it was a year ago and it will be again at least another 12,000,000 greater a year from now. It is now several hundred million greater than it was at the turn of the century.

Perhaps Rotary has conveyed its message to millions of people but whatever the number is it is only a small proportion of a total of some two and a half billions.

Page Z-7

We might dream of each Rotarian once a month persuading one other person to accept the Ideal of Service as his or her way of life which would mean in one year four or five millions more people being thoughtful of and helpful to others, and then all of them repeating the process the next year, thereby reaching 50 millions of people, and so on.

Such dreaming would be of course an arithmetical over-simplification of the solution of our problem but men, can do anything that they can contemplate doing if they not merely dream but think and act. It is no longer a joke to talk about a trip to the moon. This is the century of marvelous accomplishments in the fields of physics and chemistry. Rotarians can make it so in psychology and human relations

As we continue to develop our resources and as we rejoice over another Rotary Club and a few more Rotarians in the Belgian Congo, in Ethiopia, in Turkey or elsewhere we surely can find additional ways of persuading non-Rotarians to accept and exemplify the Ideal of Service in their lives. But we must keep up with the times.

CONTINUE THESE THINGS -- AND

We should continue to develop true fellowship and the spirit and practice of service in our Clubs.

We should continue to exemplify the Ideal of Service to others in our business and professional activities.

We should continue to render all sorts of important helpful services in our communities.

We should continue to get acquainted and correspond with our fellow Rotarians around the world, entertain them and students from other countries in our homes, and maintain the splendid Paul Harris Fellows project for post-graduate studies in other countries.

We should continue to do all these things and do them faithfully and well but if we stop there, if we fail to realize that we have a great over-all Objective, we are after all only a little coterie of good fellows in a very big, a very upset and a very unhappy world of two and a half billions of people. We have a big job before us to keep up with the times.

When we pray: "They will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" we must remember that God has given man the power to bring this about on earth.

Selling an intangible idea to hundreds of millions of people may seem an impossible task but there is no limit to what faith and vision can accomplish with proper planning and unfaltering execution of our plans.

Fortunately we have allies--in all the other service clubs, in the churches and synagogues, the Quakers, the Christophers, the Salvation Army, and the many other agencies that have personal contacts with men, women and children. We are happy that they also are leading people to the making of a better world.

However, Rotarians with their world-wide organization and their 50 year of experimental activities should be in the vanguard of all efforts for a better world.

When we Rotarians emphasize Service above Self we are tuning in with an admonition found in one form or another in all the principal religions of the world. Positively it is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Negatively it is: Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.

The Great Adventure of the Rotary Movement is not in the revelation of any new religion or any new philosophy but in conveying the know-how of making age-old teachings work out effectively in modern human relations.

Paul Harris and the other early Rotarians found a way to apply an eternal truth in business relations and eventually to all human relations.

Today you and I and our fellow Rotarians must be as concerned about giving the world what Rotary has proved in the field of human relations, and doing it as effectively, as our Government is planning to give the know-how of atomic energy to the world for the advancement of industries, agriculture, etc.

When we accept the challenge to do that we will have a stimulation for the proper accomplishment of all the things we should be doing within our Clubs and their Association while at the same time planning for Rotary's Great Objective.

Not only planning for it but demonstrating how it can be accomplished. Many are doing so now in one way or another. Some with Herb Taylor's Four Way Test. But are we as busy promoting the Ideal of Service as the storks are in delivering babies?

THINKING -- RIGHT AND WRONG

To compete with the activities of the storks we must combine the thinking power of all Rotarians in all Clubs of all countries. Recently Norman Couzins in The Saturday Review said:

The Rotarians have found an "other way" but I'm not so sure that we can tell Mr. Couzins that they are "giving consecutive thought", to it.

In our own country millions of people know nothing of Rotary and its Ideal of Service. Perhaps everybody in this city knows that there is a Rotary Club here but how many know anything about its Object, its Ideal, the Great Adventure of which it is a part?"

The Movement needs your bit of thinking, yours and yours and yours, as to how a procedure or a variety of procedures can be devised which will result in Rotary message being delivered to and accepted by hundreds of millions of people in our own town or city, in our country, in other countries.

There are no Rotary Clubs in communist countries. If communism ever takes over this country it will be good-bye to democracy and freedom and altruism--and Rotary Clubs.

This brain-washing business is a serious matter that concerns us all. It is such a conflict as has not occurred since Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. It is a struggle for men's minds, for their souls.

The outcome of this struggle will either be freedom for all men to use their minds, to reason, to develop understanding and good will, to be thoughtful of and helpful to others, or else a division of the human race into the few with their supposedly super-minds and the masses with their slave-minds.

Since Geneva, Comrade Khrushchev has been quoted as saying with regard to co-existence:

Evidently the communists have been captured by a great conviction, whether we like it or not, and they have a program. Men of the Free World also have a conviction but how definite and how clear is it in our minds? And would you say we have a well-organized non-military, non-political program with which to meet the challenge of the communists? We can't win by just wanting and wishing to do so.

Rotarians are in a good position to lead men of the Free World into being captured by their conviction and developing a program in accord with it.

Now let us look at our member Clubs of Rotary International from another angle of participation.

The Rotary Movement began years ago very democratically out after awhile there was a gradual trend away from democratic participation and procedure in the operation of the Association. More and more the conduct and control of it passed from the Clubs into boards and committees and the central secretariat.

Opposing this tread some voices were heard thru the years cautioning against letting the Movement become institutionalized. However the trend persisted and intensified thru the great depression and second world war periods until at last it became apparent that it was going too far.

During the past three years there has been a re-examination of the relations between the Central Administration of R.I. and the constituent member Clubs of the Association. As a result there have been renewed recognitions of the basic democracy of the Movement, a general acknowledgment that it is the Clubs that are Rotary International, and a disposition to restore the democratic process in the Association thru greater participation by its member Clubs in the determination of policies and procedures.

Some don't believe that it is necessary for the Clubs so to participate or that they will want to do so. On the other hand believing that Rotary will reach is destiny only thru a democratic Movement I maintain that they must do so and that they will do so if they are encouraged and assisted in doing so.

Our Clubs have a considerable degree of autonomy which is dear to them. They have rights but they also have

next pages . . .

Page Z-15

responsibilities. If they don’t meet their responsibilities they may someday discover that they have lost their rights.

Our Clubs are not merely luncheon Clubs. They are Rotary Clubs, constituent members of the Association of Rotary Clubs, and their officers and members should see to it that they function as such.

Back in 1932-33 during the R.I. Presidency of Clinton P. Anderson (now U. S. Senator) there evidently even then was concern about a lack of interest in Rotary by some Clubs. At any rate the record shows that in that year the R. I. Board of Directors advised the Clubs that: "Definite efforts should be made to encourage programs on Rotary subjects rather than programs designed merely to interest or amuse."

What are Rotary subjects? Of course local Service above Self activities of a Club are such subjects but the discussion of them should not be confined to board and committee meetings. Let the entire membership participate in them. As has been said: "We understand best and appreciate most the things we participate in."

In addition to matters of local interest there can be subjects related to the operation of the Association- -

the mechanics of the Movement. As the members of a Club discuss them they will discover that they have a new interest in all phases of the Movement, in its Conferences, Conventions, projects and activities. Then I believe they will go on to an enthusiasm for the achievement of its Great Objective.

At present our Clubs have the responsibility of participating with regard to current proposals for Rotary International legislation. For a number of years this has been a neglected responsibility. In fact until this year the time provided for the Clubs to review proposed legislation was inadequate, and the newer Clubs may not have realized that they were expected to do so.

Now the Association legislates, amends its constitutional documents, every two years in the even numbered years.

Right now the Rotarians of each Club should be reviewing the proposals scheduled for action at the Convention in Philadelphia next June. They were sent last May in booklet form to all the Clubs.

They should be examined not only to see how each proposal (if adopted

by Convention) will effect our Club or its members but will it be for the welfare of the Movement as a whole?

At its District Conference the representatives of the Club will then be prepared to compare their Club's conclusions with those of the other Clubs of the District.

The member of the advisory Council on Legislation (who will be elected at the Conference) will thus be informed as to the conclusions of the Clubs of his District and be able to make them known in the Council meeting at the Convention.

Then in the business session of the Convention the Delegates from all the Clubs in the world, after considering the recommendations of the Council will vote on the Proposals.

This is the democratic process operating in our Association. By making it work smoothly and effectively we will be able to have pride in it as the world's greatest exemplification of non-Governmental democracy in action. And that will be a service to a world in which democracy is seriously threatened.

But there are some other phases of Club participation:

My Club and your Club should be represented in their District Conferences by a good group of well informed members to participate in the discussions and the business of the Conference.

And it is the duty of our Clubs to be represented in person or by proxy at the World Convention and participate thru their Delegates in the discussions and the voting there.

Our Clubs should participate in the selection of well-qualified men to be the Governors of our Districts during the coming year.

Likewise participate in the selection of a Rotarian from our Zone to serve on the Nominating Committee for President of R. I. and also make a suggestion to the committee, if we can, of someone who would make a good President of R. I. next year.

These things our Clubs should do every year. Every other year our Clubs should:

Participation in the selection of a qualified and well-informed Rotarian from our District to serve at the Convention on the Advisory Council on Legislation.

Also participation in the selection of a Rotarian from our Zone to serve

for two years on the R. I. Board of Directors in the management of the Association with its annual income of over $3,000,000 and a present surplus of over $2,000,000. Our Rotary Association is pretty big business.

Incidentally if our Clubs agree that democratic participation should be encouraged some thought might be given to the selection of representatives who are interested in encouraging it.

As I have indicated a Rotary Club has a number of responsibilities as a constituent member of a democracy.

No democracy will work successfully unless its constituent members participate in its operation, either with self-participation or representative-participation and usually with both.

It is self-participation by our Clubs and their members when we review proposed legislation or consider suggestions relative to the administration and program of the Rotary Movement. It is self-participation when we elect our Clubs' Convention Delegates. It is also a form of self-participation when your Club joins with other Clubs of your District or Zone in selecting those who will represent them.

It is representative-participation when those whom our Clubs have selected, or helped to select, serve on boards or committees or as Convention Delegates.

The Rotary Movement can not stand still. Rotary must continue to have vision and be alert to new things, to the need of possible changes. Rotary is a living organism and change is the law of life. To attain Rotary's destiny may require sooner or later some changes in present policies and procedures.

When have there been any new procedures in your Club? When will there be any? In your District? In the Rotary Movement as a whole? Is your business or your profession being conducted as it was a quarter-century ago?

Even the splendid Paul Harris Fellowships for post-graduate students was inaugurated nearly ten years ago. Isn’t it about time for some Club to be thinking up another additional project in harmony with the Object of Rotary?

As Paul Harris once emphasized: "Rotary has been the product of the minds of thousands of men."

The future of Rotary likewise must be determined by the thinking and the conclusions of thousands of Rotarians -- and perhaps of some non-Rotarians.

Out of the Association's member Clubs have come the ideas that have made the Movement what it is today.

Out of its member Clubs will come the ideas that will make it whatever it is going to be in the years ahead.

Yours may be the Club in which a most helpful, a most valuable idea is developed.

Let us not be fearful of new ideas in Rotary but take time to examine and weigh them for whatever merit they may have.

Many of them may not amount to much but others may be worthy of world-wide consideration before being adopted or rejected. And here or there some idea may prove to be "a gem of purest ray serene."

Turning again to Rotary programs in Rotary clubs – there may be some differences in thought as to what they should be. I’ll venture to suggest a few topics that seem to me to qualify for Club discussions if

properly introduced and conducted. Scores of other topics could be suggested to or by the Clubs.

Current legislative proposals certainly are material for such discussions, but there are other topics that are not yet, and possibly may never become, legislative proposals. Nevertheless they may make interesting Club programs.

For example, Rotary's early decision to endeavor to convey the Ideal of Service to all non-Rotarians. Discuss this in your Club and decide for yourselves whether it should be reaffirmed or forgotten. Don't take my word for it.

And if you get really interested in the idea of persuading non-Rotarians to be thoughtful of and he1pful to others as their way of life, then go on to discuss what will be the most effective method for a Club to use to that end. For the individual Rotarian to use. For Rotary International use.

We might consider whether in the selection of R.I. Directors from our U. S. Zones is it preferable to continue the present system or have the nomination made by a Zone nominating committee? (Did someone ask what is the present system? Well, discuss this topic and most of

your members will get e lightened probably for the first time as to what the present system is.)

We might ask ourselves is the present set-up of our R.I. Board of Directors sufficiently representative of the thinking and the cultures of all regions of the Rotary world? The discussion of this topic can't help but develop for many of your members a very interesting picture of the Rotary Movement as a whole.

Could the District Governors of our Districts give our Clubs a more helpful service than that which they now render to them or for them? Are they doing some unnecessary things? Are there some necessary things they are not doing? The Governor system was established for the benefit of the Clubs.

In connection with this last suggestion I realize that there is an annual International Assembly for the R.I. Board to instruct the incoming Governors as to their duties but after

all our Clubs, especially the older ones, may have some worthwhile thoughts on the subject. They have had a great deal of experience with District Governors since they became member Clubs.

I also realize that it may be possible that some Rotarians, especially those who presently hold, or have held, or aspire to hold positions of responsibility in Rotary International, may have some apprehension as to the wisdom of stirring up too much mental activity among rank and file Rotarians. They may feel that it is liable to upset the status quo of Rotary's present orderly procedure. However if there are some who feel that way I believe that in time they too will recognize the value to the Rotary Movement of such mental activity in its constituent Clubs.

My sincere belief is that the Rotary Movement will attain its greatest strength and effectiveness when not only in Board and Committee meetings but in the membership of our Clubs there are discussions of topics concerning the program and the future of the Movement and that consideration of the mechanics of the Movement will lead to the discussion of the Great Objective of the Movement.

Such Club discussions will of course have to be properly organized and conducted the same as must be done with reviews of proposed legislation. It can be done.

The democratic process does not work anywhere by automation. It takes human thinking, human power, to conceive of it and make it work successfully.

We can't have democracy in Rotary International unless we have it in the grass roots of Rotary, in its constituent Clubs, in their officers and committees, in their individual Rotarians. To effectively further democracy, freedom and altruism the Rotary Movement itself must be thoroly democratic.

A Rotary Club that does not interest itself in the Movement as a whole is far from a 100% Rotary Club. Its meetings may be very interesting as general information forums or lecture courses or movie travelogs, but Rotarians can go elsewhere for such things. They can get Rotary only at Rotary Clubs and it is Rotary information and Rotary inspiration that they are seeking when they join a Rotary Club -- or it should be. Don't let them down.

To spread altruism in the world and make it work requires freedom and democracy. When the Rotary Clubs of the world are throbbing with democracy, freedom, and altruism, they

Will demonstrate their present latent potentiality for the achievement of their destiny.

Every Rotary Club should have at least one "spark plug" in it who will tactfully but devotedly keep alive an interest in democratic procedure, tolerant freedom, and the altruistic spirit of Service above Self.

At the close of the 1919 Convention in Salt Lake City an old man with a bunch of garden flowers approached the Secretary of the Association in the hotel lobby and said:

Just an old man with a bunch of garden flowers to testify that 36 years ago Rotary has something the world needed. Does the world still need it? Of course it does, more than ever. Will Rotary give it to the world more widely, more deeply, more effectively than we have yet done?

The answer depends perhaps indirectly but definitely upon you and me, that it is to say upon he whole body of Rotarians, the entire four or five hundred thousand of us.

It is too big a job for the Officers and Committees of R.I. alone. They will provide us with leadership and good advice and execute our plans but contacts necessary with hundreds of millions of people need the cooperation of all of us.

While the statesmen and diplomats of the world argue and dispute, agree and disagree, around their council tables and in the assemblies, the Rotarians quietly and modestly should be reaching people in our cities and outside our cities, in our countries and outside our countries, people in all walks of life, and persuade them to join us in Service above Self until all mankind are thoughtful of and helpful to others. This is Rotary's Great Objective. This is Rotary's destiny.

I congratulate this Club upon its many accomplishments and its contributions of the past

And challenge its members of today to greater thought and action to bring mankind eventually into an era of harmony, health, justice, peace and happiness.

I appreciate your courtesy in listening to my thoughts as I have poured them out to you.

Thank you.

ROTARY INFORMATION - by

Past District Governor Ed Ruggles

DISTRICT ASSEMBLY

Ascot 27 - - - - - - - - - - - April 26, 1959

I used to wonder why so much emphasis is put on this subject of Rotary Information at these District Assemblies, at District Conferences, and other meetings, and why those people in Evanston reminded the clubs repeatedly of the need for more Rotary Information, and why, when the District Governors came around, they were forever harping on this same subject.

I first began to really analyse this question when, back in 1956, Past District Governor Walter invited me to be co-chairman of a discussion group on Rotary Information. Walter played it pretty safe, and knew I wouldn't have a chance to get very far off the track, because he appointed as my partner none other than Joe Caulder.

Since that time I've had more opportunities to find out why this emphasis on Rotary Information is so necessary. To try to tell you why, I'll endeavor to put into a few words what I think "Rotary Information" means. It covers a lot of ground.

I think it means, among other things –

1. Knowing the members of your club.

2. Knowing what your club is doing, and why.

Cont'd...

3. Knowing what goes on in Rotary outside of your own club.

4. Knowing what Rotary is and what it stands for

5. Knowing how it is organized and how it operates at all levels.

Probably each of you could add to that list, but at least this will indicate how comprehensive this subject of Rotary Information is.

The reason the subject is on the agenda of the District Assembly is that you men are going to be holding the key positions of leadership in your clubs during the next Rotary year, and in large part it's going to be your responsibility to be well informed about Rotary and to see to it that the members of your clubs become better informed. This responsibility doesn’t rest entirely with you, of course, but I want to suggest to all of you presidents-elect that you take a personal interest in this phase of your club's life. I use the expression "your club's life" purposely, because the success of your club during your year, and in future years, will depend in large degree on the extent to which your members are well informed on Rotary matters. So, when you are setting up your committees be sure that you create a strong Rotary Information Committee. It helps if they are well informed at the beginning, but if they are enthusiastic about their responsibility they can soon become well informed anyway. See that that committee has the right kind of leadership.

There are a lot of ways in which the committee can go about its job, and you have pamphlets

Cont’d . . .

to give them that will guide them a long way. This pamphlet for the Rotary Information Committee is loaded with good ideas. They'll get additional suggestions from these Timely Tips that come out from R.I. periodically, providing you send in the name of the committee chairman to get him on the mailing list. And of course some of your chairmen are going to have good, original ideas of their own.

I suggest that there are two phases to the work of this committee, informing new members and informing older members. No doubt the education of the new member in Rotary matters is the more important of the two, but please don't assume that your older members know all they need to know about Rotary. It's positively shocking some times to find out how little some Rotarians of several years standing know about such basic things as -

The recommended procedure for proposing and electing new members,

The application of the classification system,

The qualifications for the different types of membership,

Even the attendance rules!

With respect to new members, the Timely Tips which came out from Evanston for Rotary Information Chairmen a few months ago included, among other things, a list of suggestions for the sponsors of new members. This is a list of ways in which the sponsor can, and should, assist the member he has proposed in becoming

a well informed and useful addition to the club.

I've been asked by Governor Archie to say a little about a few of the special techniques that are used in giving Rotary Information to club members, and I had better proceed to do so before the morning gets much older.

At the District level there are three main events each year which are desired specifically to impart knowledge of Rotary to Rotarians. First, there is the District Assembly, held annually for Presidents and Secretaries elect, at the time when they are preparing themselves for their year in office. I know that you will find in the months ahead, that today was a well spent day, and I need say no more about it.

The second District gathering is the One-Day Institute for Rotary Information and Extension, and it is held as early in the Rotary year as it can be arranged. In this District the Institute usually has been in September, after the holiday season is pretty well over, but in some Districts they are held in August, and a few even before the end of July.

The Institute is a relatively new part of the overall information program, having been established by the 1955-56 Board of Rotary International. This is intended to be a discussion type of gathering, concentrating on specific phases of the Rotary program as designated by the President of R.I. each year. As well as increasing the knowledge

Cont'd . . .

Page Z-33

of all participants at the Institute, it is expected that these men will be able to convey similar information to the individual club members when they get back home, and that they will be able to make use of the discussion methods that are used at the Institute. The main function of the Counsellor at the Institute is to stimulate discussion, and not to make speeches, and he measures the success of the Institute by the extent of the participation in the discussions.

There is ample evidence that club officers and other Rotarians are finding these Institutes helpful, because attendance has been growing steadily each year. Many of you have attended one or more of these meetings, and I'm sure you feel, as I do, that they have been very worthwhile. Governor Elect Henry will be setting up plans for the next Institute in three or four months and notifying you of the date and place. In past years the club presidents and the chairmen of the Rotary Information, Classification and Club Bulletin committees have been invited specifically. I would like to offer the question to Governor Elect Henry and to you club presidents-elect that you encourage any other interested Rotarians to attend as well, and particularly your club directors. From my observations, I am convinced that if all club directors had more detailed knowledge of many fundamental Rotary matters, they would be able to function much more effectively in the management of the clubs, and this can save presidents and secretaries a lot of headaches.

I'm sure that Henry could arrange for the necessary space if attendance were to be increased in this manner, and I know that the

Counsellor would be happy with this sort of participation.

Most of the subjects brought up for discussion at the Institutes deal with the interpretation and application of our club constitution and by-laws. The qualifications for membership and the method of proposing and electing new members, the application of our classifications system, the education and assimilation of our new members, effective use of the club bulletin, and promoting the growth of Rotary, are among the subjects generally dealt with. All of them are of interest, and usually there isn't enough time to discuss them as fully as we would like to.

But the One-Day Institute shouldn't be considered as a school from which one has graduated at the end of the day. Rather, it should be treated as a starting point for those who are in attendance, and also for those at home. Immediately following the Institute each club president will receive a pamphlet entitled "The Next Step" and it will be your guide to putting to use in your club what transpired at the Institute, so that you may work towards having an entire club of men who are well versed in Rotary.

The third and largest district event is the annual District Conference. I don't expect that there is a man here who has not attended some of our District Conferences, so, based on that assumption, all of you know what this biggest District event in the Rotary year is all about. Attendance at the District

Cont’d . . .

Conference is the easiest and quickest why to find out that Rotary is something much greater than what we can experience just within our own club. These conferences have opened the eyes of many Rotarians, and their wives, too, as to the scope of this organization, and they have gone back to their clubs with a greater realization that Rotary's principles are worthwhile, and that there is a lot that they as individual can do about it - much more than they have previously. It's a stimulating experience that most Rotarians need, and the earlier in their Rotary career that they get it, the better.

There's a job for club presidents to do in promoting attendance at the District Conference, and I think you should push it every way you know how. And I think that you should also push attendance at the plenary sessions of the Conference. The fellowship at the social functions is wonderful, and it's valuable, but when it's a matter of learning about Rotary, the plenary sessions have a great deal to offer. Governor Archie had some sessions at this year's conference that were tops, and it's too bad that more Rotarians didn't get the benefit of them. The same things applies to previous years too.

Now, a few words about some of the techniques in giving Rotary Information within our clubs.

Many of our clubs make use of club forums and fireside meetings in their promotion of Rotary Information, and use them very effectively, but some of our clubs do not make use of these techniques at all, unfortunately,

Sometimes there is a little confusion between the meaning of these terms, "club forum" and "fireside meeting". The intention of a forum is to provide a discussion meeting for the whole club, during which certain specified avenues of service are covered, under the leadership of an appointed discussion leader. The fireside meeting is designed to be a less formal gathering, with smaller groups, and on any subject related to Rotary. Probably a little more fellowship is enjoyed through the informality of this smaller gathering, but each serve much the same purpose in the long run.

With respect to club forums, here's the way they are explained in the pamphlet for Rotary Information committees. (read section on p.6).

Fireside Meetings - are conducted not only to promote fellowship and to stimulate club interest, but also to develop further understanding of the Rotary program. There is a little booklet put out by Rotary International on this subject, as on most subjects, and it’s called "Discussion With a Purpose". It is offered as a help and guide to those who are responsible for organization Fireside Meetings and for those who are to lead the discussions.

Here are a few words given as an introduction in this pamphlet -- read inside cover.

Read paragraph on Organization. Read paragraph on "Promoting Participation". List of suggested subjects is given.

Cont’d . . .

Clubs work out their own versions of these meetings to suit their own needs. For example, in our club we have been applying the term "Fireside Meeting" to small gatherings that we have held several times this year for 3, 4 or 5 new Rotarians and their wives. These have been held in homes, of course. We have separated the men for concentrated Rotary discussion for an hour and a half to two hours, and limited the time even though it was hard to break off sometimes, and then we rejioned the girls for a very light lunch and conversation. A fair amount of information is imparted in this way and a good start is made at getting these new members and their wives acquainted.

There are many, many techniques that you san use in your efforts to have your fellow club members better informed on Rotary, and I hope that you will use them, and that before the end of your year you will be able to say that you have a well informed club.

There’s a purpose to all this, and I think it was summed up very concisely by Immediate Past President of Rotary International, Harold Thomas, during his major address at the international convention in Miami last year. Here’s what he said - - - -

Note: Read pages 214-15 in the proceedings f the 1960 convention by President Harold T. Thomas.

THE GOLDENSTRAND, 1966

by Emerson Gause

August 1, 1966

Mr. Emerson Gause,

P. O. Box 1315,

Evanston, Ill.,

U.S.A.

Dear Emerson :- ·

I have now read carefully and with great interest the book "The Golden Strand". I expect I should have said "your" book. I can truthfully say that this is the greatest book ever written on Rotary. I feel it will do much to correct wrong impressions about old Chicago Number One. For years the impression has got around the Rotary world that the Chicago club could scarcely be called a Rotary club anymore. It was just a very large club of 700 or so members who met for a weekly luncheon and though it had some great Rotarians in the early days- Harris, Schiele, Ruggles, Newton, Perry and a few others, that the club did not have this kind of member anymore. It is known as the big club that has refused to give up territory and is a very selfish group.

When one reads chapter after chapter and year after year what a noble part Chicago has played in developing Rotary in the way the founders could not help but be delighted over what has developed from the Original Four, one is amazed.

I knew all these original great men except Silvester Schiele and one might have felt sure their influence would live on, and I now hope, kept forever bright.

I have visited No. 1 over the years many times and was not unduly impressed.

Now Emerson you come along and with your years as a member (since 1921) and with your years near the top of R. I. as Assistant Secretary and as editor of The Rotarian, you have developed a new picture that has changed my opinion greatly. I love the way you have dealt with Rotary's severe critics such as H. L. Menekeh, G.B. Shaw and others and how you quote Booth Tarkington and Irvin S. Cobb; Saturday Evening Post and others.

I hope this book will become a "Best Seller" and I assure you I will do what I can to help,

Perhaps no one today living could have done as well as you have done in writing this book.

Sincerely yours,

Joe Caulder

Director R.I. 1928-29

P.S. I enclose an extra copy which you might like to pass on to Mr. Arnold.

J.A.C.

REPORT ON ROTARY

DENVER CONVENTION 1966

By Geo. R. Means

Rotary is near the end of another very good year. The extension to the headquarters building in Evanston is now completed. The cost was about $1,250,000.00 but the finances are still sound.

There will be 278 districts in Rotary, No change from 1965-66.

Four new countries were brought in - Bahrain, Dahomey, Comoro Islands and Gibraltar. This now makes 133 but there was quite a discussion whether it was 132 or 133. The mixup was caused by Syria who was considered a drop out but had not been reported and Rotary was again established there early in 1966.

The Matched District plan has worked well, also the entire foundation plan seems to be booming. On April 15th there were 12,360 clubs in 133 countries and a total membership of 590,000.

Richard L. Evans took over as president on July 1st and Luther Hodges took his place on the board for 1966-67. He will become President on July 1, 1967.

The following is from an interview with Charlie Newton - Rotarian No. 7 in Chicago May -29 to June 2^nd, 1955

From Charlie Newton, the number 7 man to join Rotary in 1905, and the second oldest living Rotarian in years of membership. Only Harry Ruggles, who was the 5^th man to come in is senior.

Had long sessions with Charlie at the Sherman Hotel on May 31^st and took his with me to the breakfast held June 1^st by the 18^th Dist., which was my district in 1921-22. Then the 19^th but the but the following year changed to the 4^th.

Rotary’s first Community Service job was started at a meeting of Chicago No. 1 – held at the Great Northern Hotel, Thurs., Oct. 24^th, 1907. Rotary was then operating on the calendar year. The club gathered a great group of Chicago’s leading men and 15 spoke in favor of a public comfort station to be built in the City Hall and to cost $20,000.00. The endorsement was so solid and vocal and had such political and business backing, that a few days later when a delegation met the Council the resolution was passed but Chicago taxpayers put up every cent and Rotary got the credit.

Charlie Newton was President Chicago Club in 1923-24 ruled with an iron hand. At one time dropped 125 for poor attendance but took 95 of them back when they promised to mend their ways. Later posted 71 on a

Cont’d . . .

bulletin board in the dining room as not having paid their dues. They were given one week. The next week 21 names still on the board and President Newton announced that every man who did not pay before leaving the room was out. Only one name left at 2 P.M. and he was in Europe so a friend paid for him.

When Paul Harris resigned in the middle of his second year as Chicago President (Oct. 1908) he wanted Arthur Frederick Sheldon to succeed him. The club, led by Charlie Newton, rebelled and Harry Ruggles was elected President to fill out Paul’s second year. It is obvious even then Rotarians were only human and as yet Paul Harris had not developed a halo as he did later. Paul resigned over a prank pulled on him at a meeting and in which Paul felt his so-called friends had gone too far. No amount of coaxing would bring him back and when Ruggles was chosen over Sheldon, Paul remained away from the club for five or six months. Charlie says Paul was a great prankster who could hand it out but who could not take it.

The number 6 man was Wm. Jansen of Regelin, Jenson & Co., Real Estate, Renting and Insurance, 105 Washington St.

Hiram Shorey (the tailor) only stayed a member for a few weeks,

In the summer of 1905 there were 19 members and the first roster was issued.

As for the founding date, there is much confusion. As late as 1911, stationery was used showing R. M. Ramsay, Pres. (and he was President from Feb. 1910 to Jan. 1911) and also showing in clear type at the top "Rotary Club - founded Thursday, Feb. 25th, 1904 by Paul P. Harris." Even in spite of this and even though Harry Ruggles says he did printing work for the club in 1904, Charlie says it can't be so as he joined as partner in H. J. Ullman and Co., which Company only started business in Jan. 1905. To back up Charlie's statement the records show Silvester Schiele the first President and his term of office is shown as Feb. 1905 to Jan. 1906.

It is a fact that in 1910 or 1911 a committee met to determine the date because by then Rotary was "on the march" and the date Feb. 23, 1905 was agreed upon. It is a fact that the name was not chosen at the first half dozen meetings or the rules about single classification, etc, It just did not all happen on Feb. Z3, 1905.

At first the club met on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays and a look at the 1905 calendar showed the 4th Thursday to be Feb. 23rd and the one sure thing was that the meetings were held on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.

The first Constitution and by-laws was drawn up and printed in Jan. 1906.

In 1908 a State charter was obtained (July 27, 1908) and it was all in Paul Harris' handwriting. At that time a 3rd Object was added to read - "To advance the best interests of Chicago and spread the spirit of loyalty among its citizens". Charlie says this No. 3 was added to counteract criticism against this group of back scratchers called Rotarians.

Charlie backs up what Paul Harris told me in 1930 - That Rotary would never have lived through the first 2 or 3 years only for the "business" plank in its platform.

Newton also says that when the Club had 120 members he had all the insurance of 90 of the 120 and Harry Ruggles had all the printing of 110 out of 120.

The business angle started to die in 1911 and was almost dead in the Chicago club, in 1913, but was very much, alive in the San Francisco Club in 1915 when Howard Feighner was Secy. and when the meal started he had to go out and check every hat to make sure every member was loyal to the hat man the club anyhow.

Newton feels that Sheldon has gotten far more praise than he deserved but is frank to say that Silvester Schiele one of the original four and Harry Ruggles No. 5 are the men who put Rotary Club No. 1 over. No doubt modesty prevented Charlie from including his name and thus making

it three, plus Paul Harris. Harris, however, was a quiet, shy man. Silvester and Harry Ruggles and certainly Charlie himself, were not shy. They were, however, all very ethical business men.

Charlie also says that the horse they bought for the Chicago Doctor was for a Doctor who was then a club member. This was in 1906. The Dr. was C. W. Hawley.

Charlie disagrees with all Official records about the organization meeting being held in Gus Loehr’s office in the Old Unity Building and says it was in Silvester Schiele’s office.

One by-law read:- "It shall be the duty of the statistician to keep a record of and to report at each meeting, the business influenced by the membership of this organization".

At first members were elected for .one year only. Harry Ruggles says this was proposed but never made a definite rule. No dues were collected until Sept. 1908. Up to then fines had to provide al1 necessary funds. The club had no Board of Directors until 1906, also no Committees until 1906 and then only Membership and Entertainment. The club had no office until 1910 when The National Association of Rotary Clubs was organized with Chesley R.. Perry as part time Secretary. The rent for the office, plus steno and telephone was $50.00 per month.

At the first meeting the non-political and non-sectarian principles were adopted.

Cont’d . . .

It vas Donald M. Carter, a patent attorney, who joined in 1906 and who started the club interest civic affairs, which in 1908 led to the civic comfort station being built.

Paul Harris was then President. Silvester Schiele was the first President; A.L. White the Second; Paul P. Harris the third; and Harry Ruggles the Fourth.

Harris and Ruggles, between them, served three years.

The first emblem, the wagon wheel, was designed by M.M. Bear and adopted in 1906.

Singing was introduced by Harry Ruggles in the winter of 1905-06 and the noon luncheon was suggested b Charlie Newton and started In 1908.

Ches. Perry suggested the members’ identification badges and Silvester Schiele the idea of members’ pictures in the Roster.

All the above given by Charlie Newton and all the early are not in agreement. Ches. Perry did not join the club until January 1908. From that date on there is no doubt about what happened and when.

J.A. CAULDER

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