The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

be said that any member has failed disas=
ttously to realize the true spirit Of his
club who would enlven It's sessions With
unworthy jokes or in addition to the ex-
filtration of spirit which Rotary provides
would introduce into its gatherings the
cheating exhlliration of intoxicants. Our
fun Is that humer which Thackeray de-
fined as wilt and love combined.
Each Member Does His Best
'One of the cleverest expressions OF the
Rotary spirit Is the general expectation
In every club that in everything. fail
ure and success alike each member does
his best. As the passer-by In the Passing
of the Third Floor Back lifted thread
bare and spiritually impoverished little
community out of its poorer into its richer
life, merely by assuming that each of its
members was moved by his own kindly
IDEALS SO the whole body of Rotarians
keeps each member more nearly true to
his ideals by counting confidently that
each member is striving to fulfill his
ideals. Character among men has ap-
peaed to US of the Rotary club some.
what as weave of strength and spirit;
the shoddy of seishness, of corruption.
and Of meanness. finds its way very rare
ly to the loom. while the workman's fell
lows stand by to help him keep the wave
clean. In Rotary, as in the Talmud. a
light for one is a light for a hundred.
The upbuilding of efficiency and the re-
enforcement of character-this is at once
the true meaning and the true purpose of
Rotary. 1t would strengthen men to meet
the largest responsibilities of their lives
1t would make them fit for service In
business. in cives, In the home.
Surely this Is task enough Rotary
can make progress toward performing Il
better If 1t applies itself to this task ex-
elusiyely, It should not attempt to be-
come an executive organization in behalf
of movements, however meritorious which
are chiefly commercial or chiefly political.
Its function is rather to prepare men
to choose the right course and give them
strength to pursue that course than To
organize them into good government clubs
or civic and commerce organiza tions. Ro-
tary Is essentially a training school, Bv
a process somewhat like natural selee-
uon, its members should find themselves
on the generous side the seeing side.
tho side earnest for good citizenship in
every contst.
But as an institution Rotary has too
much at stake to risk taking part In con-
troversies where the issue Is not SO clear
~ drawn between right and wrong as to
leave no substantial difference of opinion
. among men moved by a common purpose
upward to a common ideal
Privilege of Duty
After all, the only privilege which Ro
tarV pOnfprs Is tho pri,viIaro s,,4..
SO inherently responsive to duty are the
English-speaking men of today that un-
der our very eyes the call of Rotary
is answered In this convention bv the
English-s speaking men of two continents.
An organization without vows, without a.
secret ritual, which merely yokes men
together with an inspiring purpose, moves
one company of brothers in the British
, Isles to quote to another company of the
American prairies these wistful words
of our American poet, Whittier:
: The Golden age Of brotherhood
Unknown TO other rivaIries
Than of the mild humanities
And gracious Interchange of good
When closer strand shall lean to strand
TN meet beneath salutlng flags
The eagle of our mountain eraes
The lion Of our nlotherland
What one amongst us has not been
profoundly thankful In a century of peace
between British and American brothers
OF the blood? What one of us Is not
thrilled as he contemplates that long bor-
der line to the north of 4Ooo miles un-
shadowed by single gun. unpatroled by
a single man of war? What one of us.
conseerated to set his face reso1utely
against the waste the degradation. tho
sickening sacrifice of precious human
life, in war?
THE call of Rotary sounds round the
world Whether it be In response to tho
tragic need of sufferers through flood and
Whirlwind or 10 the demand for the quiet
offices of seemingly humdrnm fidelity to
the highest standards OF citizenship Ro-
tary-as long as SHE Is true to her spirit
is destined to make her voice heard IN
every council for the good Of men. This
is her true opportunity.
yet this is. in very truth. the critical
period In Rotary The Japanese have u
saying:
" The bottom or the lighthouse is very
dark
Ideals are only phrases fl they are not
lived Rotary Is only a clanling skeleton
II 1t does not find its expression In you,
and you, and you, and me. We
All are parts of one tremendous whole
Whose body Nature Is and God the soul
ut has been said that the real test OF
Rotary is In the local clubs. The test
reaches deeper than that. 1t reaches TO
every single man In every local club The
only merit in Rotary is personal merit.
As we shall emphasize these principles
OF Rotary in all our lives, as we shall ex-
act them of every group which seeks to
establish a new club as we shall hold
them before us like the cross of the Cru
sader. SO and in no other way shall we
make sure the realization of that spirit
which has brought here today and
made brothers OF us all.
We are warriors, you and l. under a
banner which has been put into our hands
BY Him who made the sea and whose
hands prepared the dry land, by Him In
whose sight a thousand years are but as
yesterday when 1t is past. or as a watch
in the night. We have been blessed by
Him in being called to leadership In an
age when His teaching of universal broth
erhood. when the sacrifice OF his Son for
the love OF man, seem about to bear their