, 1922-02-23
ROTARY RENEWs|
SERVICE PLEDGE
ON ANNIVERSARY
Club Bonn ~ Years Ago
Has Great Success to
Credit IN World

-. -
and social life as well rs to civic tet'
trrment gencraliy. h Rotary club Of
this city last night celebrated the sew
cn,centh anniversary OF h orsaniza'
ton of the FIRST Rotary club in the
world
Rotary came into being In Chicago.
February %, 1905. with a group of
four men-one a coal dealer. one a
mining operator. one a merchant
tailor. and the fourth an attorney.
The attorney, Paul p. Harris. first ad-
vanced the idea of forming n club DIFF
fcrent from any club then known,
and TO him belongs h credit for
starting the crest Rotary movement
At this meeting Of the four. when
decision was made TO organize a club
IL was also decided to invite to mem
bership Just one man from n diff
fcrcnt business or professional call
ing. A printer, n real estate man. an
insurance man. and a banker were h
next four admitted.
Rotary was chosen as the name
of the new club because n members
met In rotation at their places OF
business. Rotation Club" seemed
somewhat inapt so they adopted the
shorter form Rotary Club"
The Chicago club continued TO IN
crease in membership. In 19os-three
years after The FIRST raeettng-the sec
ond Rotary club vas organized in San
Francisco. Other clubs oIowed on
the Pacific coast and then the move
ment spread to the east and then to
the south until 1s clubs mad been or
ranizcd by the end Of 1910.
II was in 1910 that the FIRST couven-
ton was held in Chicago and the
National Association" formed AT
this convention Chesioy r Perry was
! elected secretary and he continues to
hold this office at h present time.
Rotary emerged from q national or
sanization to an international orEan-
ization two years later Mt h Duluth
convention, A short time previous to
this convention a club had been or
eanized at Winnipeg, Canada, and
during the convention. a cablegram
was received from the Rotary club
of Lone5n, England. asking Tor q
charter. Rotary had thus quickly
evolved from one club in 1905 to an
international organization in 1919.
Since 1919 the organisation has
grown even more rapidly TRAN during
tho FIRST seven years. Today there
are more than 1000 Rotary ciabs in
the world. Although tho greater
number are in the United States,
where the movement originated. there
are now Rotary clubs in Canada New
~foundland. Great Britain and ireland.
Cuba, South America. h Republic Of
Panama. China. India. Australia and
New Zealand. This growth seems all
the moro remarkable hen we Q
Ire that the Repatriation a never at
any time employed paid organizers.
And in addition, extreme care has al
ways been exercisod in surveying
cities and towns applying for mem
bership to make sure a such com
mumities are ready for a Rotary club
and arc of sufficient size from which
to secure n membership of represen-
tattve men and still have h mem
bership restricted to one man from
zach business or profession.
THREE DELEGATES FROM
JAPAN WE'RE ROTARIANS.
Three Of the men Japan sent to
washington to assist its official en-
voys In tho conferences FOR a iimita.
ton of ornaments were members of
the Toxic Rotary club. members Of
the local Rotary club were told today
at the special meeting OF the gar
ization in celebration of the seven
teenth anniversary Of the founding of
the first club in Chicago.
These three men, an prominent ia
panese business inen. were sent tc
this country in the course OF a cas-
ual selection OF delegates and ad-
ytsors. One Of them, President U.
A. FT-rl- Itch l. 49,
vice president Of tho famous Mitsui
banking corporation. The others are
equally prominent in japanese bust
ness affairs. The Toxic club Is said
to be typical OF the clubs organized in
various parts OF the world. It's mem
bership Is entirely Japanese The eff
fort of tho International Association
of Rotary Clubs has been to make
the organization in zach city rcpre.
sentative of tho city and the country
rather than Of the American and Eu-
ropean residents Of hat country.
where there is q large MIXED popuia-
ton, as in Shanghai, Calcutta and
Manila, there win DO found a mixed
membership. Other places h mem
bership is wholly national. In this
way Rotary hopes to emphasfze not
only the usefulness OF the ~organiza-
ton but the fact that fits creed-~He
profits most who ssrves best--is
adaptable to an religious philosophers
and that a man can be an excellent
Rotarian whether he is a Christian. a
Buddhist Mohammedan or what not
II Is for this reason that the cele
hraffcn Of hi seventeenth enntvers
AIRY Of tho organization of the frst
club M been given an international
character. In many OF the clubs. In
addition to a renewal OF the pledges
of service to the communities. h
program OF the anniversary meeting
is International Different members
representing the rs countries made
short speeches descriptive Of : the
growth of h organization to its
present strength OF almost $4,000
members in those countries There
are now more than 1000 Rotary clubs
in the world.