Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1941-07-25
TASK
IS NOW TO PLAN
WORLD PEACE

The Carnage of war and the suffer
ing in its wake are not new. Every
age since the memory of man run
meth not to the contrary has known
the conflict of ideas and the clash
of arms. Yet never in the past has
the world contained so many friction
al points as irritate it today. Once
again completely of these frictions
has set off a world war-a world war
with all the threatening aspects of
worldwide revolution. From it, all
people will lemerge poorer.
Rotary could not have prevented
this war. Rotary cannot stop it.
What, then, is the place of our move
ment- of 10000 business and profess
sional men and 5000 Clubs in this
world at war?
Rotary's task is to plan now for
peace. For peace will come. Wheth-
er it will come in one year, five years
or Is years, no man can say-but we
dare not ne that uncertainty as an
excuse for inaction.
This time a mere holiday from war
will not satisfy. The peoples of the
world will demand a just peace-a
peace based upon the dignity of the
human soul and framed for the eco
nomic and spiritual happiness OF all.
If tey do not get it, worse wars will
follow.
So there is job to do-now- and
1 call upon you, my fellow Rotarians,
to help and to lead in the doing of
it. What is that job? It is the sys-
tematic removal of those points OF
friction which cause wars and fore
doom peace treaties to failure. That
is largely hometown job.
You know your problem better than
I. You know the roots of restless
ness in your town as I know them in
mine, and as business and profess
sional leaders, we can help to eradi-
cate them. The problem goes back,
does it not, to what men want? What
does a normal man want? In simplest
terms, he wants a job and some as
surance of continued work, chance
for his children, independence when
he is old, and he would like to feel a
part, not a chattel, of his employers
business. He wants security.
Does every deserving man in your
town and mine have it? Security for
all. Labor Minister Ernest Bevin re-
Gently told the Rotary Club of Lon
don, is what Britain is fighting for.
How to guarantee that security with
out taking away, in exchange, the
precious, hard-won rights of the in
dividual is the troubling issue.
When peace does come, great prob
lens, which are only the extensions
of mans individual problems, will
come with it: The just distribution
and ALLEGATION of raw materials-im-
Iperative if nations are to survive. The
reopening of world trade channels
twill all the old bottlenecks and bar
riers on land and see still be there?)
The sudden stoppage of the gigantic
arms industry. The rehabilitation
of millions of fine young men. The
vast problem of cushioning the finan-
cial shock that peace is almost GER
tain to bring.
But what, specifically, of our own
beloved Rotary as movement in the
days ahead? It will do best, it seems
clear, to consolidate the gains it has
made, to emphasize quality as against
quantity. Certainly where areas still
lie open and awaiting the Rotary
seed, let US plant new Clubs. Many
should spring up in the Americas to
help bond the peoples of the long
continent. Let us continue and en-
large the multitude of our quiet, con-
crete services. The needs of youth
challenge US particularly. The times
are test of its faith in US who are
older Youth wants no coddling. 1t
does want understanding. Rotarians,
as the friends of youth, the employ
ers of youth, and the dads of youth,
know what's to be done.
You and 1 know Rotary's lmita-
tions-but we also know its capaci-
ties. We know that we can do some
thing. With a worldful of reasons
for pessimism, am not pessimistic
Ia &lo 10 %,-s11roYh