My Road To Rotary

Chapter 35

The Architect Finds A Builder

THE CREATOR must have thought well of Rotary. I was worn and weary and discouraged at times. It seemed providential when in the third year of the Chicago Club there came one who, more than all others, has labored to make the dream come true. What Rotary would have done without him no one knows. I am sure much credit has been given to me for work done by him. While Chesley B. Perry associated himself with enthusiasm in the activities of the Chicago club, it took some time for him to become interested in the extension of the movement, When he did, I found him a helpful partner.

The conversion of Ches to "World Around" Rotary came about in a peculiar way. An incoming president of the Chicago club, not being in sympathy with the "World Widers," appointed Ches chairman of the club's extension committee thinking thus to spike the guns of those in favor of the wider viewpoint which he considered irrational and visionary.

I realized the necessity of doing one of two things, either losing entirely the sympathy of the Chicago club or converting the newly appointed chairman of the extension committee to the broader viewpoint.

So it came about that I called Ches by phone one Sunday when he had ample time to talk. During the course of the interview, Ches asked me the question: "Why do you think, Paul, that the Chicago club is as nothing compared with what you have in mind?"

I don't know how I answered but I considered the situation desperate and fired all of my broadsides in defense of my idea. Ches said little at the time but what he did say was enough. When I hung up the receiver, I felt convinced that I had won a friend to the cause. Shortly thereafter he and I, with the help of others, planned the formation of an association of the then existing clubs. Ches took the laboring oar in outlining and organizing the first convention of Rotary clubs.

Some of my fellow Chicago Rotarians had been helpful and encouraging. They saw possibilities in our own country but none seemed to visualize the possibilities of a world wide movement. The clubs organized in other cities were more helpful in developing a wider philosophy. They had a fresh outlook on the situation.

Chesley Perry seemed to be able to grasp and to fairly evaluate all essential features; he embraced Rotary intellectually as well as sentimentally. Never again was it necessary to fight the battle alone; Ches was always beside me or in front of me. He was definitely in the fight.

That first Rotary convention (of delegates from sixteen clubs) was held in the Congress Hotel in Chicago in August 1910. Chesley Perry was chosen by the delegates to preside over their sessions. A constitution and by-laws were drawn up and adopted. The delegates spent many hours discussing the meaning and potentialities of Rotary. The attendance at that first convention was less than 100 but twenty years later when the 21st Rotary Convention was held in Chicago observing 25 years of Rotary over 11,000 men and women were in attendance.

At the conclusion of the first Chicago convention I was elected as the president of the Association which had been formed, and Chesley Perry was chosen as its secretary. At the Portland Convention in 1911 I was re-elected as president for a second year and at my request Ches continued as secretary. At the 1912 convention in Duluth I retired from active service and was honored by being made "president emeritus" of Rotary International. For a third time Ches was elected secretary and his annual re-election became a matter of course until he retired in 1942.

That Ches Perry and I have been able to work so well together surely has been a great blessing to the organization. Has it perchance been due to the influence of Rotary upon us? Every worker who gives himself to a worthy cause is bound to realize some of its benefits.

Ches always pushed me to the front; confining his efforts largely to work at his desk where he served throughout the years, taking few vacations. His day was not an eight hour day; he generally could be found at his desk far into the night. Through such devotion he built up his fine staff of workers at Chicago and at other quarters throughout the world. If I can in truth be called the architect, Ches can with equal truth be called the builder of Rotary International.

Headquarters was developed on very democratic lines. We never considered our fellow workers as employees; they were associates rather. All were addressed by their given names regardless of the importance of the part they played, and to them all the secretary was "Ches" and I was "Paul."

No one could by the widest stretch of the imagination say that Ches and I were chums in the usual acceptance of the word. When we met in the office, I saluted him with "Good morning, Ches," and he answered: "Good morning, Paul." But we seldom went to lunch together. Often I would have hailed the opportunity to spend an hour with Ches at noon time talking over the happenings of the day but that was not to be. Ches took a light lunch in his office and continued his work without material break of thought.

Ches had his idiosyncrasies and I had mine. Some things were natural to Ches, others were natural to me, but something more important than mere chumminess was growing up steadily throughout the years; that was a genuine affection born of respect for each other.

Something of the same character developed in the minds of new international presidents and directors of the movement. They missed the effusive welcome which they had expected but found something far better. New officers approached their tasks with apprehension. Could they make good? They were well experienced in Rotary in their home cities and districts but service as president or membership on the board caused nervous apprehension. All of this generally disappeared as the days went by. Sitting beside the president at the board meeting was a man, the international secretary, always ready to be called upon but never obtrusive; a gentle touch here and there, a skillful mention of some guiding principle. All doubts in their minds soon disappeared. When the meeting closed all felt that with the compendium of information ever at hand in their secretary no failure could come to the administration.

When in 1942 it became rumored that Ches was going to retire as Secretary of Rotary International the air was full of conjectures as to what would happen to Rotary arid what would happen to Ches. Phil Lovejoy, a native of Portland, Maine, a graduate of the University of Michigan, and a past president of the Rotary Club of Hamtramck, Michigan, who had been first assistant secretary for the preceding twelve years was everyone's choice for the office of General Secretary and was duly elected. The trains did not run off the track as feared by many. Phil knew his job. He is ably supported by Lester B. Struthers as assistant general secretary. Les has been in the organization for over twenty years.

In his retirement Clies returned to activities in the Chicago Rotary Club, first in committee work, then as director and vice-president, and last year as president of our Club of 770 members. Like good wine he improves with age.

Headquarters is not only a marvel of efficiency, but it is also Exhibit A of Rotary doctrines. The staff, consisting of 150 earnest and happy workers, are gathered together in the large room of the board of directors for a meeting Monday after lunch, approximately once a month. Smiling General Secretary Phil Lovejoy presides. A song in which all join brings a sense of relaxation. Then Secretary Phil runs rapidly over the affairs of the preceding month and of the month to come, interjecting a bit of humor at appropriate places. The result is that each member is educated in the purposes of the movement; that every associate realizes the importance of his or her particular part in the world-wide organization.

To facilitate the extension of Rotary throughout the world, and give service to established clubs, a secretariat was early established in London, England; some time later secretariats at Zurich, Switzerland, and Bombay, India, were established under the supervision of the General Secretary. These offices have rendered fine service to the clubs in Britain and Ireland, Europe, and Asia.

In 1911 we authorized Secretary Perry to edit and manage a magazine for Rotary which has grown into a most important factor in the advancement of the movement and in the maintenance of solidarity among Rotarians. It also is welcomed by libraries and schools, and frequently quoted by other publications. For several years "The Rotarian" has been under the able editorship and management of Leland Case, and its Spanish language edition is well handled by Manuel Hinojosa.

The extraordinary progress of the Rotary movement has, most naturally, necessitated the expenditure of large sums of money but it has all been provided by comparatively small annual dues contributed by the members of all Rotary clubs who have wanted to make it possible for men of other cities and other countries to learn about Rotary and be given the opportunity to share in its blessings, and in turn contribute to its further development. The financial policy has always been conservative and sound; go as far as you can with what you have at the moment. There is a substantial surplus in the treasury available for all emergencies which can be foreseen by prudent and farsighted men.

Though the annual budget of today may seem large, it is nothing compared to what it would necessarily be were it not for the fact that thousands of Rotarians, not alone in America, but throughout the world, are giving their best efforts in the interest of the movement without any compensation other than the satisfaction they find in advancing a movement which to them holds great hope for a better world, a neighborly world.

Once during the early years of the movement, Secretary Perry came to my office in Chicago to introduce the two splendid Canadian Rotarians who had been commissioned by Rotary International to establish Rotary Clubs in Australia and New Zealand. They expressed a desire to meet me whom they termed the "Founder of Rotary." I gratefully accepted the honor but suggested that perhaps my part had been overemphasized. Ches answered for my callers and said: "I suppose that Rotarians come to see you, Paul, in about the same spirit they go to visit the source of a great river."

I have often thought of those words; they constituted a high compliment paid in the form of a beautiful anology. I accepted the compliment as it was intended, but does the great river have its flow from any one particular spring alone? No, the great river is the sum total of the contributions of hundreds, perhaps thousands of little brooks and rivulets, which come tumbling down hillsides and mountains, singing as they go, eager to cast themselves into the channel of the great river.

Well, that is like the growth of Rotary. It has become great because of the self-sacrificing contributions of thousands of Rotarians of many lands.

There followed me in the presidency of the Association a long line of devoted and able Rotarians who have given the movement great life, poise and character. They have come not only from the United States but from Canada, Mexico, England, France, Brazil and Peru. Each president has had associated with him other able men who as members of the board of directors, committeemen, and district governors, have come from scores of countries. Each year's administration has made and is continuing to make its important contribution to the extension and development of my early conception of a world wide fellowship of business and professional men united in the ideal of service. Club officers and members have made many helpful contributions. Yes, indeed, the great river of Rotary is the sum total of the contributions of many.

Rotary International has been extremely fortunate in many ways but especially in its selection of presidents. It would require many volumes to record their contributions to the movement, to estimate their loyalty, their devotion, the sacrificial spirit they have so splendidly manifested, and to adequately describe the leadership they have given to the movement. Here I can but pay them the tribute of presenting their names:

1912-13-Glenn C. Mead, Philadelphia, Pa.

1913-14-Russell F. Greiner, Kansas City, Mo.

1914-15-Frank L. Mulholland, Toledo, Ohio.

1915-16-Allen D. Albert, Minneapolis, Minn.

1916-17-Arch C. Klumph, Cleveland, Ohio.

1917-18-E. Leslie Pidgeon, Winnipeg, Canada.

1918-19-John Poole, Washington, D. C.

1919-20-Albert S. Adams, Atlanta, Georgia.

1920-21-Estes Snedecor, Portland, Oregon.

1921-22-Crawford C. McCullough, Fort William, Canada.

1922-23-Raymond M. Havens, Kansas City, Mo.

1923-24-Guy Gundaker, Philadelphia, Pa.

1924-25-Everett W. Hill, Oklahoma City, Okla.

1925.26-Donald A. Adams, New Haven, Conn.

1926-27-Harry H. Rogers, San Antonio, Texas.

1927-28-Arthur H. Sapp, Huntington, Indiana.

1928-29-I. B. Sutton, Tampico, Mexico.

1929-30-M. Eugene Newsome, Durham, N. Carolina.

1930-31-Almon E. Roth, Palo Alto, Calif.

1931-32-Sydney W. Pascall, London, England.

1932-83-Clinton P. Anderson, Albuquerque, N.Mexico.

1933-34-John Nelson, Montreal, Canada.

1934-35-Robert E. L. Hill, Columbia, Mo.

1935-36-Ed. B. Johnson, Roanoke, Va.

1936-37-Will H. Manier, Jr., Nashville, Tenn.

1937-38-Maurice Duperrey, Paris France.

1938-39-Geo. C. Hager, Chicago, Illinois.

1939-40-Walter D. head, Montclair, N. J.

1940-41-Armando de Arruda Pereira, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

1941-42-Tom J. Davis, Butte, Montana

1942-43-Fernando Carbajal, Lima, Peru.

1943-44-Charles L. Wheeler, San Francisco, Calif.

1944-45-Richard H. Wells, Pocatello, Idaho.

1945-46---T. A. Warren, Wolverhampton, England.

Arthur Frederic Sheldon of Chicago made us see more clearly our service responsibilities in business and we have him to thank for the slogan: "He profits most who serves best," which was accepted as indicating, strange as it may seem, that it was conceivable than an effort to give the other fellow the best of it might result in getting the best of it yourself. Minneapolis Rotarians gave us our other and more terse slogan: "Service Above Self."

Rotarians of Seattle gave us our platform of principles and a group of Sioux City Rotarians contributed the code of ethics. These and many other contributions helped to give our movement its sense of direction.

In 1915 Guy Gundaker of Philadelphia, prepared a booklet entitled "A Talking Knowledge of Rotary," to express Rotary as it was then understood, rather than to set up new ideals and standards. It was a most helpful contribution to the cause.

The Rotary Club of Birmingham, Alabama, made valuable contributions to the interpretating of Rotary to the public as the Rotary Clubs of Britain and Ireland also have done.

Even before there was a second club, realizing the importance of community service, I persuaded the Chicago Rotary Club to initiate the establishment of public comfort stations in the city of Chicago, inviting the city administration and every civic organization in the city to join our club in the undertaking. It is possible that some more attractive objective might have been chosen for our first venture, but it would be difficult to have found one which would have stirred up more agitation. Two formidable forces rose up against us; one was the Chicago Association of Brewers which contended that every one of Chicago's six thousand saloons offered public comfort conveniences for men. The other opponent was the Association of Department Stores on State Street which contended that free accommodations in their stores were available to women. The proponents of the measure nevertheless persisted that men ought not to have to buy a glass of beer nor women have to buy merchandise to make use of toilet facilities. The stations were established.