Clubs may find in this article
material which can be used as
the basis for an interesting club

program.

 

 

Snventory of Kotay

by Philip Lovejoy, Secretary, R.I.

(prepared for delivery to the 1944 Convention of R.I.— May 19, 1944)

U™= the dynamic leadership of

Charlie Wheeler, flanked by his
devoted colleagues on the board,
and fcrtified by the committeemen,
district governors, and the club of-
ficers throughout the world, our
Rotary organization, despite almost
insurmountable difficulties, has gone
forward to new heights during this
fiscal year about to end.

Membership At All-Time High

Our numerical strength is at an
all-time high. A few more than
224,000* Rotarians in 5,190 clubs in
60 geographical regions of the world
is the statistical story tonight. This
is an increase of 138* Rotary clubs
in 22* geographical regions of the
world since the first of last July—
with 42 days yet to go, a number
already 13 more than were admitted
in the entire previous Rotary year.

New Clubs in Many Countries

There is romance in this exten-
sion activity. There is drama in it.
There is pathos and heartache. But,
with all, there is a virile vision.
Where are these clubs located?** 51
in continental United States, 9 in
Canada, 47 in Ibero America—in 11
countries—of which 17 are in Brazil
and 12 in Mexico. In England, with
all of its wartime activity, the Ro-
tarians found it possible to bring in
5** new clubs, and there are 2 in
Northern Ireland. Down in Aus-
tralia there is 1. Down in New Zea-
land there are 8, and in South
Africa, 1. In India there are 7. In
Ceylon there is 1. In China, with all
of its difficulties, there is a new club
at Lanchow. And word just received
from C. T. Wang of Chungking, our
Administrative Adviser for Free
China, and incoming Director of
R.I., tells us that a club at Kweilin
has been organized. There is one
new club in Switzerland, 3 new clubs
in Sweden and 1 in Finland. So even
in war-torn Europe, new Rotary
clubs continue to come into exist-
ence. We have knowledge that 40
additional clubs are in the process
of organization for admission to Ro-
tary International, these clubs being
located in 10 geographical regions
of the world.

*As of 6 June — 225,350 Rotarians in 5,201

clubs. (150 new clubs since last July in 25
~ countries—

*4*55 in U.S.A., 48 in Ibero America, 6 in Eng-
land, 9 in India, 4 in Sweden, 10 in Canada,
and 1 in Kenya.)

Membership Increases More Than
1,000 Each Month

In the beginning of the year, it
appeared almost certain that mem-
bership in the individual clubs
would decrease, with all of the de-
mands that are being made upon
men, entering into the armed ser-
vices, and engaging in war enter-
prises, or carrying on their busi-
nesses and professions under the
extraordinary conditions confront-
ing them. But our guess was wrong,
for tonight I can tell you that up
to the end of April, the ‘number of
Rotarians throughout the world has
increased nearly 13,000 over that of
last July. Why do men join Rotary?
Why do they give of their time to
organize new Rotary clubs? Why
does the percentage of attendance
remain high throughout.the world?
What is it that men see in Rotary
that causes it to be at this all-time
high?

Perhaps the answer is found in
the revitalization of the program of
Rotary, in the earnest dedication of

Rotarians to activities directed at .

the achievement of the organiza-
tion’s program as expressed in its
objects. For in nearly 5200 commu-
nities of the world there are groups
of Rotarians responding to myriads
of service opportunities to make
these communities better places in
which to live, men investing their
talents, their time, their energies
to contribute their bit that civiliza-
tion might move forward just a
little, but ever upward in that un-
ending spiral that reaches through
the clouds, the ideal, a world in
which the welfare of the individual
shall be uppermost, and where each
individual shall have the oppor-
tunity to achieve in accordance wit

his ability.

5200 Rotary Clubs Serving
Their Communities

It would be delightful, if time per-
mitted, to give a complete resume
of the activities of these 5200 clubs.
That every Rotary club in the world
may have some idea as to the ac-
complishments of the year, we have
prepared an annual report briefly
written, adequately headlined and
illustrated, which will appear in the
convention proceedings. Were it
not for a paper shortage, as well as

a manpower shortage, advance cop-
ies of this report would have been
distributed to you this year in ac-
cordance with our annual custom.
We are sure that you will under-
stand the exigencies of the times
which make this impractical. It is
hoped that every Rotary club will
read the detailed report when the
convention proceedings appears. In-
deed, it would make a good club
program.

Financia] Condition of R.I. Good

A few highlights from this report
will be of interest to you. Financial-
ly, because of the abnormal condi-
tions under which we are operating
we will have an excess of income
over expense of perhaps $125,000.
It should be understood that this
comes about primarily because of
our inability to function as we would
in a peace-time year. The reduc-
tion of the convention to a proxy
meeting means a saving of many
thousands of dollars. The inability
of a number of our incoming gov-
ernors and R.I. representatives to
attend the assembly likewise means
a considerable saving. Would that
we could have these normal meet-
ings at a greatly increased cost
because of the great contribution
they make in international under-
standing and in the development of
more effective ways of carrying on |
our program during the year! The
time will come when one of our
great peace-time conventions can
be held, and the administrative ex-
penses of that meeting will un-
doubtedly be in considerable excess
of the amount that would normally
be budgeted out of the current in-
come of that year, at which time we
can draw on the surplus made up
from the unexpended amounts in
these abnormal years.

Collections in all parts of the
world have been remarkably good
considering the difficulties involved
in transmitting funds and the un-
certainties and delays in mail ser-
vice. :

Preparing for Post-War
Employment

Early in the fiscal year President
Wheeler and the R.I. board initiated

the Work Pile project which con-
templates the making of a survey