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Show THE ROTARY PLATFORM 1 (By Robert Roy Denny) Its History and Origin. I . D T. EUAN JIM PINKHAM author i of tin- Rotary Platform, who passed I away at Seattle. November 21, 192i, unconscious! Influences by his work 1 the live.-- ol 70,000 of us It is onlv fit I ling thai ;i(1uaii!tancesbi) with bla In spired part In Rotary development ! should be ours, and It is ray privilege ' a his elope friend and aesoclat. in , those early day? to write this bit .,f j history. The. Seattle club was fourth to be oiRanized In ihe annal.s of Rotary It held it : nisi meeting on Friday. May li 1009. Jim was its second president. When the nominating conimlltee ap I , proaehed Jim to urne his acceptance j of the presidency Jim hesitated. He I could not briup himself to accept the! presidency of an undefined something. I Manv ethical mind; besides his OWnl J refused to accept reciprocity of busi InSBB as a real and lasting purpose of' Rotary, no matter how Immediate an exemplification of the Golden Rule u seemed to be. Nor was the splendid j pod fallows of the club enough to j just sty its permanency. He telt. that in ibis unique group of -inqularly unitcl young nten, an ideal WU unconsciously shaping itself. The hour had come when Rotary principles must be deflned-principlcs governing not ni the relation ol RdtaridnB to- 'ward one another, but toward S0clelj at large. Then began a gieai -.irugg'.e in Jim Pinkham'fl mind. He recognized the' foci thai there must be something no- i ble and fine In Rotary a power for pood as yet unworded and only vague-' ly fell. In his speech accepting the presidency he defined for the Seattle Rotarlans the precious thing whlCD i they possessed - the ideal of service In business. His speech was dynamic It moved i litis hearers profoundly. The) felt a I joyful pride in Rotary ; they had u new (vision of essential values; they BBf ' how their standards as business nn'ti might be reflected in their community, j yes, even throughout the whole nation. ! In this speech Jim struck the funcla-Imrnial funcla-Imrnial conception which had dwelt in j Paul Harris' philosophic mind from I the beginning. It was Jim's privilege to be the first to crystallise ihhs great thought of service In clear and pro- pbetlc words. i Out of this speech came a statement I "Rotarj Principles and Purposes As i Set Forth By the Seattle Rotary j flub " Thl statement was prepared by Jirn 1'inkh.im and ESrnest Sk'll, afi er much discuss mid by small groups ot Rotarlans '-'ikI by the club at large. Probably the two most virile minds were those of Skeel and Ptakham These two supplemented each other in evolving a clear statement of the fun damental principles of a movement that has since circled the globe, li took a Sket.1 u draw out a Plnkham It took a Plnkham to answer a Skeel. The 1911 Rotary onvrntlon was ap ( proacblng. It was held at Portland, i T'ton, and there Seattle's statemen'. ol principles and purposes was adopt j ed by all clubs then In existence as "The Rotarj Platform." For this con ' veUtlOn Fred Sheldon of Chicago, aa chairman of th' business method cOmmltteei had prepared a notable ad dress. It contained one expression finer and more concentrated than all the rest. "He profits most who Berven bsf. ' At the close of the address 1 Jim Pinkham. with great earnestness, moved that ihls pigram be added i the platform just adopted, epresln? as it doea In six words the lull mean-lug mean-lug of Rotary endeavor. Except for, hp alert and generous mind of Jim Plnkham, II Ifl possible ihat this in-, spiring motto which now dwells in th'-hearts th'-hearts of all Rotarlans. might have slipped Into oblivion As one reads the Seattle Rotarv ; Ilatform he must recognize the.-ej,, basic principles which have not lost their Identity in all these years. They are present in our statement of ob-. Jcts: in our code of ethics, in our "Talking Knowledge of Rotary" text , book, and in all the literature of Ro tary. With the passing ol Jim Plnkham there has gone from the earth anotic i Great Heart. Those who knew l.lm carry a vivid Impression of his warm, and generous nature, his brilliant ora tory and clear analytical mind. In his1 passionate zeal lor service, especlalh during war times, he gave up his1 health. He died while still In his thli tleS) and all Seattle mourns him. The nobh ness ot Sis life was felt not only ! by his friends, but by his business as- j sociates in many cities. |
