The Rotary Balita no. 786 (December 15, 1955)

The first regular weekly luncheon of the new Club was held on Wednesday, January 29, 1919, at the Manila Hotel, which has since that time remained the registered meeting place of the Club. At the second luncheon, it was decided to change the weekly meeting days from Wednesday to Thursday, and this arrangement has remained in effect since that time.

Rotary, as it developed, took upon itself the task of informing its members as to interesting topics of the day by speakers who were qualified to discuss the subject and to have their own members, who were prominent in their own business or profession, tell the history, past and present, of their occupations.

The Rotary Club conformed to this pattern at its second meeting held on February 5th when Rotarian Pinneo spoke on "Rotary" and then two members of the new Club spoke on their occupations. Rotarian Arthur F. Fischer, Director of the Bureau of Forestry, and later President of the Manila Club in 1934-35, spoke on "Forestry Work in the Philippine Islands" and Clarence Colman who operated an advertising agency spoke on his occupation, "Advertising."

The Rotary Club of Manila was incorporated by its founders and remained so until Justice George Malcolm was President in 1937-38 when its incorporation papers were surrendered to the Government. This step was considered advisable so as to permit the Club to amend its Constitution and By-Laws to conform with the Standard Constitu- tion and By-Laws recommended by Rotary International.

Manila, being situated at a cross-roads in the Far East, is fortunate in having world prominent and renowned people visit it from time to time, and the Rotary Club of Manila secured its quota as its Guest of Honor and Speaker.

During the first ten years of its existence, the Rotary Club had amongst its guests, of more than local fame, the following:

Miss Ruth Law, the first aviatrix to visit the Philippines, was a guest on March 27, 1919.

Francis Burton Harrison, Governor General of the Philippine Islands from 1913 to 1921, was a guest on October 9, 1919.

Manuel L. Quezon, the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth, and who died in 1944 while his Government was in exile during the occupation of the Islands by the Japanese. He was a guest for the first time on October 23, 1919. President Quezon honored the Club on many other occasions.

Robert Dollar, that grand old man of the seas, who established a round-the-world shipping line that still exists, was the Club's guest on January 8, 1920, and on many other occasions. Robert Dollar was never one to sit in his office. He believed that if he wanted to know what was going on in his offices around the world, the best way was to go and see for himself.
The Hon. Charles S. Lobingier, international and comparative jurist, legal educator and author. He was the Philippine member of the National Conference of Commissioners on uniform laws 1908-1932. Professorial lecturer on law, University of the Philippines law school. Philippine representative, International Congress Administrative Sciences at Brussels expedition in 1910. Author of Philippine Practice 1907. Mr. Lobingier was a guest of the Club on August 5, 1920.

It was about this time that an addition was made to the Manila Hotel, called the Fiesta Pavilion, and the Rotary Club of Manila was asked to make the dedication. Frederic H. Stevens, the then President of the Club, during the dedication ceremonies was presented with a beautiful, though rather ornate, crystal lamp. But the donors, who probably bought the lamp in a 5 and 10-cent store, dropped the lamp as they pretended to hand it to the President and it was broken to pieces. The joke took well, but it took some time to clean up the broken glass.

Other prominent visitors during President Stevens' administration in 1921 were Owen Young and Gerald Swope who were at that time with General Electric.

Lord Northcliffe was the Guest of Honor on October 21, 1921. Col. Henry McCoy acted as toastmaster. This luncheon was the most representative and widely press-reported meeting of the Rotary Club of Manila held up to that time. A report on this meeting, with photographs, was printed in THE ROTARIAN for February 1922.

On October 27, 1921, at a luncheon given in his honor, Governor General Leonard Wood was elected an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Manila.

The Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco visited the Philippines and December 1, 1921, was the Chamber's day at Rotary. The speakers at this program were:

Address of Welcome, Rotarian Ray W. Berdeau, Pres.
Toastmaster, Frederic H. Stevens, Past President.
Rotarian Governor General Leonard Wood.
Alfred I. Esberg, Chairman of the Chamber Delegation.
Hon. S. D. Phelan, U.S. Senator from California (whose scheduled three-minute speech went on and on until it was thought he would never stop).
Rotarian Byron Mauzy of San Francisco
Rotarian Carlos B. Lastreto.

Members of a military delegation from Japan were the guests of the Club on March 15, 1922. General Baron Giichi Tanaka, former Minister of War and then a member of the Supreme Mili- tary Council of Japan, was the speaker and with him were:

Consul General Kurusu
Colonel Eiki Takeuchi, Infantry
Major Hisao Watari, Infantry
Major Shokei Washizu, Infantry
Capitan Fusatero Teshima, Infantry
Capitan Kosaburo Takagi, Medical

General Baron Tanaka returned to the Philippines in 1942 as the Army Commander. Could it be that his visit, twenty years before, was the beginning of the plans for the invasion of the Philippines?

Vice Governor Eugene A. Gilmore of the Philippine Islands was a guest on April 6, 1922, and on numerous other occasions.

Dean C. Worcester, former member of the Philippine Commission that governed the Philippine Islands from 1899 to 1907, and later Secretary of the Interior, was a guest on May 25, 1922.
Following the example of the Rotary Club of Chicago Ray W. Berdeau, while President of his Club (1921-1922) made an unsuccessful attempt to establish public comfort stations in Manila. Through the years, this project was revived again and again. Even as this is being written there is another attempt being made.

Edwin Denby, when U.S. Secretary of the Navy, was a guest on August 3, 1922.

General Leonard Wood, Governor General 1921 to 1927, Soldier, Statesman, Rotarian and Humanitarian, was a guest speaker on July 19, 1923, and at other times.

Governor General Wood, with W. Cameron Forbes, made a thorough survey of the Philippine Islands before he became Governor General. He was so distressed with the conditions which he found that he, with the help of Manila Rotarians and other public-spirited men founded the Leonard Wood Memorial for the benefit of the miserable and all but forgotten lepers at Culion, and the American Guardian Association, a non-profit organization, was formed for the purpose of caring for the children left by the soldiers of the American occupation of the Islands from 1898 onward.

Brigadier General William Mitchell, Commanding General of the U.S. Army in the Philippines, was a guest on January 3, 1924.

Paul Monroe, educator, and later the Dean of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, was a guest on October 2, 1924. He headed the famous "Monroe Commission" which helped revise and improve the whole educational system in the Philippines.

Sir Harry Lauder, that great Scotch comedian and internationally famous entertainer, gave the club a sample of his humor, song and wit. (Yes, I said "gave." Ed.)

Col. John P. Wade, Adjutant General of the Philippine Department during his fourth tour of duty in the Philippines, was President of Manila Rotary during the year 1924-1925. He died in Washington, D.C. November 3, 1942.
Col. Wade's son, John P. Jr., writes that in going through the Colonel's "lock box where he kept treasured items" a silver engraved plaque was found, dated April 16, 1925, making the Colonel an Honorary Life Member of the Rotary Club of Manila. This plaque was presented to the Colonel by his friend and golfing companion, (the Colonel was an ardent and a good golfer) Walter Z. Smith, Manager of the then Philippine Telephone and Telegraph Company and a Charter Member of the Club.

Colonel Wade had the distinction of being the third and probably the last member of the Rotary Club of Manila to be given an Honorary Life Membership. If memory serves us right, William H. Taylor was the first, upon his retirement from the Club in 1921-1922 upon his transfer from Manila and Frederic H. Stevens was granted a like honor shortly thereafter. The By-Laws of the Club now prohibit and have prohibited for many years, the granting of an Honorary Membership for a period longer than the fiscal year.

Edward Bell Price, journalist, was a guest on July 23, 1925.

Commander Pinedo, Italian aviator and pioneer in international flight, was a guest on August 27, 1925.

Henry Morgenthau, American diplomat, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Doctor of Laws, was a guest on February 18, 1926.

Capts. Gallarza and Loriga, Spanish aviators, who flew from Madrid to Manila, were guests of the Club on May 20, 1926. The Philippine Government honored these men's achievement by issuing an overprinted postage stamp.

Henry L. Stimson, Governor General of the Philippines from 1928-1929 and former U.S. Secretary of War, was a guest on August 12, 1926.

Dr. C. T. Wang, Premier of China and later District Governor of the 81st District in China and still an active Rotarian, was a guest on December 2, 1926.

W. Cameron Forbes, Governor General of the Philippine Islands from 1909 to 1913, was a guest of the Club on December 2, 1926.

Prince Purachatra of Siam made an extensive visit to many parts of the Philippines in 1927 and was a guest and speaker on October 13, 1927. Later he was instrumental in forming a Rotary Club in Bangkok, and made return trips to Manila to study our Rotary work here.

Walter Williams, educator and mathematics professor, was a guest on July 26, 1928.
General Douglas MacArthur, then Commanding General of the U.S. Army in the Philippines, was a guest and speaker on January 10, 1929.

As probably has been the case with all young Rotary Clubs and with some older ones, the Manila Club had some difficulty in living up to the attendance rule that a Rotarian had to attend at least sixty percent of the Club's meetings. Loss of membership was and is a penalty for poor attendance at Rotary meetings. As time went on and these rules became better known and were strictly enforced, the attendance average, everything considered, became quite good.

The Manila Club was quite fortunate in having a number of good voices amongst its members. These members first formed a quartet and sang while the other members were eating. This developed into a "Song Table" with about a dozen members. This encouraged the Club to take up Singing as a whole, until the singing aroused much favorable comment from visitors, and the reports on our singing was carried to distant lands and we became known all over the world as a "singing club." What the members lacked in quality they made up in volume. It is said that at one time when some lady tourists, of mature years, were having a luncheon at the Manila Hotel in a private dining room next to the Rotary Room, one of them was attracted by the sounds coming from the adjoining room and she turned to her host and asked what it was. "Oh," the host said, 'that is a meeting of the Manila Rotary Club," "What is that?" asked the lady guest. "That is a meeting of old men who get together every Thursday and sing old songs," was the reply.