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Only Rotary International is really international, having no less than 170,000 members in 4,000 clubs in 82 lands. Kiwanis International with 90,000 members in 1,900 clubs is mostly confined to the U. S. and Canada. Lions International has two clubs in China but is largely a North American affair with 85,000 members, 2,700 clubs. Only Civitan International club outside the U. S. is in Toronto. The Civitans have less than 5,000 members, only 125 clubs. Chief Civitan is Charles Francis Cowdrey Jr., a Fitchburg, Mass. machinery maker.
In purpose all four organizations are similar. Rotary's original motto was "Service before Self." To this was later added: "He profits most who serves best." Kiwanians say: "We build." Lions hold to "Liberty: Intelligence: The Nation's Safety." Civitans are "builders of good citizenship." Individual clubs admit one member of each profession or business classification in the community, except Kiwanis, which admits two. Civitans restrict membership to "white Caucasians," will take as many ministers as apply.
All clubs tend to make the most of reciprocity. Early Rotarian chapters kept records of the business their members threw to each other. All clubs are up to their ears in worthwhile social service. All regard the sophisticated ridicule heaped upon them as the cross they have to bear.