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Page 2
Our boys and girls who become familiar with the story of this
resourceful Dutch lad should note that he is not ashamed to tell us he
helped his mother by building the fire, preparing the breakfast, and
washing the dishes before he went to school, and when he returned from
school he did not play but swept, scrubbed, and washed more dishes
after the evening meal. He did not whine and mope because his parents
could no longer keep the retinue of servants to which they had been
accustomed in the Netherlands. He simply pitched in and helped. The
same spirit impelled him to clean the baker's windows for fifty cents a
week, to deliver a newspaper over a regular route, to sell ice water on
the Coney Island horse-cars--in short, to do any honorable work to
overcome the burden of poverty. Meanwhile he strove to acquire what
little education he could, but he probably learned more from his
association with the prominent persons whom he met as a result of his
early passion for autograph collecting. Such a boyhood brings home the
important truth that necessity is the mother of self-reliance.
Mr. Bok's story indicates the road to success and gives encouragement
to those who would tread that pleasant way, but it also sounds a frank
warning against the pitfalls that beset ambitious youth. When he was
sent by the city editor of the _Brooklyn Eagle_ to review a theatrical
performance and decided to write his review without going to the
theatre, he had, of course, no warning that the performance would not
take place. He took what many a more experienced reporter would
consider a reasonable chance and he suffered keen humiliation when the
lesson was forced home that it does not pay to attempt deception. He
tells us that the incident left a lasting impression and he felt
grateful because it happened so early in life that he could take the
experience to heart and profit by it. With equal candor he tells of
the stock-market "tips" that resulted from his intimacy with Jay Gould.
Wisely he records that he resolved to keep out of Wall Street
thereafter, in spite of his initial success in speculation. When he
gave up an association that probably would have led to his becoming a
stock-broker, and somewhat later, when he declined an offer to be the
business manager for a popular American actress, Edward Bok was called
upon to make fateful decisions. In this story he lays ample stress
upon the need for careful and deliberate consideration at such crucial
moments.
The account of his long and successful editorship of _The Ladies' Home
Journal_ reveals the extent of his influence on American social and
domestic conditions. He broadened the scope of _The Journal_ until it
touched the life of the nation at many points. The earlier women's
magazines had devoted most attention to fashions, needle-work, and
cookery, printing a few sentimental stories and poems to give the
necessary literary atmosphere. _The Ladies' Home Journal_ took up a
great variety of problems concerning the American home and those who
dwelled therein. A corps of editors was assembled to conduct
departments and to answer questions either by mail or in the pages of
_The Journal_. Free scholarships in colleges and in musical
conservatories were given in place of the usual magazine premiums.
Series of articles were published to foster our national appreciation
for better architecture, better furniture, better pictures--in brief,
for better homes in every respect.
Mr. Bok discouraged the taking of patent medicines, the wearing of
aigrettes, the use of the public drinking-cup, the disfiguring of
American scenery with glaring signs and bill-posting, the use of
fireworks on the Fourth of July, and many similar matters that were not
to our credit or advantage. He printed convincing photographs taken in
various "dirty cities" that tolerated refuse and other evidences of
untidiness on their streets and literally shamed those communities into
cleaning up the plague-spots. Had he been a commonplace editor with
his main thought on the subscription list he would have avoided
controversy by confining his leading articles to subjects unlikely to
offend any one, but he would not pursue any policy that meant a
surrender of his ideals. When occasion demanded he did not hesitate to
hit squarely from the shoulder. Whether the public agreed with him or
not, it knew that _The Journal_ was very much in earnest whenever it
espoused any cause.
Mr. Bok's last important service as editor of _The Journal_ was a
direct outcome of our participation in the Great War. The problems
raised by that world cataclysm called for a restatement of American
ideals and aspirations. He therefore arranged for a number of articles
adapted to the needs of every community, whether large or small, and
these were soon acclaimed as the most comprehensive exposition of
practical Americanization that had yet been published. As a
far-sighted editor with a long experience behind him he knew that many
of the immigrants coming to this country were ready to enjoy our
privileges without undertaking to share our responsibilities. The
newcomer could realize a freedom unknown in Europe, he had a chance to
achieve higher standards of living and to establish a better home for
himself and his family; what were we asking in return? We did not
subject him to a political confession of faith and we did not fix his
social caste; were we justified in asking him to accept our language
and to uphold our institutions? The intelligent immigrant knows that
the culture of America is a transplanted European culture, but he
quickly realizes that it has become something distinctive because it
developed under conditions where social barriers or racial jealousies
are of slight importance. The person who grasps this truth, as did
Edward Bok, knows well that America stands ready to accept any man,
whether native-born or alien, at his true worth and will give him
unequalled opportunity to make the most of his abilities.
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