e grounds represented a gift of two hundred thousand
dollars, and the building a gift of two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. This building, now about to be erected, will be one of the
most beautiful and complete community centres in the United States.

Perhaps no other suburban civic effort proves the efficiency of
community co-operation so well as does the seven years' work of The
Merion Civic Association. It is a practical demonstration of what a
community can do for itself by concerted action. It preached, from the
very start, the gospel of united service; it translated into actual
practice the doctrine of being one's brother's keeper, and it taught
the invaluable habit of collective action. The Association has no
legal powers; it rules solely by persuasion; it accomplishes by the
power of combination; by a spirit of the community for the community.

When The Merion Civic Association was conceived, the spirit of local
pride was seemingly not present in the community. As a matter of fact,
it was there as it is in practically every neighborhood; it was simply
dormant; it had to be awakened, and its value brought vividly to the
community consciousness.

CHAPTER XVI

THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S INFLUENCE

When the virile figure of Theodore Roosevelt swung down the national
highway, Bok was one of thousands of young men who felt strongly the
attraction of his personality. Colonel Roosevelt was only five years
the senior of the editor; he spoke, therefore, as one of his own years.
The energy with which he said and did things appealed to Bok. He made
Americanism something more real, more stirring than Bok had ever felt
it; he explained national questions in a way that caught Bok's fancy
and came within his comprehension. Bok's lines had been cast with many
of the great men of the day, but he felt that there was something
distinctive about the personality of this man: his method of doing
things and his way of saying things. Bok observed everything Colonel
Roosevelt did and read everything he wrote.

The editor now sought an opportunity to know personally the man whom he
admired. It came at a dinner at the University Club, and Colonel
Roosevelt suggested that they meet there the following day for a
"talk-fest." For three hours the two talked together. The fact that
Colonel Roosevelt was of Dutch ancestry interested Bok; that Bok was
actually of Dutch birth made a strong appeal to the Colonel. With his
t