Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-02-08
THE REFORM EDITOR.

America is the land of reforms
said Professor E. E. Sparks of Grand
Rapids, Mich. the other night in his
lecture on Horace Greeley, the Re
form Editor in Politics. "The discov-
cry of America was reform trade and
commerce. The Declaration of indie
pendence was reform in government.
The constitution was a reform along
national governmental lines, and
there have been reforms ever since.
The American is natural reformer.
He always wants to reform somebody
else
But Horace Greeley was the great
est reformer of them all. He was
born reformer in the first place, and
reformers, like teachers are born
not made. Then he was a reformer
because he was an editor, and an edi-
tor for the old type, who believed that
a newspaper was something more than
a business enterprise. Greeley had an
ideal of editorship, a real ideal. When
he was only boy of eleven years ne
went to country newspaper man in
East Poultney, VT, and stated that
he wanted to learn to be an editor.
And after going through a printers
apprenticeship and drifting about the
world, finally landing in New York. he
became an editor He started two
papers which failed before he at last
began the publication of the New
York Tribune in 1S41. That paper
had a phenomenal success. Within a
short time it had a circulation of 10O.-
600 copies. something extraordinary
in those days.
Reform movements are periodic
things. They could almost be charted,
as the weather bureau charts the
movements Of winds and storms.
There is great deal of truth in the
psychology of the crowd Well.
Greeley was a consistent advocate of
all these things Not only did he ad-
vocate all sorts Of reforms, but he
believed in them and followed them
out himself. There was vegetarian
reform started in those days-by the
way, another vegetarian reform is
about due now-and Greeley advocat-
ed vegetarianism in the Tribune and
ate at vegetarian boarding house
Transcendentalism and the Brook
farm experiment came along about
that time and Greeley was a member
of the phalansteries which were form
ed then.
"All these things failed, at least
so far as material success was con
cerned. Greeley was disappointed
each time, of course, but discouraged
never. Whenever one failed he
looked forward to the next. That is
the spirit of true reformer Greeley
used to say he could never refuse tt
support any reform, no matter how
many others had failed, because he
never knew which one might have
the germ of success in it.
"As in everything else, Greeley
was a reformer in politics. He
thought he was a good Whig, but he
was reformer first. He went tt
congress once to fill out an unexpirec
term. He introduced one reform
bill after another-never any party
measures. All his bills were killed
but that did not deter him. He
never got another office.
Greedy ran for the presidency be
cause he believed Grants reconstruc
ton policy in the south was wrong
| and he wished to Introduce raforro
but the people could not take his can
didacy seriously, and he was over
whelmingly defeated. His wife died
during the campaign, and, further
one woe upon another's heels he
lost control of the Tribune through his
campaign debts and he had one of his
contributions thrown in the waste
basket. All these things coming al
once were too much for him, and