The national prohibitionist. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1907-1911, 1908-06-25
E EARLY PROHIBITION EDITORS
BY ]. A. VAN FLEET,
One Time Editor of The Lever.

more or less traceable to the influence
of that paper
The XVI Amendment was published
in the city of Buffalo for years and did
splendid service for the cause
The Ne7U Era Of Springfield, Ohio,
was for time the most successful and
widely circulated paper in the Prohibi-
ton party movement 1t was we'll edited
and very creditable in its typographical
appearance and during all of its earlier
history always had the ring of true
metal in all of its utterances.
The Patriot Phalanx of Indianapolis,
Indiana, under various names has al
ways done most excellent service for
the cause. It's veteran editor has seen
many long years of service, and does
not even yet seem to grow weary in
his we'll doing. Many other papers be-
longing to the earlier stages of the
movement there are, or have been which
deserve favorable mention.
The old LeUey, of which the writer
was the editor and publisher for about
eleven years, came into existence on
April 20, 1878, in the city Of Grand
Rapids, Michigan. At about this time
the Reynolds "Red Ribbon" movement
was sweeping over Michigan like
prairie fire, and from all parts of the
state the demand was coming up for
paper which would stand for the home
as against the saloon. Believing that I
could give to the cause paper which
would do the cause good l quietly
dropped out of the ministry, removed to
Grand Rapids, and with only one six
months subscription paid in advance
sent out to the world the first number
of The Lever. The paper was very
warmly received from its very first is
sue. In less than three years it had a
bonaide circulation of 10000 copies in
Michigan alone. Thinking men and wo-
men had rallied round me, as they had
never rallied around a paper before, so
far as I knew. AS I am more familiar
with the early history of my own paper
than any other, I will beg indulgence
which | recount some Of this history.
| had not been in the paper work very
long before l began to see very plainly
that the moral suasion of the Reynolds
Red Ribbon movement was entirely in
adequate to cure the evils, which were
coming thick and fast out of the saloon.
The satanic influences of the saloon
were thrown around the men who were
trying to reform with such skill and
evident purpose that they fell almost
in spite of themselves so that very soon
nothing was left of this Red Ribbon
club more than mere name. They
seemed to vanish away as the morning
dew vanishes before the rising sun of
warm summer day. l was compelled
therefore to take higher ground almost
before l had got we'll started with the
paper.
At about this time an effort was be-
ing organized in Michigan to induce the
Republican party which was very
largely in the ascendency in the state,
to submit constitutional amendment
to the people of the state, for their
adoption or rejection at the polls. Up
to this time had always acted with the
Republican party and believed it to
be the real temperance party of the
country. I could see no good reason
why the party should not make Sub
mission one of the planks of its plat
form, and I therefore championed the