New-York tribune., 1911-02-03

reached ten thousand copies within a
year: a small circulation compared with
that which papers enjoy to-day. and Yet
about as great in proportion to the size
of the city. Even more important was
the weekly edition Of The Tribune. into
which The New Yorker" and THE Log
Cabin" had been merged This went BY
mail to all parts Of the Union. From
Maine TO Missouri. which was the extent
Of the Union at that time. there was
scarcely a community. az least in the
free states Of the North. which Tho
Weekly Tribune did not enrer. and there
was scarcely a Whig family in which II
was not read or in which its infiuens.
was not felt.
Never did any other newspaper fll
quite such a place in the political equip
ment of the popular mind The country
editor waited until he had received and
read his Tribune before ne wrote the
editorials for his own paper. which thus
became a reflection OF Greeley's views.
The country preacher waited until he
had read his Tribune before he framed
the "fourteenthly and finally" Of his
semi-poltical sermon. The farmer. the
storekeeper and the artisan waited untu
they had read their Tribunes before they
expressed to their neighbors their opin-
ions upon the current topics of the dav
or engaged in the village forum ar tho
blacksmith shop or the crossroads store.
And The Tribune meant Horace Cree
ley. 1t used 70 he supposed. or so ira
dition runs that he wrote
The Man every line Of II. not only
and His editorials. but news. and
Mission. even the advertisements.
As a matter Of fact. he
was n most prolific writer and a most
voluminous contributor Nearly all ~
the editorial page for many years was
his In the Presidential campaign ~
1874 he wrote four columns q day. be-
side engaging in multifarious other ac-
! tivities With the splendid buoyancy ot
young manhood. with the exultant In
spiration Of increasing success. with a
physical frame seemingly fragile. yet
with nerves and brain unclouded b. in
temperance and urimpaired oy excesses,
he flung himself into his chosen work
with that zeal which only genius knows
II was his chosen work And vet he
never lost sight Of the aim in the work
or ~ the end IN the means. Simply 70
create and 20 maintain such a journal
as The Tribune might we'll have salts
! fed the ambition u a lesser and yet still
great man. It did not satisfy him. He
prized the paper not alone for what It
was but still more for what il could DO
and for what It did do
/ In his prospectus he had announced
that he would support the administra-
/ tion only so far as IL was calculated 10
Subserve the great end of all govern
/ ment, the welfare OF the people. In ike
manner he priced and cherished his
+ paper only So far as he could make Il
subserve that end. He made The Trib-
une. he made himself through its COLI
umns, the voice OF a national awaken
I ing. II was the clear. vibrant. compell-
ing voice Of the national mind and heart
and soul. cries Of the waking who had
4 SLEPT too long; the voice of a great peo-
+ pie which was coming 10 realize with
+ Emerson that "the truest test of civi.i-
/ cation is not tho cersus. nor the crops;
/ no. but the kind Of man the country
/ turns our: the voice of a nation which
/ was learning that freedom was better
than slavery. and that manhood was I'M
measurahly more precious than gold
In the adventurous and teeming years
before the storm Of the great rebellion
broke. Greeley. with pen
On the more penetrating than a
Verge lance, more trenchant IMAM
Of War. n sword was ,he CHIEF
champion of the cam
pagn for free soil and for free
men. He confirmed New England in the