''The Conservative'' was a weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

devoted to the discussion of political, economic, and sociological questions published in

Nebraska City Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, by

Julius Sterling Morton Julius Sterling Morton (April 22, 1832 – April 27, 1902) was a Nebraska newspaper editor and politician who served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat, taking a conservative position o ...

History

''The Conservative'' was first issued on July 14, 1898 by the Morton Printing Company. The publication was not dedicated to news but acted as a journal of political discussion. During the last two years of publishing, Morton would use ''The Conservative'' as a forum through which to disagree and criticize his rival Nebraska Democrat

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

and his publication, ''

The Commoner ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. In the first issue of ''The Conservative'', the letter from the editor stated that the paper would be a defender of the individual and critical of big government. In addition, the paper also served as a platform for Morton to campaign for the formation of a third Conservative Party, which he believed was necessary to realign the environment of American politics. Issued every Thursday ''The Conservative'' was printed in a magazine-style three-column format that ranged from ten to twenty printed pages per issue. Although the paper was published for only four years, ''The Conservative'' included many notable contributors like Robert W. Furnas,

Carl Shurz Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the new ...

and Dr. George L. Miller. Morton remained at the helm of the paper until poor health forced him to turn over editorship to his son,

Paul Morton Paul Morton (May 22, 1857 – January 19, 1911) was a U.S. businessman, and served as the 36th Secretary of the Navy under Theodore Roosevelt. Biography He served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy between 1904 and 1905. Previous to this, ...

, on April 24, 1902. The last issue of ''The Conservative'' was published on May 29, 1902 and consisted mainly of tributes to the deceased Julius Sterling Morton.

History

References

Further reading