through such an agency. He maintained that for a paper to be a power for good among his people, it must be fearless in its tone; that its editor should not fail to speak his just convictions; that he should hold himself aloof from parties, and maintain his position untrammelled by parties and party bosses."
Adhering to the principles in the above he re-entered his chosen field as publisher of The New York Freeman, November 22, 1884. This was only a week after the suspension of The Globe, of which Mr. Fortune was editor and proprietor.
The Freeman was decidedly the most popular paper published among Afro-American journals, for several reasons, the most prominent being these: In typographical make-up it resembled the best journals of the whites, and contained all the most important news about the Afro-American, sent by trustworthy and brilliant correspondents. Having such a corps of writers the paper contained such news, and carried with it such influence, as did no other. In this respect it pleased the masses.
Another good reason for its success was Mr. Fortune's ability as an editorial writer. He declares himself boldly, and by many is regarded as the ablest among the many Afro-Americans who wield the "goose quill." W. Allison Sweeney, a reputable writer, speaks of him in The Indianapolis Freeman, as follows: "T. Thomas Fortune, the well-known newspaper man, although, comparatively speaking, a young man, came near going to the front amongst the big literary men of the race, at one jump. Coming into notice first, a few years since, as editor of The Globe, published in New York City, he has since then, through his editorship of The Freeman, published in the same city, made his name nearly a household word throughout the land. As a brilliant, pointed, aggressive editorial writer, Mr. Fortune deserves all the fame he has garnered to himself. It is not
