Autographed Signed Note of E.L. Godkin by GODKIN, Edwin Lawrence [1831-1902] - 1886

Old glue on back on border where pasted in autograph book but not affecting any writing, otherwise very good condition. Circa 1886 based on various dates from 1882 to 1890 published in the The Gilded Age Letters of E.L. Godkin By Edwin Lawrence Godkin 1974.

Edwin Lawrence Godkin was an Irish-born American journalist and newspaper editor. He founded The Nation, and was editor-in-chief of the New York Evening Post 1883-1899. The circulation of the Nation was never large, rarely rising above 10,000, but it rapidly became influential. It was read by a select company of American opinion makers: editors, politicians, professors, and writers. Godkin used it to advocate low tariffs, civil service reform, and reduced government expenditures and to attack political corruption. His ideas had force and influence, but his doctrinaire mind tended to isolate him from the mass of Americans, especially politicians. The philosopher William James, who acknowledged an intellectual debt to Godkin, wrote that Godkin "couldn't imagine a different kind of creature from himself in politics," and an opponent once said that Godkin approved of nothing since the birth of Christ.