It was a mouthpiece for the Kansas Republican Party in the 1876 United States elections. Its reporting base was wide geographically; as far south and east as Mississippi provided it with information. It was staunchly anti-segregation, criticizing the existence of a bipartite educational system, where white and black children would attend separate schools. It called the lynching in Hamburg, South Carolina—dubbed the Hamburg massacre—one of the "darkest chapters in American society". Although it was at times critical in tone, it also provided optimistic news for black Kansans, and urged them to become self-reliant through property acquisitions and maintenance.
