 Berger assumed the role of both editor and publisher of the publication, and his emergence in this capacity marked a turning point in the history of the socialist movement in the state.Berger grew his paper by attempting to de-emphasize revolutionary change in favor of incremental reform, and made a conscious effort to forge alliances with the trade union movement of his city and state.The minimum program which Berger espoused included such things as the municipal ownership of public utilities, the national ownership of mines, abolition of child labor, establishment of income and inheritance taxation, and establishment of state standards for working conditions as well as old age pensions and insurance against sickness.