Aster the end of the Lithuanian press ban in 1904, Jonas Vileišis started organizing a replacement publication for Ūkininkas, monthly newspaper published in East Prussia.
The first two issues were edited by Povilas Višinskis (though Antanas Smetona signed as the editor) and reflected strong revolutionary ideas (see the Russian Revolution of 1905).
[2] The Lithuanian Democratic Party (LDP) was afraid that Tsarist authorities would ban the newspaper and agreed to soften its tone.
At the same time it became apparent that LDP did not have enough funds to support the newspaper and Smetona suggested transferring the publication to a private entity.
This plan was vehemently opposed by Felicija Bortkevičienė who agreed to take over the publishing and support the newspaper financially from her own funds.
The newspaper reaffirmed its goal to support interests of farmers and peasants and to propagate democratic, anti-Tsarist and anti-clergy ideas.