Under Curtis' ownership, the conservative appearance of the "Ledger" was increased: it avoided bold headlines and seldom printed photographs on the front page. Its conservative format has been compared by scholars to the "Wall Street Journal" or "New York Times" of the twentieth century. Curtis built the "Ledger's" foreign news service and syndicated it to other papers via his Ledger Syndicate. From 1918 to 1921, former President William Howard Taft was on staff as an editorial contributor. To broaden the market, and compete against "The Evening Bulletin", in 1914 Curtis began publishing the "Evening Public Ledger", a bolder paper designed to appeal to a broader public.