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Fourth International, January 1947

Manager’s Column

From Fourth International, January 1947, Vol.8 No.1, p.2.
Transcribed, edited & formatted by Ted Crawford & David Walters in 2008 for ETOL.

Fourth International launched a three-month campaign on Dec.15 to get 1,000 subscriptions. The campaign will close on March15. This action was voted unanimously by the delegates to the Twelfth National Convention of the Socialist Workers Party, held in Chicago in November.

As in every previous campaign, Socialist competition will spur the determination of the SWP branches to not only meet their quotas but to go over the top. A series of attractive prizes will be awarded to the national Pace-Setters.

One point is allowed for each sub submitted, either new or renewal, for a six-months, one-year, or a one-year combination sub to Fourth International and The Militant.

Quotas for the campaign are as follows:

The highest individual Pace-Setter in the country will receive a bound volume of New International (predecessor of Fourth International) for 1934-5-6. This rare volume can no longer be purchased at any price. A bound volume of Fourth International for 1946 will go to the branch sending in the highest number of subs per member, based on the Convention membership record. The same prize will also be awarded to the second highest national Pace-Setter.

The branches lost no time in getting their local campaigns under way. Pittsburgh immediately challenged all branches with a similar quota of 10 – Reading, San Diego and Tacoma. Without waiting for acceptances, the comrades in Pittsburgh set the pace.

“These 5 subs put us at the half-way mark on the opening date of our campaign,” writes Justine Lang. “There’s no doubt but that we’ll reach 100% shortly! We’re planning to get a chart made, set it up in our headquarters, and watch the progress both of the individual comrades as well as the branch ... How are the branches we challenged progressing?”

To date, only the Reading Branch has picked up the gauntlet. This is Reading’s response:

“Please inform the comrades of the Pittsburgh Branch that the Reading Branch is happy to accept their challenge in the FI sub campaign. We hope to make them wish they hadn’t made the challenge.”

*  *  *  *

Minneapolis too is well ahead in the campaign with 10 subs to its credit. Dick Carlson, Campaign Director, writes:

“These ten subs give Minneapolis a good start in the campaign. The comrades are confident of fulfilling the quota. We are going to try some new methods in this campaign. A suggestion has been made that comrades visiting their doctor or dentist solicit a sub. An FI placed in a waiting room would be widely read.”

*  *  *  *

Los Angeles and Toledo plan to go after one-year combination subs to Fourth International and The Militant. Harry Thompson of Los Angeles tells us:

“Our goal is to fulfill our quota and to restore the FI to its 32-page status. We thought it might be a good idea to combine The Militant and FI sub campaigns. Next Sunday, the East Side Branch is going to canvass contacts in their neighborhoods for subs to both the FI and The Militant, preferably to both.”

“Toledo’s FI campaign,” writes Maggie Walker, “will be an integral part of our long-overdue Militant renewal campaign. I am sure that with the spirit in which the comrades are approaching this work that FI sales will come naturally and that we will achieve our full quota in the time allowed.”

*  *  *  *

Confidence in fulfilling their quotas is expressed in letters from all the branches.

Winnefred Nelson, Campaign Manager for St. Paul, writes:

“The method used in our previous campaign was so successful that we intend to use it again. We just took the names of Militant subscribers who had renewed their subs and mailed them a copy of the FI. We told them we could call in a short time to ask them to subscribe. This opened the door for us when we called.”

Almeda Kingsley of Cleveland:

“Please send us a list of expired FI subscriptions. We feel that this is one of our best sources for subs.”

Sidney Bannon, FI Director for Flint:

“Our FI campaign has already gotten off with a big start.”

Bill Gray, Buffalo:

“The Buffalo Branch accepts its quota of 40 FI subs although it will mean a lot of hard work to make it. But we are sure that we will come through as we usually do.”

Lorene Simkins, Calumet:

“We will easily go over our FI quota.”

*  *  *  *

Jack O’Connell, Organizer of Milwaukee Branch, reports they are organizing a class in Marxism, to begin sometime in January. They will “attempt to interest everyone in the class in a subscription to Fourth International, since the lectures will tie in very well with the level of the articles in the FI.”

*  *  *  *

International solidarity is expressed in a letter from Canada:

“Our comrade who handles the newsstand sales reports a rather phenomenal increase in sales of the FI. Now that our fall forums are well under way I am sure that we will be able to substantially increase FI sales here and we would like to start off with raising our bundle order from15 to 20 copies.”

The letter continues,

“Enclosed are three one-year combination subscriptions to Fourth International and The Militant. We hope to be able to give you a bit of a hand with your sub drive. Best of luck.”

 
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Last updated on 10 April 2009