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From Fourth International, vol.4 No.1, January 1943, p.2.
Transcribed, Edited & Formatted by Ted Crawford & David Walters in 2008 for the ETOL.
Since our readers and agents have learned of the post office decision to hold “from dispatch” the December issue of Fourth International they have extended to us the greatest co-peration. We want to quote from a few of the letters received:
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We feel the following entire letter is interesting enough to quote in its entirety:
“I have been a steady reader of the FI since I first came across it. However I didn’t realize till recently what a necessity it was to any worker trying to keep his head clear in the midst of all the propaganda and counter-propaganda barrages that are being hurled about via press, radio and the movies. My work during the past year was of such a nature that I could rarely get hold of even a newspaper, much less a copy of the FI. However I managed to keep my balance due to the great education the FI had given me in the past year. Nevertheless, much that happened remained unclear and I became filled with many uncertainties. Well, I can hardly describe to you my feelings when I was finally able to get back to a place where I could round up all the back issues and dig in! Gradually I came out of the fog, so to speak, and into clear daylight again. Things once more had a beginning and an end; the future, under the brilliant analytical articles, began to assume forms that made sense; and once more I felt that solid ground was under my feet, that I knew where I was going and what I had to do.
“Your magazine is absolutely indispensable to any class-conscious person who is trying to do his bit toward a world free from the hell that it has been plunged into again by world imperialism. It is indispensable, in fact, to anyone who is simply looking for the straight facts. I am positive that more and more workers and honest intellectuals will find themselves compelled to turn to the Fourth International as the only guide through the madhouse of the present to a civilized future.
“I remain, with gratitude, yours for the future as we both see it and want it.”
The new Fourth International agent in Newark writes:
“Officially I took over the agent’s job in November. At that time the FI was pretty much a mess; no records kept, many copies left on the shelves each month, etc. So my first job was to get the current issue off the shelf and to our contacts, and in addition make enough money to pay for the bundle. Results have not been too spectacular, but at least it’s a beginning. Twenty-five copies were sold. Most of the nine contacts who bought the magazine had bought it at one time or another, but from now on we will visit all of the 20 or so contacts who should be reading the FI regularly, and try to sell 20 copies to them.
“We had made plans for setting a quota of ten subs for this month. We are going ahead with our plans.
“We are going to cover the ILA (Longshoremen’s) with this month’s issue of the FI Will inform you of results.”
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We are receiving an increasing number of requests for back issues of the magazine, some for purposes of completing files and others for specific articles.
One request is for any issues of Fourth International or the Militant dealing with refutation of Burnham’s Managerial Revolution. We took this opportunity of telling the inquirer about the series of articles by Trotsky answering the major issues raised by Burnham, which are now being published as a collection by Pioneer Publisher under the title In Defense of Marxism.
Another request asks that we “state what it will cost to have all the back copies of FI and NI as I wish to make my library us complete as possible. As soon as you write and tell me regarding this matter, I will send a money order and also include money for a subscription for one year.”
A postscript is added: “As a farmer I would like it if you would carry more articles in the FI on the subject of agriculture, farm problems, farm ‘bloc,’ etc. I’m sure it would be enjoyed by other readers of Fourth International.”
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Last updated on 22.8.2008