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Fourth International, February 1947

Manager’s Column

From Fourth International, February 1947, Vol.8 No.2, p.34.
Transcribed, edited & formatted by Ted Crawford & David Walters in 2008 for ETOL.

In the first month of Fourth International’s three-month campaign for 1,000 new subscribers, our agents have obtained a total of 225.This is 23 per cent.

Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, San Diego and St. Paul have already reached the half-way mark in the campaign. Boston and Cleveland are on schedule. The other cities, however, are lagging in their subscription work and this is the reason our national total is 10 per cent behind schedule.

The scoreboard shows subscriptions obtained through January 15:

Correspondence from the Campaign Directors gives every indication that by the end of the second month the lag will be made up.

*  *  *  *

Dick Carlson expresses the determination which put Minneapolis over the half-way mark:

“We are proud of the work we are doing. When I say ‘we,’ I mean every comrade and close friend in Minneapolis. We realize the necessity of getting a truthful and uncolored analysis of world events into the hands of as many people as possible. Each of us has made up his mind to get at least one sub.”

*  *  *  *

Winifred Nelson, Campaign Director for St. Paul, reveals the method that brought them to the half-way mark before one-third of the campaign was over:

“We are using again the tried-and-true method we found successful in our last FI campaign – that of sending out letters and sample copies and following up soon afterwards by personal calls. In the last campaign, as you will recall, we ended second only to Milwaukee, topping our quota. Our achievement was 170per cent. In this experience, we got new FI subs – half of our quota – by the letter-sample-copy-personal call method. We found on our call-backs that 40 per cent of The Militant renewal-subscribers to whom we had sent letters subscribed to Fourth International when they were visited. We are feeling pretty good over this campaign. Before the first month of the campaign is gone, St. Paul has filled half its quota!”

*  *  *  *

Although Milwaukee was “a few days late in starting the campaign because we have been busy looking for new headquarters” this branch is now third high with 53 per cent. Virginia Barrett, FI Agent, predicts that they will “go over the quota of 15.”

*  *  *  *

Cleveland Branch ordered an additional 10 copies of the January issue to be used in subscription work. “This issue sold out very quickly and it is a fine issue for contacts,” explains Mary Gladstone.

*  *  *  *

Miriam Rasmussen, Campaign Director for Chicago, reports that they have “a Chicago comrade who is out to get the national prize for the Pace-Setter with the most subs ... So far we have sold 23 subs. Comrades Belle R. and Frank F. are in the lead. In addition to the national prizes, we are offering a bound volume of Fourth International for 1944 as a prize locally.”

Harry Thompson, Local Los Angeles Literature Representative, reports that Central Branch has challenged East Side Branch that it will obtain twice the number of subs in proportion to the size of its membership. Comrade Thompson has proposed the following campaign procedure for the Local:

“(1) Literature Agents to set an example by each taking on assignments to visit three or more Militant subscribers or contacts per week; (2) local awards for the highest sub-getter per comrade and branch; (3) a weekly scoreboard of branches and comrades to be stated in the City Letter; (4) the campaign to end with a social or banquet at which the awards will be presented.”

He further adds:

“I believe that this campaign calls for initiative and ingenuity more than anything else. After all, a little Trotskyist initiative and ingenuity will go a long way.”

*  *  *  *

Toledo has combined the FI campaign with a campaign for Militant subs.

“Our campaign is set up on a point basis:’ writes Maggie Walker “Counting on 50 Militant subs per month,10 FI subs per month and assorted literature sales, we have set a goal of 1000 points per team for the three-month period of the FI campaign. The two teams consist of the Housewives Team and the Trade Union Team. So far, the Housewives Team is leading with a score of 262 points to 192 points for the Trade Union Team.”

*  *  *  *

Pauline Ryder of Philadelphia reports that their “FI sub drive is beginning to gather momentum. Comrade Oliver is in charge of getting them and seeing that the comrades are constantly trying to get subs for our magazine.”

*  *  *  *

Seattle’s Literature Agent, Clara Kaye, reports for the Branch:

“The sub campaign has been well talked-up in the branch and you can expect the subs to start coming in. We have a contest chart up. It is a drawing of the FI cover with a list of the comrades’ names and their scores serving as the Table of Contents. Over this is super-imposed a thermometer charting the progress made. Comrade Frank made this poster and it is excellently done. We plan to hold at least two mobilizations a month and we are asking the comrades to be responsible for at least one FI sub a month. If this is carried out, we should have no trouble in reaching our goal.”

 
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Last updated on 12.2.2009