Manager’s Column

From Fourth International, vol.3 No.5, May 1942, p.130.
Transcribed, Edited & Formatted by Ted Crawford & David Walters in 2008 for the ETOL.

Few letters have been received from other countries during the month, but Australia managed to send us word that Fourth International has not been received through the mails for some months and is greatly missed. We are checking with the postal authorities to discover what is wrong.

From Havana comes the request for 1940-41 bound volumes of Fourth International and the plea that some copies of the magazine be sent airmail each month.

* * *

Letters from our readers and agents at home show an increase in activity – payments on account, improved sales, and subscriptions:

M.B. of Cleveland: “Will you please send us 25 FI subscription blanks?”

Any other agent who needs subscription blanks should follow M.B.’s example. No doubt he will set an example for all of us by returning those sub blanks filled out in time for our next report.

0.B. of Minneapolis: “ We would like to have you send us a batch of Fourth International subscription blanks as our supply has been completely exhausted.”

We sent Minneapolis a big “batch” of sub blanks and hope they snow us under returning them.

B.B. of Chicago: “First of all, I would greatly appreciate your sending me a complete list of all current subscribers to the FI in the Chicago area. We have an idea that there are a lot of people close to the organization here who are not subscribers and want to confirm that idea.”

B.R. is our new literature agent in Chicago and already has proved herself to be a live wire. In this same letter she sent in a six-month sub, a one-year sub, and a one-year combination. We took the liberty of also sending a list of the unexpired subs in the Chicago area to B.R. We don’t think we are wrong in assuming that she will follow each one through to a renewal.

E.T. of Cleveland: “ Please increase our bundle order of FIs to 20 per month.”
Our faithful correspondent, J.B. of Montana, sends his welcome letter again this month: “P.0. money order for April FI and it was very good. I will try and send for the 1940-41 FI bound volume as soon as I can, as time is getting short for the revolutionary papers to keep coming out, the way I see.”
H.M. of Detroit: “Enclosed money for April FI and bound volume of FI (1940-41). I think that squares our account to date and if we can catch our breath from those big bundles we’ve been receiving we will continue our good record of paying bills promptly.”
B.T. of San Francisco: “We are making every attempt to budget ourselves so as to make it possible to take care of both our current bundle order as well as our indebtedness on the FI, and we hope to clear up the debt completely before many more weeks go by.”
L.T. of Buffalo sent his usual terse and to-the-point note: “Enclosed is money order – FI bound volumes $6.00; the rest is for our bill”

* * *

The subscription field has become really lively. Last month we could report only two contenders – Chicago (in the lead) and Minneapolis. This month Minneapolis, St. Paul, and New York tied for first place, with Chicago filling second, followed by Boston and St. Louis. Six other agents are likewise getting results from sub activity. Perhaps next month – surely next month, the other agents will become sub-conscious.

Getting a subscription is a detail, but that detail becomes a major problem which results in the dwindling of our circulation if not gone about in a systematic and conscientious manner.

On the honor roll for payments this month we place the following agents whose accounts are paid in full: Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Quakertown, St. Louis, New York, and Montana.

“Payments on account” have increased during the month as a whole-larger payments from more agents. There are only four agents, as a matter of fact, who again appear on our “slow-orworse” list: Indianapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, and Texas.

Next Month

Beginning with our June issue, we shall have a new department: International Notes. The war has of course seriously interfered with our contacts with the rest of the world. But, as our February, March and April issues demonstrated, our contact have been renewed to a considerable degree. More than sufficient, indeed to dictate a special department for shorter notes on news of the international workers’ movement.

The U.S.-Nazi patent pools will be given the extended analysis it deserves.

After a long lapse, a batch of Pravda has arrived in this country enabling John G. Wright to contribute another analysis of the situation in the Soviet Union since the war began.

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Last updated on 20.8.2008