Chapter 3

Think of it! Nearly 70,000 known suffragists who do not subscribe. In the interest of efficiency they ought all to be constant readers of the paper. But how are they to be reached? There are two ways: First, by the officers of the organization to which they belong; and second, by means of letters, sample copies, and follow up letters until the last one of them has enrolled as a regular reader.

But advance work requires funds. No matter how necessary to the cause of equal suffrage it may be to enroll those 68,000 suffragists as readers, the United States Post Office will not sell us stamps for writing to them unless we can make cash payments. Funds for other parts of the work of increasing the circulation are equally necessary, and the work halts for lack of that which reformers always lack.

The Woman's Journal can make suffrage speeches every week in the remote parts as well as in the crowded cities, and it can do this more cheaply than can any other agent of equal quality. But if the paper is to do its part in the general suffrage work, it must be through the body of organized suffragists, and not single-handed. The movement is growing too fast for the management, unaided by organization, to make the obvious and necessary expansion.

=What Papers Live By=

One of the well-known facts in the world of publishing newspapers and periodicals is that neither magazines, newspapers nor periodicals of any kind live by the subscription price. Most of them live chiefly by advertisements.

Why, then, does the Journal not carry more advertising? The answer is that it will not take most of the advertisements it can get, and it cannot get most of the advertisement sit wants. In the first place. The Woman's Journal will not accept liquor or tobacco advertisements, or any advertisements of patent medicines, swindling schemes, or matters of a questionable character. Every year it declines a considerable amount of business on this score.

"But," the reader is sure to say, "what about the thousand and one advertisements which are legitimate? There are hundreds and thousands of advertisements of women's products for which the Journal ought to be an excellent medium." In answer to this one might almost say that the better the grade of advertising the harder it is to get. The better grades of advertising require a much larger circulation than we have and a better grade of paper on which to print their advertisements; they naturally want their advertisements to be shown in the most attractive manner. And there are hundreds of publications just as good as ours which can give them the proper display.

Another difficulty we have to combat is the fact that our paper is not well known to men; it is not advertised anywhere, it is not displayed anywhere; they rarely see any one reading it; they cannot get it on the newsstands, and, in short, they cannot imagine who reads it. This is hard to combat.

Another reason given by those who refuse to advertise in the Woman's Journal is that the advertiser or the advertising agent does not believe in equal suffrage, or to use his own expression, he is "not a suffragette." He is sure that no one would ever advertise in the paper unless he believed in votes for women, and frankly, he does not want his friends to be given a chance to tease him about "this suffragette business."

Since the Journal is a national paper, it ought, of course, to have national advertising, but national advertisers require at least 50,000 circulation, we are told. If the Journal's circulation were local, it could get plenty, but local advertising, of course, does not properly belong in a national paper, for all except the local circulation is a waste for it.

If the present circulation of the Journal were in one State or in one section of the country, say in the West, the Middle West, or in New York and New England, the paper could get more advertising than it could carry. But its circulation is scattered over the whole country, and while this spoils it for local advertising, its circulation is not yet large enough to enable it to get much national advertising.

To an advertising agent who has seen in a suffrage parade in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington from 10,000 to 50,000 suffragists, it is hard to explain why the national paper going to forty-eight States, has less than 30,000 subscribers. He expects that the organ of the movement has at least 75,000 subscribers. When he learns the truth, it is impossible to talk with him further.

In a nutshell, then, what the advertising department needs is that great body of non-subscribing suffragists to enroll as readers. Think of that 68,000 whose names and addresses we have! If we only had them on our lists, if they stood back of us, advertisers would be glad to consider us.

What, then, can suffragists do for the advertising department? They can do three things.

(1) Increase the number of readers of the paper.

(2) Read the advertisements we print and patronize every advertiser possible, letting him know why they do so: and

(3) Unite to bring pressure to bear on advertisers so they will advertise with us.

Imagine what would happen if twenty suffragists in each city in the country were to call on the advertisers doing business there and urge them to advertise in the Journal! They would simply put the Journal on the advertiser's map!

=Prints and Reprints=

"Your editorial in this week's issue deserves a wider circulation. It ought to go to thousands who are not yet with us. Can you reprint it for more general distribution?" Such requests have led us from time to time to reprint something which has appeared in the paper. If it is reprinted soon after it is current in the paper, it can be furnished at a cheaper rate than if the type had to be set for pamphlet or leaflet use alone. There is usually a good demand for what we have reprinted, particularly since we can advertise it in the Journal.

The Journal has, accordingly, printed the following which appeared first in its columns:

_A Bubble Pricked. The Threefold Menace. Open Letter To Clergymen. Liquor Against Suffrage. Suffrage and Temperance The Stage and Woman Suffrage. Votes and Athletics. Ballots and Brooms. Suffrage in Utah. Suffrage and Mormonism. My Mother and the Little Girl Next Door. Massachusetts Laws. Suffrage and Morals. Worth of a Vote. Jane Addams Testifies. A Campaign of Slander._

In addition to these, the Journal printed in 1915 200,000 postal cards on good stock with colored ink, especially calculated to win voters. In preparing them, every type of man from the point of view of his business or profession was considered. Their titles are as follows and indicate their character:

_If You Are A Working Man Working Men--Help. If You Are A Doctor. If You Are A Farmer. If You Are A Policeman. If You Are An Educator. If You Are A Postman. If You Are A Business Man. If You Are A Minister. If You Are A Traveling Man. If You Are A Fireman. If You Are Interested In Political Questions. A Statement By Judge Lindsey. An Object Lesson. Think On These Things. The Meaning Of The Suffrage Map. Arms Versus Armies. Do Women Want To Vote?_

Suffrage literature divides into two kinds: that which must be inexpensive and very easily read, for the voter; and that which is designed for women who, like conservative college graduates and many other women, will be surely impressed with a more weighty, more obviously expensive-looking argument. We find that many want good-looking, well-prepared, convincing literature to send to those whom they are trying to convert. Practically all of the literature which the Journal has printed belongs to the second class.

=The Graveyard=

Every live newspaper office has as part of its necessary equipment What is familiarly known as "The Graveyard." Ours is a combination of the Research and Information Departments. It contains pictures of distinguished and leading suffragists in this country and abroad, biographical sketches of them, quotations from them and other suffragists, notable articles, criticisms, reviews and news of the movement which may be useful at some later date, a large amount of information and data and compilation of facts and figures, such as one needs at his fingers' ends in an office which does the kind of work that is being done in few places if anywhere else in the country. The files in this department include also a large amount of statistics and information regarding anti-suffrage activities, workers for the opposition, methods, amount of money spent, sources of income, and an index of the Journal from week to week.

Who was the first woman doctor, what college first opened its doors to women, what was the date of the first suffrage convention, how many times was equal suffrage submitted in Oregon before it was granted, what States in the Union have no form of suffrage for women whatever, who are the most distinguished men advocates of woman suffrage today, how many believers in equal suffrage are there in this country? These are some examples of the myriad questions that come constantly to the Journal for answer--usually at short notice and without a stamped envelope for reply.

Material for debates, speeches, articles for the press, chapters in books, copy to be read into the minutes of the Congress of the United States, refutation of anti-suffrage articles, answers to hundreds and thousands of objections to equal suffrage, questions of how it works, what women have achieved in science, art, literature,--to meet these with the least waste of time and energy is the end and aim of "The Graveyard." Practically all suffragists use it, but no one has ever contributed a penny toward its support, and no organization has ever made an appropriation to maintain it. It is simply another case of the willing mother and the thoughtless daughter!

=Holding the Reins=

In 1910 there was one woman worker besides the editor-in-chief in the office of the Woman's Journal, and one woman who worked part time. Mr. Henry B. Blackwell, who always gave his services to the paper, had died in 1909. There were only four pages to the paper then, and the total subscription list was 3,989. Bills were sent out only twice a year, and hardly any work was being done to increase the subscription list or any department of the paper. Office administration was then a very simple matter--whereas now the Subscription Department alone requires the full time of more than ten workers.

The result is that office administration now is a very different matter. It has become a question of holding the reins of twenty-four young people, all of whom have special work to do, but all of whom need almost constant direction. And while there are heads of departments who oversee the work of clerks and stenographers up to a point, almost daily conferences and supervisions are necessary in order to have the work go on satisfactorily. This takes an immense amount of time and energy and initiative and planning. It is a case of driving twenty-four in hand. Some days it sends the driver home thoroughly wearied.

Besides the absorbing task of keeping the whole staff busy, there is always the exhausting and important matter of mapping out the work, laying plans for advance work, originating and initiating, and making decisions that involve more or less risk.

Then there is the actual personal labor of helping to get the paper to press each week, choosing from a limited supply suitable illustrations, writing some "copy," writing heads, making up, dictating and signing hundreds of letters each week, seeing all callers who need to be seen, and constantly directing and overseeing to keep matters of a thousand and one details ship-shape and accurate.

There is the question of office space, rent, subletting office room, buying typewriters, stationery and other supplies to advantage. The question of ventilation, health and sick leave of staff, obtaining efficient and conscientious work and maintaining a wholesome esprit de corps.

=Capturing the Imagination=

Capturing the imagination for equal suffrage or for the Woman's Journal is another way of saying "getting so many inches or columns of free advertising in the papers." Each week for some time we have been watching the Journal's columns to see whether, by sending an advance clipping from the week's paper, we could not get a certain amount of free publicity in the daily paper. We have also experimented to some extent to see if we could get publicity for the Journal aside from what appears in its columns. The result has been that such stories as the analysis of the source of income of the anti-suffragists has had very wide publicity. It has even been published in country weeklies and monthly magazines. In the majority of cases, the Journal has been credited, and in this way much free advertising has been secured.

At the time of the elections, we sent a copy of Mrs. Fredrikke Palmer's drawing called "Waiting for the Returns" with a little sketch of the artist to a number of first class dailies. A number of these papers used it, giving full credit to the Woman's Journal.

The Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association has a showcase on the sidewalk in front of its headquarters where it displays pictures, clippings, novelties and anything that may capture the interest of the passing pedestrian. We asked to have the Journal displayed there each week and to have special articles clipped and attractively mounted. This has been done with benefit to both the Association and the Journal. The suggestion might well be adopted for every suffrage headquarters. The cost is very slight and the people whose attention one gets in this way are not those, as a rule, who attend suffrage meetings or are easily reached. They are the great host of "passers-by."

A method of publicity for the Journal and the cause which has been adopted successfully by many individuals is that of displaying a copy of the Journal on the library table in one's home. In some cases the front page drawings have been considered so good that requests have been received to have extra copies struck off for use in showcases, bulletin boards and booths.

Other suffragists adopt other methods of making the paper known to the public. Some make a point of earning a copy to read in the street car or train whenever possible. Anyone who tries this will find many and many a pair of eyes diverted to the picture or the appearance of a publication with which the onlooker is not familiar. Ardent partisans of the Journal always mention it in reports and speeches at meetings and even in debates. They are usually persons who have been converted to the principle of equal suffrage by a stray copy of the Journal sent to them by ardent friend!

=A Word In Time=

Miss Margaret Foley has been doing Field Work for the Woman's Journal since the elections in November. She has been working as an experiment to see if Journals cannot be sold successfully at all suffrage meetings when from three to ten minutes are devoted to calling attention to the paper from the platform.

From the last thirteen meetings at which she sold papers and took subscription orders she got $74.42. Many of the meetings were small and at the larger number of them the attendance was made up mostly of those who already subscribe for the paper. Miss Foley's work is proof positive, if such were needed, that it pays to mention the Journal at suffrage meetings and to have it on sale and to take subscriptions. The results she has had can be duplicated at every suffrage meeting in the United States where 100 or more are gathered together, and a word spoken in time at suffrage meetings saves much of the more expensive converting and canvassing to bring out the vote when election time comes. One of the greatest wastes of the movement today is the failure of those in charge of meetings to make provision for this part of propaganda work.

Miss Foley usually speaks toward the close of a meeting. The gist of her remarks is something like this:

"You have just heard about our cause and how wonderful it is to be connected with it. I am sure you will want to know more about it. The best way to get authentic information and news about Votes for Women is to read the organ of the suffrage movement, The Woman's Journal and Suffrage News, on sale in the corridor. The paper is only five cents a copy and you can get a full year's subscription for $1.00. Do not fail to get a copy from me before you go."

The Woman's Journal has many field workers who do in connection with the regular suffrage work what Miss Foley has been doing for the Journal as an experiment. For the vitality of the movement every locality which holds suffrage meetings should have a Journal field worker for every occasion. A word in time saves an endless amount of converting.

=Our Hope Chest=

Other causes, other propaganda papers, have their budgets, their war chests, their exchequers, their ways and means committees, their financial backers of wealth and prestige, but the Woman's Journal has had only what we may perhaps call our "Hope Chest." It was constructed purely out of the hope that, if the paper filled a need, if it was found worthy of the movement it represents, its finances would in some way take care of themselves. And it is a wonderful tribute to the believers in the cause for equal suffrage that this plan has worked for better or worse for more than forty years.

As the financial responsibilities of the paper have grown during the past six years, however, it has become apparent that we must not merely publish the paper each year and hope to pay our bills but that we must study the question of financing a growing paper with ever growing needs of expansion and consequent growing financial risks.

Accordingly, we decided that if we must "raise money" each year in some way or other, we must go about it in a well thought out way and not leave such an important matter to haphazard uncertainties. We have, therefore, formed a small Finance Department and have studied all of the ways of raising money that are known to us, trying of course to make out which ones are particularly adapted to our needs.

The result is that we have decided on the following course:

(1) To issue this survey of the Journal's work, and ask suffragists to consider the value of the paper purely on its merits and contribute to it and support it if they believe in what it is doing.

(2) To form a Central Finance Committee with a branch in each state in the Union.

(3) To ask able women and friendly organizations in various towns and cities throughout the country to give a ball, banquet, bazaar, festival or other benefit or entertainment with the express purpose of sharing the proceeds with the Woman's Journal.

Because of the vitality of the paper through the barren pioneer days, through the days of ridicule and up into these times of great numbers, splendid prestige and backing for the whole movement, we have faith that our hopes are not in vain.

One proof of our faith is that we find working in the Woman's Journal office year after year is in some ways like living in a fairy story. We never know what is going to happen next. The day after election--and defeat in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey--a woman came to the Journal office bearing a check for $1,000 in her hand and saying in substance, "Here is a small check to cheer Miss Blackwell and the Journal in the face of yesterday's defeats at the polls." She asked not to have her name used. Hers is an example of the way suffragists feel toward the Woman's Journal. To them it symbolizes the cause.

FORM OF BEQUEST

* * * * *

_I hereby give and bequeath to the Proprietors of The Woman's Journal, published in Boston, a corporation established under the laws of Massachusetts, the sum of ---- dollars._ * * * * *

=Early Stockholders of the Woman's Journal=

NATHANIEL WHITE _Concord, N.H._ MRS. ARMENIA WHITE _Concord, N.H._ MRS. HARRIET M. PITMAN _Somereville, Mass._ JULIA WARD HOWE _Boston, Mass._ SAMUEL E. SEWALL _Melrose, Mass._ E.D. DRAPER _Boston, Mass._ MRS. ANNA C. LODGE _Boston, Mass._ MRS. ELIZABETH B. CHACE _Valley Falls, R.I._ MRS. LILLIE B. CHACE _Valley Falls, R.I._ T.W. HIGGINSON _Newport, R.I._ SARAH W. GRIMKE _Hyde Park, Mass._ MRS. ANGELINA G. WELD _Hyde Park, Mass._ MRS. SUSIE CRANE VOGL _Hyde Park, Mass._ MRS. MARY HEMINWAY _Boston, Mass._ WILLIAM B. STONE _W. Brookfield, Mass._ REBECCA BOWKER _No address._ JOHN GAGE _Vineland, N.J._ MRS. PORTIA GAGE _Vineland, N.J._ ALFRED H. BATCHELOUR _Boston, Mass._ CHARLOTTE A. JOY _Mendon, Mass._ SAMUEL MAY _Boston, Mass._ ALFRED WYMAN _Worcester, Mass._ CHARLES DWIGHT _Boston, Mass._ ISAAC AMES _Hacerhill, Mass._ HENRY MAYO _Boston, Mass._ AUGUSTA DAGGETT _Boston, Mass._ GEORGE B. LORINE _Salem, Mass._ CHARLES RICHARDSON _Address unknown._ A.P. WARD _Worcester, Mass._ STEPHEN S. FOSTER _Worcester, Mass._ A.S. HASKELL _Chelsea, Mass._ SARAH G. WILKINSON _Salem, Mass._ LUCY STONE _Boston, Mass._ CHARLES W. SLACK _Boston, Mass._ A.A. BURRAGE _Boston, Mass._ JOHN WHITEHEAD _Newark, N.J._ OTIS CLAPP _Boston, Mass._ T.L. NELSON _Worcester, Mass._ PHILIP C. WHEELER _Boston, Mass._ HENRY CHAPIN _Worcester, Mass._ E.S. CONVERSE _Boston, Mass._ MRS. CARRIE P. LACOSTE _Maiden, Mass._ LUCIUS W. POND _Worcester, Mass._ GEORGE W. KEENE _Lynn, Mass._ EDWARD EARLE _Worcester, Mass._ SARAH SHAW RUSSELL _Boston, Mass._ ROWLAND CONNOR _Boston, Mass._ E.D. WINSLOW _Boston, Mass. H.B. BLACKWELL _Newark, N.J._ CAROLINE M. SEVERANCE _West Newton, Mass._ MRS. MARY MAY _Boston, Mass._ F.W.G. MAY _Dorcestoer, Mass._ HARRISON BLISS _Worcester, Mass._ JOHN W. HUTCHINSON _Lynn, Mass._ J.J. BELVILLE _Dayton, Ohio._ WILLIAM CLATLIN _Boston, Mass._ MERCY B. JACKSON _Boston, Mass._ WARREN McFRALAND _Worcester, Mass._ SARAH G. WELD _Hyde Park, Mass._ LOUISA SEWALL CABOT _Brookline, Mass._

=Stockholders of the Woman's Journal, 1916 Individuals=

JANE ADDAMS MARY WARE ALLEN HELEN H. BENNETT EMMA L. BLACKWELL ALICE STONE BLACKWELL HOWARD L. BLACKWELL VIRGINIA BRANNER EMILY E. DALAND M.A. EVANS H.E. FLANSBURG SUSANNA PHELPS GAGE FRANCIS J. GARRISON JENNY C. LAW HARDY HARRIET O. HAWKINS MARY E. HILTON MARY JOHNSTON MARTHA S. KIMBALL FLORENCE HOPE LUSCOMB MARY McWILLIAMS MARSH FLORENCE E.M. MASKREY CATHERINE M. McGINLEY MAUD WOOD PARK ANNETTE W. PARMELEE AGNES E. RYAN MARTHA SCHOFIELD PAULINE A. SHAW JUDITH W. SMITH HELEN D. STEARNS HENRY BAILEY STEVENS GRACE L. TAYLOR JOHN FOGG TWOMBLY MABEL CALDWELL WILLARD