The Project Gutenberg eBook of The torch bearer, by Agnes E. Ryan

A weekly paper devoted to the interests of woman, to her educational, industrial, legal and political equality, and especially to her right of suffrage.

  Mary Johnston Stephen S. Wise
  Josephine P. Peabody Zona Gale
  Florence Kelley Witter Bynner
  Ben B. Lindsey Caroline Bartlett Crane
  Ellis Meredith Mabel Craft Deering
  Eliza Calvert Hall Reginald Wright Kauffman

=THE TORCH BEARER=

A Look Forward and Back at the Woman's Journal, the Organ of the Woman's Movement

  Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell
  Alice Stone Blackwell
  Charts:
  Increase in Cost of Publishing
  Increase in Circulation
  Propaganda Work
  The Woman's Journal Staff:
  Circulation Department
  The General Staff
  The Directors:
  Alice Stone Blackwell, Emma L. Blackwell, Maud
  Wood Park, Grace A. Johnson, Agnes E. Ryan
  The Woman's Journal artists:
  Fredrikke S. Palmer
  Mrs. Oakes Ames
  The Woman's Journal Printers:
  E.L. Grimes, M.J. Grimes, William Grimes
  Mary A. Livermore
  William Lloyd Garrison
  Wendell Phillips
  Julia Ward Howe
  Armenia White
  Margaret Foley
  Thomas Wentworth Higginson
  Mrs. David Hunt
  The Anti and the Snowball

So wonderful are the days in which we are living and so rapidly is the canvas being crowded with the record of achievement in the woman's movement that it is time for readers of the Woman's Journal and for all suffragists to know somewhat intimately and as never before what goes on in the four little rooms in Boston where the organ of the suffrage movement is prepared for its readers each week.

Before telling what has been done and what is planned and hoped, it will perhaps be well to give a little picture of the paper which to many has been the "Suffrage Bible" since it was started over forty-six years ago by Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell and the little band of woman's rights pioneers who saw, almost at the dawn of the movement, the need of an organ.

Before the charter for the Woman's Journal was granted in 1870, $10,000 had to be paid into its treasury. This was at a time when there were few millionaires in the world, and $10,000 then must have looked like as many millions today.

How ardent, then, must have been the few, how eloquent the presentation, to have raised $10,000 with which to start a paper for the sole purpose of advocating equal rights for women! But they were ardent and eloquent, and from the road to martyrdom they have come to us through history as great men and women of their time. The pages of the Woman's Journal are brilliant with their sayings, and the reports of the early stockholders' meetings echo the voices of that pioneer band led by Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe.

Never for a single week since 1870 have the women of the country been without a mouthpiece to voice their needs and wrongs. This has been due chiefly to the fact that the Stone-Blackwell family has continuously given not only of its services in editing and managing the paper, but also has made generous contributions for years to enable the paper to continue.

So much in brief for the forty years from 1870 to 1910. From July 1, 1910, to September 30, 1912, the financial support of the paper was assumed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After that it fell to the manager of the paper either to get contributions to meet the deficit each year or to borrow. On October 1, 1912, Miss Blackwell contributed $2,000; on January 31, 1914, she again gave the paper $2,000.

With the exception of these $4,000, I have raised or borrowed each year the necessary money, over and above receipts, to keep the paper going. With the beginning of 1915 Miss Blackwell began to feel that she could not continue indefinitely to make up a deficit, and she began seriously to consider cutting the size of the paper to four pages or making it a monthly.

The 1915 campaigns particularly needed all the aid that the Journal could give, and feeling keenly that the proposed changes would greatly reduce its power of usefulness, the following points were made by Mr. Stevens and myself in further consideration of the matter with Miss Blackwell and a few warm friends of the Journal:

With the single exception of the Irish Citizen, the Woman's Journal is the only suffrage paper in existence which has no organization back of it. Jus Suffragii has the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. The Woman Voter has the New York Woman Suffrage Party. Votes for Women in England has the United Suffragists. The Suffragette had the Woman's Social and Political Union of England. The Suffragist has the Congressional Union. The Headquarters News Letter has the National Suffrage Association.

Now, while the Journal has had no organization with large membership and resources to make it a power, it has shown great vitality as witnessed by the fact that it is the oldest surviving suffrage periodical in the world. Furthermore, it has shown such remarkable growth during the past few years, with no capital put up to promote it and build it up as other businesses are built up, that it seemed apparent that all it needed to make it strong and self-supporting was a reasonable amount of capital, a reasonable amount of time and the wholehearted co-operation of suffragists in general which has been growing in an encouraging degree. It seemed a time for faith and not for fear.

It was accordingly decided to retain the eight-page size, to continue the paper as a weekly and to borrow the money necessary to meet the deficit, believing that the great body of readers of the Journal would approve and sustain this decision when it was brought to their knowledge. They would feel that a backward step should be impossible.

At the present time and covering the indebtedness of the Journal from
October, 1912, to January, 1916, the figures are as follows:

  Owed E.L. Grimes Company for printing,
  paper stock, mailing, approximately .. 9,000
                                          ________
                                          $19,500

The assets of the Journal at the time of the last stockholders' meeting (January 28) included the following:

  Subscriptions in arrears ……………..$4,968
  Sales accounts ……………………… 45
  Advertising accounts ………………… 460
  Legacy of Miss Caroline F. Hollis……… 3,000
  Legacy of Mrs. Mary E.C. Orne…………. 4,000
  Legacy of Mrs. Hollingsworth …………. 1,000
                                            ______
                                           $13,473

The amount to be raised, therefore, to meet the indebtedness of the three years and three months from October 1, 1912, to January 1, 1916, is $6,027.

From these figures it will be seen that we have to count upon collecting nearly $5,000 in subscriptions in arrears, upon legacies to be paid within the year, to meet the expenses of furnishing a paper to the cause, and that even then we must have over $5,000 additional to be out of debt for 1915.

While the Journal has always had a few gifts each year and an occasional legacy, both gifts and legacies have, in their very nature, been uncertain quantities and not to be relied upon. It has, therefore, followed that from 1870 to 1910, as well as in the period above referred to (1912 to 1915), for forty-three years, the Stone-Blackwell family has borne the brunt of the burden of the support of the paper on which the whole suffrage movement has depended so completely for nearly half a century. As Mrs. Chapman Catt says, "The Woman's Journal has always been the organ of the suffrage movement, and no suffragist, private or official, can be well informed unless she is a constant reader of it. It is impossible to imagine the suffrage movement without the Woman's Journal." That is the way suffragists feel about the paper from the Atlantic to the Pacific and abroad,—and yet there is no organized, systematic effort made for its support and maintenance.

There is, moreover, no suffragist but will say at once that this paper, which is for the advancement of all women, should be supported by all suffragists in an organized way rather than by a few—out of their own pockets. I am working to bring this to pass. I believe one of the results that will follow the heavy expenditures made by the Journal in 1915 will be organized support of the paper.

Since the Woman's Journal is the organ of the movement, since it gives the news of the movement, voices the wrongs of women, and furnishes data as well as inspiration with which to work, it is important that it reach the largest number of women possible each week with its message, and so far as is possible for a paper, convert them into efficient, consecrated workers, possessed with the ideal of equality and justice for women. It is, therefore, obvious that, however good the editorial output, it counts for comparatively little if it goes to only a small number of people.

From 1870 to 1907, there is no record of the number of subscribers to the paper, for the price of the paper was changed from $3 to $2.50 to $1.50. The price is now $1 per year. The last change was made in 1910 because it was becoming clear that a lower price would mean a larger circulation, while a higher price made it prohibitive to many. Furthermore, the lower price was in harmony with the growing tendency to remove the membership fee in suffrage organizations because it had proved a handicap in having a large backing of women for the cause. So many women of humble means, or no independent means, wanted to take the paper and could not!

Bearing in mind, then, that the aim of the Journal, both from a propaganda and business viewpoint, is to reach large numbers, that is, to have a large circulation, I have had two charts drawn which will show that, although the cost of publishing is heavy, the cost of production is not advancing as rapidly as is the increase in circulation. In other words, the circulation of the paper has multiplied over eleven times in the last eight years, while the cost of publishing for the same period has multiplied less than eight times. The following charts show this graphically.

Compare the two long vertical lines. The longer one shows the increase in the number of readers. The shorter one shows the increase in the cost of publishing the paper.

As a propaganda paper, the Woman's Journal has, of course, always sent out many papers per year purely for educational purposes. Hundreds of papers have gone each year since 1870 through 1915 to campaign states, to legislators, to libraries, to newspapers, to ministers and teachers, in the attempt to make converts, and every suffragist having any perspective of the movement knows that such propaganda work by the Woman's Journal is to a great extent what has advanced the movement to its present status. In other words, the Journal has from year to year carried the torch on,—but it has always been at the sacrifice of a large sum to be raised, over and above the receipts, either from the Stone-Blackwell family or from a few friends of the movement.

The year 1915, with the advance of the movement in general, and in the four big campaign states in particular, has been exceptional as a propaganda year for the Journal. When a call came for Journals or for information which the Journal workers could give, whether from New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, the call has been answered promptly; we have not said,—when the amendments were to be voted on at a definite time,—"You must wait until we have raised the money to pay for what you ask." We are proceeding in the same way with the campaign states of 1916. What else can we do when the need is so great?

The following illustration shows the extent of our propaganda work, measured in papers, for 1915. It does not show what has been done in the way of furnishing information and argument, refutation and data, material and articles for the press or for special articles, debates, and speeches.

This chart shows the free propaganda use of the Journal as compared with the paid circulation. The black lines show the paid circulation of the Journal per month, that is, the number of papers paid for by the subscriber or by the single copy. The gray extension of the lines shows the number of papers furnished by the Journal, for which the recipient did not pay. The reader can here see at a glance what a large part of our work does not bring any financial returns.

If a diagram could be shown of the number of letters we have answered during the year, the amount of time it has taken, and the number of writers who do not even send a postage stamp to carry information back to them, and the consequent deficit the paper incurs in this way alone, the result would shock the average suffragist into a new attitude toward the paper, which she has called upon as freely and thoughtlessly as a girl in her teens calls upon the time and resources of the mother who has always stood near and ready to meet her every need "without money and without price."

At this point, I want again to call attention to the fact that the Woman's Journal is, with one exception, the only suffrage paper in existence which does not have some organization back of it which helps to meet its financial responsibilities. Although it has always been the organ of the movement, it has stood alone for the most part, depending on the devotion of a few to make up any sum that might be needed to meet the lack of organized suffragists to support it as part of their suffrage work.

It is, of course, easy to see how this has come about. In the beginning the number of suffragists was so small that there was little organization. The movement was carried on by a few and a few supported the paper. Times have changed, however, and all of the other branches of suffrage work are being carried on by organizations with the body of believers meeting the expense of running the work.

There has, however, always been this difference between the expense of maintaining the Journal and supporting the work of the suffrage organization: The Journal has been published every week for over forty-six years; it has never missed an issue, and its expenses have gone on. In other words, it has always been in campaign, while for the most part during those forty-six years the organizations have had comparatively little expense, they have not usually maintained a headquarters, have had few or no meetings, and have had few and short campaigns. Now, because the Journal has survived the times of no organizations, the times of few and weak organizations, it is thoughtlessly expected to go on as it has since 1870, paying its bills as best it might. In the meantime, its work has increased so that it is large enough to be unwieldy without being self-supporting. (Self-support cannot come until its paid circulation is about 50,000.)

We are, therefore, face to face with the fact that, while all suffragists are agreed as to the merits of the paper and the need it fills, very few have considered its problems, few have helped to carry its burdens, and no organization today makes itself responsible for any of the paper's expenses.

With the advancing movement's heavy demands on the paper, however, the time for a change has come. The paper's support in the future ought to be borne by the body of organized suffragists rather than by the devotion and sacrifice of the few. Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell died in harness. Alice Stone Blackwell, their daughter, is no longer young, and ought not to suffer from overwork and worry in connection with the struggle to keep the paper going.

So much for the past. What shall be the story of the future? The paper has been almost inevitably in debt. Its present bills and loans must be met. It will doubtless be possible to raise money to meet them from individuals as in the past, although that is an uphill and rather thankless task. But it does seem as if those who labor early and late in the office, often single-handed, ought not to have to go out to raise money to meet a deficit they were obliged to incur purely in order to serve the woman's movement.

What is the solution? I want to propose a definite, practical, constructive solution,—one that will not only lift the paper to self-support almost at once, but will strengthen the whole movement in the very things that Mrs. Chapman Catt and all others know is most needed,—education and organization of women. What I want to propose is that as suffragists we show what our present power is; that we show the strength of our present organization; that as leaders and workers, organizers and speakers, we get behind our paper and push it with all our might; that, so far as is humanly possible, we enroll as regular readers every member of our respective organizations; that we give our paper a backing as much to be reckoned with as the so-called women's publications that are so conspicuous on the news-stands. It can be done. We have the power.

Doing it is bound to mean more education and more organization. For the Journal fills its readers with zeal for the cause; it makes them want to work for it; and it makes them well informed, efficient workers. By taking this one step we have the power to put the entire movement on a new footing!

But how is the paper to be put into the hands of all suffragists? They are many and to send them a well-edited, well-printed paper will be expensive. How are bills and loans already incurred to be met? By gifts and legacies from individuals as in the past—in the uphill, undignified way? Or by getting all readers of the Journal, all believers in it as an educator, to join themselves into a mighty army to enroll as subscribers for the Journal every possible member of a suffrage organization?

Until the second way shall be in operation long enough—say, two years—to have a chance to work out successfully, there is absolutely no question but that the needs of the situation must be met in the first way. But must it be done by begging—in humiliation undeserved—or will those who are able consider it a privilege, an opportunity, to take the burden from the backs that are bent and sore from carrying it?

If this were the crucial moment in a campaign and you saw that votes for a suffrage amendment were in the balance, you would give of the best that you have, with all the fervency of your heart. But campaigns are not won in a day. They are won only by constant and untiring advance work. The Woman's Journal does a big share of this advance work. The Journal is always in campaign. The Journal needs your help now and it needs it given as freely as if a critical Election Day were only six weeks off. The campaigns of this year and the next few years are in the balance now. A privilege, an opportunity for furthering a great world movement, waits on those who are able.

In the following pages our readers and the great body of suffragists are taken quite generally into our confidence. If they see any skeletons in the closets, we shall ask them to remember that we did not want the skeletons there.

All persons who have ever tried to raise money for a worthy cause, all suffragists who have given balls and bazaars, all who have labored to make an audience pledge its last dollar for suffrage, all who have ever tried to run an impecunious newspaper, all who have ever tried to finance any kind of a movement for the betterment of mankind, will know that the figures given here are written in blood and should be read only by those of an understanding and sympathetic heart.

[Illustration: THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Left to Right-First row
Haxel McCormik, Franklin Grammar School Marie Spink, Western Reverse
University, Ethel Costello, Cambridge Commercial College, Second row:
Helen Hegarthy, Charlestown High, Eleanor Falvey, South Boston High,
Edith Mosher, Comer's Commercial College, Agnes McCarthy, South Boston
High, Mary Collins, St. Joseph's Academy Third row: Isabel McCormick,
Boston University; Donna Cox, Belmont High, Ethel Johnson, Fisher
Business College, Lucia Gilbert, Berlin High.]

Left to Right—First row Vina Smith, Wellesley College, Agnes E. Ryan,
Boston University, Elizabeth Costello, Comer's Commercial College,
Howard L. Blackwell, Harvard University. Second row Carlisle Morris,
Harvard University, Mildred Hadden, Western Reserve University, Henry
Bailey Stevens, Dartmouth College, Ethel Power. Third row Joe B.
Hosmer, University of Missouri, Mary Gallagher, Bryant and Stratton
Commercial School, Thomas Kennedy, Mary Healey, Fisher Business
College, Thomas McGrath, Lawrence Grammar School.]

To the friends of the Woman's Journal who used to visit its office on Beacon Street, and remember the tiny room with its staff of two or three workers, the pictures of the office staff on the accompanying pages will come as a surprise. This is the 1916 staff, however, and the movement has grown most encouragingly in every branch since the quiet days on Beacon Street.

Every phase of the Journal work, from handling a subscription list of about 30,000 to answering a thousand and one questions of debaters, press chairmen and speakers, has grown to such proportions that it has been necessary to divide the work into ten variously developed departments, which will be described in the following pages.

The Editorial Department in the main speaks for itself and does not need a special report. It has its seamy side, however, and little as people want to believe it, it is not merely the literary branch of the work. On the contrary, the editorial work of the Woman's Journal is, figuratively speaking, divided into sevenths. It is one part literary or journalistic, two parts business, and four parts propaganda.

There is, of course, a great deal of pleasure in editorial work for the mere fun of it, for the variety and fascination it affords, for the mere delight in expressing thought in writing and in choosing pictures to carry the weekly message. But when a publication has to be put to press on the same day every week, when one feels almost instinctively that each issue must be better than the one before, and when each week of the world every worker in the department carries a double or triple load, some of the pleasure of writing and editing and planning is worn away.

The material for the contents of the paper is gathered each week from a variety of sources: From letters, personal interviews, press chairmen of league and associations in the different states, from bulletins, newspapers, periodicals, reports of meetings and conventions, and from clipping bureaus. All material has, of course, to be sorted and worked over for the various departments. It divides chiefly into matter for editorials, for propaganda articles, for the news columns, and for the activities reported under the headings of the various states.

The editorial page of the Journal carries about 2,200 words each week. This page goes to about 30,000 homes, libraries and clubs, and is read by approximately 100,000 persons. Issued fifty-two times a year, it means that Miss Blackwell makes about five million two hundred thousand "drives" per year with her editorials alone to educate the public on equal suffrage.

The news of the whole movement gleaned from the various sources including some two hundred papers and periodicals each week, must be so combined and boiled down as to occupy the smallest space; and it must be interpreted, investigated and its relation to the general current of events brought out so that the propaganda value of the week's news is unmistakable.

Besides the editorials and the regular news of the movement, we use occasional contributed articles, poems and stories. During 1915 for the first time investigations of various sorts and analyses of news, reports and various kinds of data were made to furnish a telling and convincing array of facts, figures, data and information particularly fitted for suffrage workers. Such material has been found especially valuable for use with those who were wavering as to the merits of the cause.

Many people would find it hard to believe, but it is true nevertheless that a paper needs to consider itself something of a business matter. This is particularly true of propaganda papers in spite of all that has been said to the contrary. In the case of the Journal, we need to plan to produce an article that cannot be excelled; we need to manufacture a product so useful, so valuable, so indispensable, that there must be a market for it.

It must be so run that the largest possible number of people will be satisfied with its policy, and this is no easy matter if one has convictions and wants to run the paper according to high ideals and with certain principles dominant. Many people want personal notices and trivial articles in the paper; some wish long manuscripts published; others think their league meetings should be more fully reported. The paper must, therefore, be so edited and the letters of the department must be so written as to make every one feel that the Journal is fair to all and that whatever it does is done with no personal animosities, with no biases, and purely for the welfare of the cause and in accordance with the best ideals we have been able to work out. One of our tasks is to make all realize that in editing the organ of the movement a great responsibility must be met and that mean or small things cannot influence us.

All daily papers, all periodicals and magazines that live and become powerful relate their editorial policy very closely to their business plans. And whether the end and aim of a publication is to make money or to make converts to some cause or idea, the editorial policy cannot be planned independent of the circulation of the paper without running the risk of defeating its purpose.

[Illustration: THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Left to Right—Lower row Emma L.
Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell, Grace A. Johnson
Upper row Maud Wood Park, Agnes E. Ryan]

In this connection a suffragist can scarcely help coveting for her paper the circulation which the various women's magazines of fashion have attained. The thought leads almost inevitably to the question, How did they get their large circulation?

Now whenever there is large use made of any article under the sun, the reasons for its extensive use simmer down to three; First, the article must be something that practically everybody needs; Second, the marketers of the article must spend a lot of money in advertising the article and making the public think it wants it; or, Third, the article must carry with it some great interest and attraction that makes people want it.

The first kind of article is usually one of the necessities of life. The second is in a greater or less degree usually one of the comforts of life. The third kind is neither a matter of physical necessity nor of physical comfort; it is usually something that feeds the mind, diverts the mind, or kindles the emotions. Obviously the manufacturer of the third kind of article must mind his P's and Q's or he will not sell his product at all.

Newspapers, periodicals, and magazines, of course, come under the third class. Now while a good daily paper and a good weekly review of events have become almost necessities for the mass of mankind, a propaganda paper is neither a necessity nor a physical comfort, and for its circulation it must depend to a great extent for financial support on making itself so interesting and attractive that a larger number of people than the already converted, the reformers, will want it.

How then shall a propaganda paper make itself so interesting and attractive that those outside its fold will want it and want it badly enough to pay for it and read it—when there are so many attractive and interesting publications to read in busy days?

The problem solves itself if the paper records news of vitality, of heroism, of martyrdom, of stinging injustice in connection with everyday life,—if the doings within the movement are vital and challenging and kindle the imagination.

One of the biggest "strikes" in the recent history of the Woman's Journal has been the addition of Mrs. Palmer to the staff. Her drawings, contributed gratis, have attracted country-wide attention, because of their artistic quality. Mrs. Palmer studied art in Christiania, Norway, and is the wife of Prof. A.H. Palmer, of Yale University.

One of Mrs. Ames's cartoons brought down the disapprobation of Ex-President Taft but the approbation of a great many suffragists. Mrs. Ames is treasurer of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and wife of the director of the Botanic Garden of Harvard University.

But women's lives are full of just such vitally interesting matters. There are such glaring cases of inequality before the law, such abuses and atrocities in women's working world today, such humiliation and insinuation in the personal life of womankind, simply because of sex, that, were the half of it told, the suffrage movement would take on such proportions as even the leaders do not dream of.

Because an experience is common in the life of womankind, because an abuse is as old as the hills, it is no less vital, no less thrilling, no less in need of righting. And because some men are opposed, secretly or openly, to its righting is no reason why we should be silent. Before the women of this country are fully enfranchised, a hard fight, an almost life and death struggle for liberty, must be fought, and it will be a shorter fight the hotter it is. And the heat of the battle and the shortness of the struggle will depend almost entirely on our courage in presenting vividly and with power woman's case to women themselves.

Instead of a staff of paid correspondents and a special news service, the Woman's Journal has a large unnumbered staff of volunteers and its news service which extends all over the civilized world also is voluntary.

The editorial output is, therefore, greatly enhanced each week by the careful vigilance of its many volunteer workers. In this service all readers are invited to join by mailing to the Journal clippings, news, articles, items, poems, pictures, jokes, examples of discriminations against women, examples of women's achievements, and ideas of all kinds.

When I think of the Circulation Department of the Woman's Journal, I feel as I think Angela Morgan must have felt when she wrote the following lines for the beginning of her great poem, "Today:"

  "To be alive in such an age!
  With every year a lightning page
  Turned in the world's great wonder book
  Whereon the leaning nations look….
  When miracles are everywhere
  And every inch of common air
  Throbs a tremendous prophecy
  Of greater marvels yet to be.
  O thrilling age!"

The Woman's Journal is the connecting link between the individual suffragist and the movement itself, and a certain thrill and delight and marvel get hold of me when I realize how wonderful each year is and how full of prophecy and promise and marvel is the cause for which we all work.

Because the Circulation Department of the Woman's Journal is the tangible bond which holds us all together and makes one big family of all who work for the movement and all who are in any way connected with the paper, I am going to try to take the readers of these pages into the Journal offices and let them see the processes of the department.

While Miss Blackwell, Mr. Stevens, Miss Smith, Mr. Morris and myself are spending part of our time in preparing reading matter and pictures for the paper, and while we are working at the printing office of the Grimes Brothers on Wednesdays, Miss Spink, Miss Ethel Costello and their assistants, Miss Mosher, Miss Isabel McCormick, Miss Falvey, Miss Hegarty, Miss McCarthy, Miss Collins, Miss Cox, Miss Johnson, Miss Gilbert, and Miss Hazel McCormick are diligently at work in the Circulation Department.

What do they all do? the subscriber may ask. In the first place, the Journal goes to forty-eight states, besides Alaska and the District of Columbia, and to thirty-nine foreign countries. On a page by itself, in the back of this little book, will be shown the list of foreign countries.

When a subscription is received at the office, the letter carrying it has to be opened and the money entered by Miss Elizabeth Costello in the ledger—and it takes just as long to enter 25 cents or a dollar as to enter $1,000, and it must be done just as accurately. If the subscription is sent in for one's self, no acknowledgment is necessary, for the next issue of the paper is sufficient to tell the subscriber that her money and order have been received. If, however, as so often happens, one person sends a subscription for another, two additional processes must be carried out: We must acknowledge the order and money to the person who sends it, and we must tell the other person (if the subscription is a gift) that the paper is being sent to her with the compliments of her friend, or by an anonymous person, as the case may be: but at any rate, that the subscription is for a certain time and that she will not be billed for it. This takes two letters and two stamps. When a subscription is sent in by some suffragist who is acting as agent in forwarding subscriptions for other people, we acknowledge the order only to the sender, thinking that receipt of the paper by the subscriber is sufficient acknowledgment. In this connection, one of our worst problems is to learn from those who mail us subscription orders whether they are simply forwarding for other people or are sending the paper at their expense in the hope of making a convert or of introducing it to someone, with the hope that she will want to continue the subscription. The trouble comes in the question of knowing whom to ask to renew. Sometimes the sender means to renew for the person, and sometimes she means to have us ask the person to renew for herself. We have no means of knowing unless the sender tells us. We have found that whichever way we do, some of our friends do not like it. We have, therefore, adopted the system of asking the person who has been receiving the paper to renew for herself unless we have been definitely instructed not to do this. Some people tell us to discontinue the subscription when the time has expired. We do not think this a fair thing to ask, for the obvious reason that everyone ought to have a chance to renew for herself in case the giver does not want to renew for her.

The third step in receiving a subscription is to write the name in the proper place on the subscription lists that go to the mailing company every Tuesday night. The states in these lists are arranged alphabetically, the towns and cities are arranged alphabetically and the names of subscribers are arranged in the same way. In addition to this the books have to be arranged in districts that correspond to the mail routing of the United States post office. This is an arbitrary dividing, and it increases the work of finding the proper place for entering a subscription. In this a post office chart has to be used constantly.

After an entry has been made in the mailing books, the subscription order, before it is filed, goes to the subscription cards. There the clerks must see whether the name is already on the books, or, if not, if it has ever been on our books (In the latter case we revise the former card instead of making a new one). The subscription cards look like the one reproduced below.

Some letters that bring subscription orders contain many other items that must be attended to before the order or letter is filed. For instance, a letter may contain a new subscription, a renewal, a remittance or a request to send a bill, an order for sample copies, for papers to sell at a meeting, for literature, a request for information and an item or poem or article for the columns of the paper. Each matter mentioned in the letter must, of course, be attended to before the letter can go to the files. To avoid having a letter filed before all of its orders or requests have been attended to, we stamp each piece of mail with a little rubber stamp that looks like the following:

Every piece of first-class mail that reaches the office is stamped with these abbreviations and is at once checked for the different stages through which it must go before it is filed. The clerk filing must see that every check on the stamp has a sign after the check to show that the particular matter indicated has been attended to.

Of course, another part of the subscription work is in making changes of address, changing dates of expiration and removing names of those who do not want to continue to receive the paper, such as the anti-suffragists, who do not want to be converted, to whom some relative or friend or acquaintance has been sending the paper out of her own pocket.

Then there is the work involved in getting subscribers to renew. When the subscription list contained only twenty-four hundred names and when there were few letters to write, it was possible to know the names and perhaps something of the history of every subscriber, especially since only a few were put on the books in a week. But with a circulation of nearly thirty thousand it is obviously impossible for any one person to give the whole list personal attention.

The result is that the business policy of the paper has had to be changed a number of times to meet the changing needs. In the earlier days of the paper it was thought that subscribers would watch the expiration date on the wrapper of their paper and would send in the renewal price without any kind of reminder. In those days Miss Wilde and her assistant would go over the books twice a year and send a reminder to all who had not renewed. As the list grew larger, this plan seemed unsatisfactory to both the subscriber and the paper. Since people were at liberty to start a subscription at any time in the year, it was plain that a year's subscription would run out at the same time the following year, and since this was going on twelve months in the year, we began sending out bills each month to those subscribers whose subscriptions were about to expire. That system was in operation from 1910 through 1915.

During 1915, it was made possible for us to have enough helpers in the office to make a study of the Circulation Department with a view to seeing where improvements could be made, what leakages could be stopped, and what kind of circulation work was paying. The result was that we decided that along with our efforts to get new subscriptions we must carry on a new kind of work to keep those already obtained on our books. We found that it was not sufficient simply to send the paper to a person for a certain time and then ask her to renew. We found that we needed to study the source of the subscription, the motive for subscribing, and how best to appeal to the subscriber to renew. We found that since we had been keeping the record (1910 through 1915), about 26,000 persons have been on our books and for some reason or other are no longer there. A careful study and a long one showed that those whose papers had been discontinued in that period fell into the following classifications:

The number of new subscriptions and the number of papers discontinued for 1915, by the month, is shown below so that readers may understand how serious is this problem and so that they may understand why every subscriber and every suffragist ought to help keep the numbers in these ten classes as small as is possible, if they care to have a part in making the paper self-supporting.

  1915
             New Subscriptions Discontinuances
  January 1,297 407
  February 2,088 346
  March 1,048 714
  April 532 225
  May 1,259 301
  June 972 492
  July 1,513 253
  August 2,265 188
  September 1,135 168
  October 657 312
  November 326 140
  December 563 263

In this connection it ought to be said here that all subscriptions divide into two classes: Those that are expected to make converts and may or may not be expected to renew, and second, those who are suffragists and may logically be expected to renew. When an order for a subscription is given, it, therefore, ought to make clear whether it is for a suffragist or for some one who it is hoped will be converted by reading the paper. If the name is that of a suffragist, it is legitimate and entirely fair that we should offer the paper for her at $1.00 a year and should expect her to renew, and it may be considered our fault if she does not. If, on the other hand, the paper is being sent merely as a piece of propaganda literature to a person who knows nothing of the cause, to one who is undecided, or to an avowed anti-suffragist, it ought to be paid for as literature and that name ought not to be counted as legitimate circulation.

How many of the total number of discontinuances come from the use of the paper as propaganda literature, and how many come from the rank and file of suffragists whom we ought to be expected to hold as regular readers, cannot be known. Detailed records showing this are being kept for 1916, and we expect to be in a better position to solve some of the circulation difficulties in the future than ever in the past,—chiefly because we never dared to spend the money to have the records and study and analyses made.

It ought to be said in this connection that we have, since the first of the year, revised our whole system of billing and are sending a different kind of reminder to renew to those who have been receiving a trial subscription, a complimentary subscription from a friend, a first year subscription for which they have themselves paid, from the one we send to those who have been taking the paper for a year or more. With the latter, for the most part, we simply have to remind them that their subscription has run out. In the billing department, therefore, we have six different kinds of reminders or requests to renew.

So much for that part of the work of the Circulation Department that has to do with entering, recording, billing, analyzing and studying. We turn now to what may be called plans and advance work for making more subscriptions come in, that is, for increasing the circulation of the paper.

We have on cards the names of nearly 35,000 members of suffrage leagues who are not subscribers for the Woman's Journal. This large list is, roughly, only about 30 per cent of the dues-paying membership of the suffrage leagues of the country. An effort is being made to get the total dues-paying and non-dues-paying membership of the leagues and organizations in order that we may send each member who is not a subscriber a sample copy of the organ of the movement and ask her to subscribe.

Besides the league lists, we have the names of over 1300 prominent men and women who believe in equal suffrage but are not subscribers. In addition we have other lists totaling about 32,000 suffragists whose names are not on our books.

This makes over 68,000 suffragists who, so far as we know, have never seen a copy of the organ of the movement, and have never been asked to subscribe. Each week scores and sometimes hundreds of such suffragists, who are not subscribers, write letters to our office, to the offices of the National Suffrage Association and to other headquarters and offices, asking for information which the Woman's Journal publishes from week to week. Think of the waste! They have the faith but not the knowledge to make converts, to answer objections, to write "copy" for the newspapers, to make addresses, to take part in debates, to write articles for the magazines, and to do the thousand and one things that suffragists must do if the present generation of women is not to go down to the grave unenfranchised as their mothers and grandmothers did.

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.

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.

(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!

"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.

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!

[Illustration: Julia Ward Howe President of the Woman's Journal
Corporation for Many Years]

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 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!

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.

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.

(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.
         * * * * *

  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.

  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

  =Estates of=
  MRS. SUSAN LOOK AVERY
  J.J. BELVILLE
  HARRISON BLISS
  MRS. REBECCA BOWKER
  A.A. BURRAGE
  LOUISE SEWALL CABOT
  WILLIAM CLAFLIN
  JOHN GAGE
  MRS. PORTIA GAGE
  JOHN W. HUTCHINSON
  MERCY B. JACKSON
  MRS. CARRIE P. LACOSTE
  GEORGE B. LORINO
  HENRY MAYO
  CHARLES RICHARDSON
  A.P. WARE
  CLARA E. CLEMENT WATERS
  ANGELINA GRIMKE WELD
  JOHN WHITEHEAD
  MISS C.I. WILBY
  SARAH G. WILKINSON
  E.D. WINSLOW

NATIONAL AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. ALABAMA EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. BOSTON EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. CAMBRIDGE POLITICAL EQUALITY ASSOCIATION. CONNECTICUT WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. ILLINOIS EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. IOWA EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. KENTUCKY EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION. LOUISIANA STATE SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION MAINE WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. MASSACHUSETTS WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. MICHIGAN EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. MINNESOTA WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. MISSOURI EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. NEBRASKA WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. NEVADA EQUAL FRANCHISE SOCIETY. NEW HAMPSHIRE EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. NEW JERSEY WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. NEWPORT COUNTY, R.I. WOMAN SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. NEW YORK STATE WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. PENNSYLVANIA WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. ROCK COUNTY, WIS., WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. WEST VIRGINIA EQUAL SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. WISCONSIN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.

  Canal Zone Italy
  Cuba Japan
  Hawaii Java
  Philippines Korea
  Canada New Zealand
  Australia Norway
  Austria Persia
  Bermuda Poland
  Bohemia Roumania
  China Russia
  Denmark Scotland
  England Asia
  Finland South Africa
  France South America
  Germany Sweden
  Holland Switzerland
  Hungary Wales
  Iceland Dutch East Indies
  India West Indies
  Ireland

The Woman's journal is a corporation formed under the laws of Massachusetts. Its stockholders are interested in furthering the cause of equal suffrage through a paper owned and managed by suffragists. Its directors, its editor-in-chief, and its deputy treasurer receive no salary; its stockholders receive no dividends. Those who purchase stock do so for the sake of building up the paper to meet the needs of the movement.

Its purpose is contained in the following description which appeared on the original title page: "A weekly newspaper devoted to the interests of woman—to her educational, industrial, legal, and political equality, and especially to her right of suffrage."

The annual meeting of the corporation is held on the second Monday in January to elect officers and transact such other business as may come before the meeting. The officers are a board of five directors, a president, a treasurer, and a clerk. The officers for 1916, elected at the last annual meeting are as follows:

President, Alice Stone Blackwell; Deputy Treasurer, Howard L.
Blackwell; Clerk, Catherine Wilde; Directors, Maud Wood Park. Emma
Lawrence Blackwell, Grace A. Johnson, Alice Stone Blackwell and Agnes
E. Ryan.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORCH BEARER ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The torch bearer

=THE TORCH BEARER=

FORM OF BEQUEST

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE