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From Fourth International, Vol.11 No.2, March-April 1950, p.34.
Transcription & mark-up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
The January-February issue of Fourth International containing World Report, a round-up on some of the hottest spots in the international class struggle, was well received.
The reaction of L.T. of Boston was typical:
“Got my hands on the FI Saturday and finished it before going to bed that night. I guess that gives you an idea of what I think of the issue. It is a crime to think that we have such a small circulation for such a truly historic periodical. After all, when the history of this period is written, what other source of knowledge can be authoritatively used to explain the present?”
J.H. of Worcester likewise found the table of contents “so exceptionally interesting that I immediately started reading the magazine and finished two articles that night, which is unusual for me, as I am generally so exhausted by bedtime that I can’t stay awake, no matter what I am trying to read.”
And C.S. of Minneapolis writes,
“We are very pleased with the current issue of Fourth International. Helen gave an educational on it. She reviewed two of the articles and touched on the others. Her main emphasis was on the need for all the comrades to read the magazine.”
Group discussions of an issue of the magazine or of a series of articles in various issues dealing with a timely topic are an excellent means of widening the circle of readers. D.C. of Vancouver, Canada, says,
“The material in Fourth International has been first-rate and is the basis of many discussions among ourselves and with our contacts in the Stalinist and social-democratic movements. It provides us with excellent information.”
D.C. thought that the January-February number, which came out late, “was worth waiting for,” and that the following articles in the recent period “are particularly commendable: Revolutionary Course of American Society, The English Revolution, 1649-1949, the articles in the American Empire issue, Mao Tse-Tung’s Revolution, and the articles on the Tito-Stalin split.”
He adds that the Vancouver group of FI readers “agrees with the suggestion to include references for further reading on subjects dealt with in Fourth International articles. These references would be very helpful, especially to new comrades and to those whose only contact with the movement is through the periodical.”
Bill of St. Paul “was greatly impressed by Ernest Germain’s article in the December 1949 issue on The Purge of Soviet Culture. A reprint of this in an inexpensive pamphlet to be distributed widely among students, liberals, Stalinists, as well as advanced workers could be an effective propaganda weapon.”
We still have extra copies of this issue on hand. In bundles of five or more, the cost is 20c a copy.
Richard Gregor, writing in behalf of the Literature Committee of the Buffalo branch of the Socialist Workers Party, reports that “recent issues of Fourth International are received with greater enthusiasm than before. This trend began with the issue on the American Empire and continues, due to the timeliness of the material in all recent issues.”
Interest in the British Labor Party is lively among Buffalo workers, according to Comrade Gregor, and the possibility of atomic warfare is a “burning question tormenting the American workers. Members of the literature committee feel that these two questions, Great Britain and atomic warfare, deserve special issues devoted exclusively to the various phases of the subject.”
* * *
The next issue of Fourth International promises to be of exceptional value to every one participating in the struggle for full equality of the Negro people.
The issue, devoted entirely to the problems of the struggle for full equality, will include articles on the following subjects:
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Last updated on: 18 March 2009