That word paying makes us think. We have a large number of life members, to all of whom we send The Missionary free. We also send it to pastors and Sunday-school superintendents of contributing churches free. By so doing we do not mean to debar them from the privilege of paying. Many of these, knowing that they will receive the magazine anyway, put their subscription into their annual donations. Better send the subscriptions separately. It would enable us, by entering the subscriptions upon our books where they belong, to lower the expense of publication. Of course, in the result it is as broad as it is long. We have so much receipts and so much expenses, but it is well to give credit where credit is due, and our magazine should have its credits acknowledged. Where subscriptions are put in with the general contribution, they go into the general treasury. They do not appear in the specific magazine account, and we have no means of knowing exactly what the magazine costs the general treasury. It is very certain it costs no where near what we are obliged to report. We respectfully ask the attention of our friends to this point.
A pastor writes us: “If pastors would take a little pains to have The American Missionary sent to carefully selected persons in their communities, it would bring large returns, I am sure.” This is a very important statement, if true. We believe it is true. What have pastors to say about it? They are most earnestly requested to express their opinions. The question is open.
This is the way the editor of a colored religious paper in the South puts it to the ministers:
“If the Lord called you to preach, he also calls you to subscribe for our paper, so that you may be cut and qualified to preach. It is just so, and you had better believe it. Send in your money.”
And then he goes for delinquents after this fashion:
“How can you call yourself honest while you are indebted for your paper? The Lord will not hold you guiltless unless you pay what you owe. Pay up! Pay up!! Pay up!!!”
We hasten to add, we were not thinking of subscriptions for The American Missionary when we made the above clippings.