Again, when meetings are held regularly in a town and a work of systematic education is carried on, it often happens that one speaker following another repeats over again the same statistics, the same arguments and even the same stories heard before, thereby tiring the audience. But when a community is supplied regularly by the National Bureau, each speaker takes up a different phase of the great problem, recapitulating only the few fundamental truths on which our movement rests. Each presents also something new, bright and spicy of his own. By this arrangement every community can enjoy the benefits of a succession of good speakers every month or week during the whole four years, and escape the persecution of those unteachable bores, who think themselves speakers. The crowds at these regular periodical meetings will increase, because each time they will hear something just as good as the last time, with added special features, the result of individual genius.
At present, when a speaker is wanted, anybody is invited who happens to be available, his abilities being measured by his own recommendation, or by letters bulldozed from prominent men, who, for reasons of political prudence dared not offend so energetic a fellow. A community in this way may secure a good speech occasionally, but often the speaker is a positive injury to the cause. One poor speech in a series does more to lessen the general interest and reduce the size of the crowds thereafter, than can be overcome by half a dozen good speeches.
Of course, where the local Democracy can secure the services of some one of our national leaders, no bureau mediation is needed, but our national leaders are few and the work before us limitless, therefore the service of the Volunteers' Bureau in training, equipping and guaranteeing a large number of new speakers who can be secured at any time, by any community, at a moderate expense, is meeting with hearty response by Democratic clubs generally.
The best way to make a strong club anywhere is to institute a series of meetings, all the year round, and, by having at least one able speaker each time, never to disappoint the audience.
Let each town and village establish a lecture course at once, and place itself in communication with the Volunteers' Bureau. The more numerous and closer together such villages and towns are, the smaller will be the expense to each community and the easier will it be to make up regular circuits for speakers.
THE CO-OPERATION OF CONSTITUENTS NECESSARY.
Although every speaker sent out is guaranteed to do effective work, the leaders of each community are urgently requested to report to headquarters at once, the success or short-comings of each speaker and meeting. Without such co-operation, the Bureau cannot keep that oversight of its hundreds of speakers necessary to raise the standard of work to the highest efficiency. It is assuredly the duty of local workers to give straight-forward reports to headquarters, of the short-comings and "breaks" on the part of the representatives of our Bureau, who represent our party and for whom our party is responsible as well as to report the benefits resulting from each meeting. The fact should also be emphasized that each representative of the Bureau receives a letter of recognition and instruction once a month from headquarters, and his standing with the Bureau should be judged solely by such letters or by direct correspondence. We must be able, when any speaker fails on his part to fulfill our requirements, to cease our connection with, and our responsibility for him.