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Document:LP News 1972 November Issue 11: Difference between revisions
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Document:LP News 1972 November Issue 11 (view source)
Revision as of 09:44, 1 March 2021
, 1 March 2021→THE YEAR ONE
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==THE YEAR ONE== | ==THE YEAR ONE== | ||
On December 11, 1972, the Libertarian Party will be one year old. And some year it has been! | |||
When the eight individuals who originally set up the Committee to Organize a Libertarian Party met on that December day a year ago, and decided to dissolve the Committee and | |||
go ahead with the Party, the as-yet unofficial Party had 42 members. In the one year since that time, that number has grown to about 2,000. | |||
In its first year, the LP took in and spent over $24,000; we currently have $1,370 in our treasury, with about $500 owed to us by various people. | |||
We nominated a Presidential ticket, and our two candidates, Dr. Hospers and Mrs. Nathan, traveled a total of over 10,000 miles, and spoke to over 5,000 people in person, and reached an estimated 25 million via radio and TV, The Party, and its candidates, received newspaper and magazine writeups totalling approximately 2,000 column-inches that we know of; the actual total was almostcertainly at least twice that much. (2,000 column-inches is the approximate equivalent of 12 full-size newspaper pages, or 24 tabloid pages.) The papers and magazines giving us coverage ranged from The New York Times, Denver Post, and Chicago Tribune and other such "establishment" papers to underground papers like the Village Voice and Los Angeles Star. Even the government gave us some coverage, via the Stars and Stripes and the Public TV Network. We got mentioned in Newsweek, and Jeffrey st. John gave us a good story on the CBS radio network program Spectrum. | |||
Of course, we didn't confine our efforts to mass media. We distributed over 100,000 pieces of literature from the National Office (and at least another 100,000 pieces were produced by the various state and local LP organizations). | |||
We ran or endorsed a total of twelve candidates in addition to our national ticket; only one of them won, but they got out a lot of libertarian ideas -- more than anyone else has done, excepting only a few of the most famous prolific libertarian authors. | |||
The LP is now generally recognized as one of six significant minority parties in the United States -- no mean achievement, cons idering the fact that there were over a dozen candidates running for President this year, not counting Nixon and McGovern. In the two states where Hospers and Nathan were on the ballot, they outpolled several of the other minority-party candidates, despite the fact that we had less people and less money. | |||
In sum, the LP has done more, in its first year of existence, than any other libertarian organization has ever done in an equivalent time. The credit for this achievement belongs to you, the members -- for your work, your ideas, and your financial contributions. | |||
We cannot rest on our laurels, however. It would be the greatest of tragedies if we were to drift away, to "let things go" until 1976, or even 1974, We must press forward with the greatest vigor -- educating, recruiting, and organizing. | |||
Our period of most rapid growth, in terms of percentage gains, is now behind us. Never again will we multiply our membership by a factor of forty-plus in one year. We have already got the majority of the hard-core libertarians who are interested in political action; from now on, we will have to break fresh ground. | |||
The National Office will be doing everything it can to generate new leads, but the brunt of the burden will fall on the state and local organizations. We can locate some of the people who are prime prospects (although the· state and local orgpnizations should be doing this, too). Once we have located them, however, it is up to all of you out there to win them over and sign them up. | |||
We think that even the most conservative growth estimates indicate that we can double the LP1 s membership each year for the next four years; this growth rate, which works out to a paltry 6% per month, compounded, will give us 4,000 members by the end of '73; 8,000 by the end of '74; 16,000 by the end of '75; and 32,000 by the end of 1 76. If we can average 9% per month, we will triple our membership each year, giving us 160,000 members by the end of 1 76. And if we can average 12% per month, we will quadruple in size each year, giving us over half a million members by the end of '76. | |||
How far we go depends on you. So don't slow down now, just because the election is over. | |||
As noted above, our total national and state membership is now approximately 2,000, with 40% of that figure being national members, and 60% being state members. Nationwide, we now have about 10 members per million population, on the average, but some states are far ahead of others, and deserve special mention. | |||
CALIFORNIA -- Now has over 350 members, making it by far the largest state LP organization. | |||
NEW YORK -- with approximately 200 members, is number two. | |||
TEXAS and ILLINOIS -- with over 100 members each, are running neck-and-neck for third. | |||
ALASKA -- with 17 national members, and over 25 members altogether, has by far the highest number of members per capita. | |||
There are still three states where we have no members at all -- West Virginia, North Dakota, and South Dakota. | |||
==EXECCOMM VOTES== | |||
The LP National Executive Committee met in Albuquerque, NM, on November 25th, with 12 of the 18 voting members present. At that meeting, which was also attended by- about | |||
25 non-voting observers, the following actions were taken. | |||
DUES LEFT UNCHANGED, NEWSLETTER TO BE PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY IN 1973 | |||
After considerable discussion, it was decided not to raise National LP membership dues for 1973, but rather to decrease the Newsletter's publication schedule from monthly to bi-monthly during the coming non-election year. Although a previous survey had indicated that 85% of the national members would be willing to pay dues at a 25% higher level, the ExecComm felt it was better to keep dues low. It was also noted that nearly 2/3 of the cost of producing and mailing the Newsletter was in postage and handling costs, so a great deal could be saved by going bi-monthly. It was felt that during a non-election year, a bi-monthly schedule would be sufficient to convey news, also. Subscription price for a Newsletter subscription alone (i.e. not as part of a membership) was reduced from $3 to $2 for one year (now 6 issues, instead of 12). | |||
ADS IN ANALOG, INTELLECTUAL DIGEST APPROVED | |||
It was voted to spend $900 to run two ads in non-movement publications, to reach new prospects. $300 will be spent for a half-page ad in Analog Science Fiction, and $600 for a half-column ad in Intellectual Digest. The Analog ad will promote the LP directly, while the ID ad will promote the paperback edition ofDr. Hospers• book; the latter is to take advantage of a 40% reduced rate for book ads. The book orders will go directly to Reason, the publisher, and Reason will forward to us the names of all respondents. In addition, Reason is giving us six full-page ads at no charge, in return for our paying for the ID ad. Both of these ads will run early next Spring. | |||
"DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE" SET AS LP THEME FOR NEXT TWO TO FOUR YEARS | |||
It was voted to drop "Break Free" as our over-riding theme, and to adopt the theme "Declare Your Independence," which it was felt will tie in well with the upcoming bicentennial. New bumperstickers, buttons, and brochures centered on this theme will be available soon; details in next Newsletter. It was also voted to continue carrying Dr. Hospers' 4th of July speech, and to re-stock the ever-popular "Laissez Faire" buttons with the Libersign. | |||
"SATELLITE" ORGANIZATI0NS APPROVED | |||
Approval was given for the establishment of four "satellite" organizations, which will work on special projects of value to the Party. These are a Committee to lobby | |||
for easier ballot requirements for minority parties, a candidates advisory committee, a consumer-rights organization which will publicize the anti-consumer-interest effects | |||
of government "protective" legislation" and will mobilize public sentiment on this point, and a publishing/services outfit which will produce, catalog and supply a wide variety | |||
of material for LP members and state organizations. | |||
EIGHT STATES' AFFILATIONS APPROVED | |||
Affiliation petitions submitted by state LPs in Missouri, and Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania were accepted, bringing the total of recognized state LP affiliates to 15, up from 8 prior to the ExecComm meeting (Michigan was already recognized, but submitted a petition any how). A petition from Arizona was rejected, after evidence was presented that there were irregularities in that state's temporary organization. A petition from Wisconsin was approved subject to resubmission with signatures, rather than typed names. A motion by some California LP members to remove recognition from the currently recognized organization, headed by Alan Coon, and accept a petition from their group instead, was rejected. | |||
It was voted that in the future, petitions for affiliation cannot be submitted until a state convention has been held, at which the National LP Statement of Principles is endorsed, officers elected, and a state Constitution and By-Laws adopted. This will hopefully eliminate problems of the type which arose in the Arizona and California situations. | |||
OTHER ACTIONS TAKEN | |||
A resignation from the ExecComm, submitted by James Bryan of Oregon, was accepted, and the resulting At-Large vacancy was filled by electing Paul Hodgson, previously ExecComm member from Region 8. This leaves a vacancy to be filled by Region 8. | |||
It was voted to take the money remaining in the Campaign Fund (about $155) and return it to the Party's national treasury, as partial repayment of the $250 given to the Campaign Fund in June. | |||
It was voted that in the future, National LP will not invoke the FCC "Fairness Doctrine" to get equal time on radio and TV. State organizations and individual members may do as they wish. | |||
The 1973 LP Conference (off-year Convention) will be held the second weekend in June. Location is not yet established, but should be known by the time of the next Newsletter. | |||
Paul Hodgson was given the authority to draft a letter to Ayn Rand, pointing out her inconsistencies in endorsing Nixon, and asking her to explain her position. Draft will be submitted to ExecComm by mail for approval before it is sent, and will be signed by those ExecComm members who wish to do so. | |||
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